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5 
S 


.^\\E•UNIVERy//) 


DR.     ARNOLD'S     WORKS. 

D.  Appleton  Sf  Compuny  JP'iiUlv$h;  :    -;   . 

I.  •      

THE    HISTORY    OF-   ROME,     • 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD. 
BY    THOMAS  JIRJVOLD,  D.  D., 

Late  Head  Master  of  Rugby  School,  and  Regius  Professorof  History  in  the  University  of  Oxford. 
The  three  volumes  of  the  last  London  edition  REPRI^TED  entire  in  two  handsome  8vo.  volumes.  Price  $5. 
The  History  of  Rome  will  remain  to  the  latest  age  of  the  woild,  the  most  attrnctive,  the  most  useful  and  the  most  elevat- 
ing subject  of  human  contemplation.  It  must  ever  form  the  basis  of  a  liberal  and  enlightened  education  and  present  the  most 
important  object  to  the  contemplation  of  the  satesman  It  is  remarkable  that  until  the  appearance  of  Dr.  Arnold's  volume* 
no  history  (excepting  ''  Niebuhr's,"  whose  style  is  often  obscure,)  of  this  wonderful  people  existed,  commensurate  either  to 
theirdignity,  their  importance,  or  their  intimate  connection  with  modern  institutions.  Dr.  Arnold's  History  of  Rome  haa 
h>ng  since  been  admitted,  by  the  most  eminent  scholars,  to  excel  all  others. 

II. 

SE  RMONS 

PREACHED  IN  THE  CHAPEL  OF  RUGBY  SCHOOL. 

With  an  address  before  Confirmation. 
BY   THOMAS  ARNOLD,   D.  D. 

One  neat  volume,  ]6mo.  Price  75  cts. 
These  discourses  are  part  of  the  series  of  didactic  morality  with  which  the  renowned  author  enlightened  and  guided  the 
large  number  of  youth  who  were  placed  under  his  care,  doling  their  academic  course,  prior  to  their  admission  into  the  British 
Universities.  Although  they  naturally  are  directed  to  the  existing  state  of  education  in  the  Anglican  endowed  schools,  and 
to  the  condition  of  the  students  in  them  ;  yet  the  author's  far-reaching  views,  high-toned  morality,  and  monitions  respecting 
the  adequate  and  right  improvement  of  their  privileges  are  of  universal  application  ;  and  with  few  excpptions  are  similarly 
adapted,  ceteris  paribus,  to  the  higher  classes  in  our  grammar  schools,  and  the  various  grades  of  collegians  in  our  own  country 
as  in  England.  The  volume  will  be  highly  prized  liy  lutors  and  professors  of  every  department,  and  will  be  found  to  be  an 
edifying  manual  to  all  interested  in  the  education  of  youth. 

III. 

LECTURES    ON    MODERN    HISTORY: 

BY   THOMAS  ARNOLD,  D.   D. 
With  an  Introduction  and  Notes,  by  Henry  Reed.  Professor  ol  English  Literature  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 

One  handsome  volume,  !2mo.  $1  25. 
This  volume  contains  the  first  lectures  which  were  delivered  by  Dr.  Arnold  after  his  appointment  as  Reg  us  Professor  of 
History  in  the  University  of  Oxford.  The  series  of  Lecturer  must  be  considered  merely  as  introductory  to  the  expanded  views 
and  researches  which  the  author  would  have  developed  had  Ms  life  been  prolonged.  In  the  primary  lecture  which  was  deliv- 
ered when  he  entered  upon  his  oflScial  duty,  the  lecturer  presented  his  definition  of  history  with  a  summary  of  the  duties  ap- 
pertaining to  the  professor  of  it.  Appropriate,  dignified  and  perspicuous,  it  exhibits  both  originality  and  power  in  a  high  de- 
gree, commingled  with  felicitous  illustrations  of  the  characteristics,  effects,  and  value  of  historical  literature.  Four  lectures 
follow  on  the  study  of  history,  rich  in  the  prominent  to|iics  of  inquiry  concerning  national  prosperity — among  wliich,  with 
masterly  eloquence  and  delineations  he  adverts  to  the  political  economy,  the  religious  controversies,  the  national  wars,  and 
the  geographical  relations  of  countries. — The  next  three  lectures  contain  a  survey  of  European  history,  particularly  examining 
the  revolutions  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and  the  continuous  struggles  to  cast  off  the  despotic  yoke,  and  to  gain  and  establish 
religious  and  civil  freedom.— The  eighth  lectuie  (lisphi>s  the  nature  of  that  historical  testimony  whiih  claiin.s  and  merits  cre- 
dence. In  this  disquisition  the  author  exhibits  in  its  truth  and  forcefulness  the  law  of  evidence  and  the  method  o(  its  applica- 
tion in  investigating  historical  facts.  The  couise  of  lectures  is  an  elegant  memorial  of  the  author  whose  unquenchable  philan- 
thropy and  untiring  zeal  in  behalf  of  the  best  interests  of  mankind  render  his  decease  the  subject  of  regret  to  the  civilized 
world. 

IV. 

MISCELLANEOUS  WORKS  OF  THOMAS  ARNOLD,  D.  D., 

Late  Head  Master  at  Rugby  School,  and  Regius  Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of  Oxford. 
One  handsome  Svo.  volume.  $3  00. 
The  topics  of  this  volume  are  greatly  diversified  ;  including  disquisitions  on  the  "  Church,"  on  "  Church  and  State."  in  its 
existing  British  combinations— on  Scriptural  and  Secular  Histoty-and  on  Education,  with  various  other  subjects  of  Political 
Economy.  With  tew  exceptions,  the  matter  is  of  general  app  ication  and  lasting  interest;  and  the  whole  is  full  of  far-reaching 
perspicacity,  and  a  burning  philanthropic  attachment  to  the  accelerating  progress  of  sterling  knowledge,  genuine  freedom,  pure 
religion  and  molality,  and  the  best  interests  and  permanent  enjoyment  of  mankind.  The  volume  of  Miscellanies  is  a  suitable 
counterpart  to  the  "  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Dr.  Arnold  ;"  and  scholars  who  have  been  so  deeply  interested  in  that  impres- 
sive biography,  will  be  gratified  to  ascertain  the  delilierate  judgment  of  the  Author,  upon  the  numerous  important  themes 
which  his  "  Miscellaneous  Works"  so  richly  and  clearly  announce. 

V. 

LIFE  AND  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  THOMAS  ARNOLD,  D.  D. 

BY  THE  REV.  A.  P.  STANLEY.  A.  M. 

Two  vols,  of  English  edition  ni  one  vol.  Svo.  large  type,  $2 
It  is  not  possible  strictly  to  characterize  a  volume  so  peculiarly  miscellaneous  in  its  contents.  Not  only  is  the  individual 
fully  portrayed  ;  but  his  official  relations  are  displayed  in  their  prominency.  Hence  to  Collegiate  Professors  ami  other  Tutors 
his  life  is  a  manual  whence  they  may  learn  much  knowledge  respecting  tuition,  and  its  associated  c'utics.  The  volume  com- 
bines a  mass  of  literary  history  and  portraits  .if  his  contemporaries,  with  a  full  development  of  the  great  Oxford  cnntroversy. 
It  is  the  best  picture  of  Englaiid  which  can  be  procured— and  is  an  essential  work  for  all  scholars  and  proiessiimal  men  who 
would  accurately  comprehend  the  character  and  actions  and  influence  of  many  persons  who  new  stand  preminent  in  Britain, 
especially  in  connection  with  the  Church  of  England  and  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  modern  literature. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  LATER  ROMAN  COMMONWEALTH. 

BY    THOMAS  ARNOLD,  D.  D. 
Two  vols,  of  English  edition,  in  one  hand.some  8vo.  volume. 
^'*  ■^''f  "'aibb  *°J1*""***>""  of  ^e  'wo  volumes  of  the  Early  History  just  published  ;  and  brings  the  Histoty  down  lo 


D.  Appleton  ^  Co.^s  Educational  Publications. 

T.   K.    ARNOLD'S 

GREEK  AND  LATIN  BOOKS, 

FOR  SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES. 

REVISED  AND  CAREFULLY  CORRECTED  BY  THE  REV.  J.  A.  SPENCER,  A.  M. 

***  TViis  Series  of  Classical  Works  has  attained  a  circulation  almost  unparalleled,  beinu  infrodiund 
hUo  nearly  all  the  great  Public  Schools  and  leading  Educational  Institutions  in  England.  They  art 
also  very  highly  recommended  by  some  of  the  best  American  Scholars,  for  introduction  into  the  Cl<u- 
ticat  Schools  of  the  United  States. 

NOW  READY. 
I.     A    FIRST    AND    SECOND 

LATIN  BOOK  AND  PRACTICAL  GMMMAE, 

One  neat  volume,  12mo.    Price  75  cts. 

The  chief  object  of  this  work  (which  is  founded  on  the  principles  of  imitation  and  frequent 
repetition),  is  to  enable  the  pupil  to  do  exercises  from  the  first  day  of  his  beginning  his  acci- 
dence. 

The  First  Book  can  be  had  separately  for  Junior  Classes  in  Schools.    Price  50  cts. 

XL     A  PRACTICAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  LATIN  PROSE 
COMPOSITION. 

ONE     VOLUME,   12mO. 

This  work  is  also  founded  on  the  principles  of  imitation  and  frequent  repetition.  It  is  at 
once  a  Syntax,  a  Vocabulary,  aud  an  Exercise  Book  ;  and  considerable  attention  has  been  paid 
to  the  subject  of  Synonyms. 

IN  PREPARATION. 

I.  A  FIRST  AND  SECOND  GREEK  BOOK,  with  Easy  Exer- 
cises and  Vocabulary.     One  volume,  12mo. 

n.  A  PRACTICAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  GREEK  PROSE 
COMPOSITION.     One  volume,  12mo. 

This  work  consists  of  a  Greek  Syntax,  founded  on  Buttmann's,  and  Easy  Sentences  transla- 
ted into  Greek,  after  given  Examples,  and  with  given  Words. 

III.  CORNELIUS  NEPOS,  with  Critical  Questions  and  Answers. 

and   an  Imitative  Exercise  on  each  Chapter. 
:V.  ECLOGiE  OVIDIANiE,  with  English  Notes,  &c. 

This  work  is  from  the  fifth  part  of  the  Lateinsches  Elementarbuch  of  Profs.  Jacobs  and  Do 
ring,  which  has  an  immense  circulation  on  the  Continent. 

V.  HISTORIC  ANTIQUE  EPITOME,  from  Cornelius  Nepos 
Justin,  &c.,  with  English  Notes,  Rules  for  Constructing,  Ques- 
tions, Geographical  Lists,  &c. 

This  is  a  most  valuable  collection  of  Classical  School  Books  :  and  its  publication  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  presage  of  better  things  in  respect  to  the  mode  of  teaching  and  acquiring  Lan 
guagee.  Heretofore  boys  have  been  condemned  to  the  drudgery  of  going  over  Latin  and  Greel' 
Grammar  without  the  remotest  conception  of  the  value  of  what  they  were  learning,  and  everj 
day  becoming  more  and  more  disgusted  with  the  dry  and  unmeaning  task  ;  but  now,  by  Mr.  Ar 
Hold's  admirable  method — substantially  the  same  with  that  of  Ollendorff — the  moment  they 
take  up  the  study  of  Latin  or  Groek,  they  begin  to  learn  sentences,  to  acquire  ideas,  to  se-' 
how  the  Romans  and  Greeks  expressed  themselves,  how  their  mode  of  expression  differed  from 
ours,  and  by  degrees  they  lay  up  a  stock  of  knowledge  which  is  utterly  astonishing  to  those  who 
have  dragged  on  month  after  month  in  the  old-fashioned,  dry,  studious  way  of  learning  Lan- 
guages. 

Mr.  Arnold,  in  fact,  has  had  the  good  sense  to  adopt  the  system  of  Nature.  A  child  leami 
his  own  lunguiige  by  imitating  what  he  hears,  and  constantly  repeating  it  till  it  ia  fastened  in  the 
memory.  In  tlic  same  way  Mr.  A.  puts  the  pupil  immediately  to  work  at  Exercises  in  Latin  and 
Greek  involving  the  elementary  principles  of  the  language — words  are  supplied— the  mode  of 
putting  then  togciher  is  told  the  pupil — he  is  shown  how  the  Ancients  expressed  their  ideas  ; 
and  then  by  repeating  these  things  again  and  again — iterum  itcrumquc — the  docile  puoil  has  them 
indelibly  impressed  upon  his  memory  and  rooted  in  his  understanding. 

The  American  edition  comes  out  under  the  most  favorable  auspices.  The  Editor  is  a  tho- 
rough Classical  Scholar  and  has  been  a  practical  teacher  for  years  in  this  city  :  he  has  devoted 
the  utmost  care  to  a  complete  revision  of  Mr.  Arnold's  Works,  has  corrected  several  errors  of 
ina-Ivcrtence  or  otherwise,  has  rearranged  and  improved  various  matters  in  the  early  volumes 
of  the  series,  anil  has  attended  most  diligently  to  the  accurate  printing  and  mechanical  execution 
of  the  whole.  We  anticipate  most  confidently  the  speedy  adoption  of  these  wotka  in  our  School 
tnd  Co41egei. 


HISTORY 


OF    THE    LATER 


ROMAN   COMMONWEALTH. 

FROM  THE  END  OF  THE  SECOND  PUNIC  WAR  TO  THE 
DEATH  OF  JULIUS  C^SAR ; 

AND    OF 

THE   REIGN   OE   AUGUSTUS: 


LIFE  OF  TRAJAN. 


THOMAS    ARNOLD,    D.D., 

LATE    EEGIUS    PROFESSOR    OF    MODERN    HISTORY    IN    THE    tTNIVSRSITT    OF    OSFOEX', 
AND    HEAD    MASTER    OP    EUGBT    SCHOOL. 


TWO  VOLUMES  OF  THE  ENGLISH  EDITION  COMPLETE  IN  ONE. 


NEW-YORK : 

D.    APPLETON    &    CO.,    200    BROADWAY 

PHILADELPHIA : 

GEORGE  S.  APPLETON,  148  CHESNUT  STREET. 

1846. 


*  <^\*  v^ 


■^'2  ^  n     A 


PREFACE. 


This  Volume  contains  a  republication  of  the  portion  of 
Roman  History  contributed  by  Dr.  Arnold  to  the  "  Ency- 
clopedia Metropolitana,"  between  the  years  1823  and 
1827. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark,  that  if  his  life  had 
been  prolonged,  his  great  growth  in  knowledge  and  ability 
would  have  given  a  new  character  and  a  much  higher  value 
to  this  portion  of  the  History  of  Rome.  It  is,  however 
believed  that  these  Articles  form  a  valuable  part  of  our  lit- 
erature, and  are  not  unworthy  of  accompanying  those  Vol- 
umes, which  were  the  fruit  of  matured  years.  They  will 
carry  on  the  reader  through  a  long  and  important  era,  from 
the  close  of  the  Second  Punic  War  to  the  final  establish- 
ment of  the  Empire  under  Augustus,  and  will  furnish  him 
with  a  consecutive  narrative  of  the  events  of  this  period. 

The  text  is  such  as  the  Author  left  it,  with  the  excep- 
tion that  a  few  trifling  inaccuracies  of  detail  have  been 
corrected.  What  seemed  to  be  errors  of  a  more  general 
character  have  been  untouched.  Some,  and  amongst 
them,  those  respecting  the  Agrarian  laws,  will  be  found 
corrected  in  Dr.  Arnold's  History  of  the  Earlier  Periods  ; 


yj  PREFACE. 

whilst  the  alteration  of  the  text  would  have  been  an  act  of 
unwarrantable  liberty,  and  would  have  destroyed  much  of 
the  psychological  interest  which  must  belong  to  a  compari- 
son of  the  earlier  with  the  later  productions  of  any  eminent 
writer. 

The  references  to  the  original  authorities  have  been  all 
examined  and  verified. 

Dr.  Arnold  broke  off,  after  the  Life  of  Augustus,  his 
contributions  to  the  continuous  series  of  Roman  History  in 
the  Encyclopaedia.  He  subsequently  composed  the  Life  of 
Trajan  for  that  Work.     It  is  reprinted  in  this  Volume. 

BONAMY  PRICE. 

Rugby,  July  31,  1845. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

FIGE 

Sketch  of  the  external  advancement  of  the  Roman  Empire  from  the  end  of  the 
Second  Punic  war  to  the  Invasion  of  theCimbri. — From  a.  v.  c.  553,  B.C. 
201,  to  A.  u.  0.  652,  B,  c.  102 9 

CHAPTER  H. 
Tiberius  Gracchus. — u.  c.  621,  b.  c.  133 41 

CHAPTER  HI. 
Caius  Gracchus. — From  u.  c.  621,  b.  c.  133,  to  u.  c.  633,  b.  c.  121     ...     .        56 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Sketch  of  the  internal  state  of  Rome  from  the  death  of  Caius  Gracchus  to  the 
commencement  of  the  Social  War. — From  u.  c.  633,  b.  c.  121,  to  u.  c. 
662,  b.  c.  92 69 

CHAPTER  V. 

Lucius  Cornelius  Sylla. — From  u.  c.  616,  a.  c.  138,  to  u.  c.  666,  a.  c.  88.     .        89 

.  CHAPTER  VI. 

Lucius  Cornelius  Sylla. — From   u.  c.  666,  a.  c.  88,  to  u.  c.  677,  a.  c.  77     .     .       109 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Caius  Julius  Caesar. — A  view  of  the  internal  affairs  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

From  u.  c.  676,  a.  c.  78,  to  u.c.  695,  a.  c.  59 147 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Caius  Julius  Caesar. — A  sketch  of  the  Roman  History  from  the  appointment  of 
Caesar  to  the  command  in  Gaul  to  his  Death. — From  u.  c.  695  to  710,  a.  c 
59  to  44       .     .     .     ; 199 


yiij  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Cains  Julius  Ceesar. — A  sketch  of  the  Roman  History  from  the  appointment  of 
Caesar  to  the  command  in  Gaul  to  his  Death. —  From  u.  c.  695  to  710, 
A.  0.  59  to  44  [continued] 299 

CHAPTER  X. 

Caius   Octavius  Caesar  Augustus. — A  view  of  the  History  of  Rome. — From 

u.  c.  709  to  u.  c.  722,  A.  c.  45  to  A.  c.  32 ,     .     .     .     .       358 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Caius  Octavius  Cssar   Augustus. — A  view  of  the    History  of  Rome. — From 

u.  c.  722  to  u.  c.  766,  a.  c.  32  to  a.  d.  13 454 

^._  CHAPTER  XII. 

M.  t^lpius  Trajanus  Crinitus. — From  a.  d.  98  to  117  51T 


HISTORY 


OF    THE 


LATER  ROMAN  COMMONWEALTH. 


CHAPTER  I. 


SKETCH  OP  THE  EXTERNAL  ADVANCEMENT  OF  THE  ROMAN 
EMPIRE  FROM  THE  END  OF  THE  SECOND  PUNIC  WAR  TO  THE 
INVASION  OF  THE  CIMBRI.-FROM  A.U.C.  553,  B.C.  201,  TO  A.U.C. 
652,  B.C.  102. 

There  arc  certain  portions  of  the  history  of  mankind,  in  which 
military  operations  assume  a  character  of  such  predominant  im- 
portance, that  the  historian  is  bound  to  assign  to  them  the  princi- 
pal place  in  his  narrative.  At  other  times  there  may  be  long  and 
bloody  wars,  by  which  great  changes  have  been  produced  in  the 
state  of  the  world,  which  yet  deserve  no  more  than  the  most  cur- 
sory notice  ;  whilst  our  main  attention  is  bestowed  on  the  progress 
of  society,  the  rise  of  literature,  or  the  origin  and  struggles  of 
domestic  factions.  The  period  to  be  comprised  in  this  sketch 
belongs  to  this  latter  class  :  it  was  full  of  wars  ;  it  was  marked 
by  decisive  victories  and  extensive  conquests ;  yet  its  military 
history  is  totally  uninteresting,  from  the  great  inequality  of  force 
between  the  Romans  and  their  several  enemies  ;  and  from  the 
scarcity  of  those  signal  displays  of  valour  and  ability,  which  have, 
on  other  occasions,  thrown  lustre  on  the  resistance  of  the  hum- 
blest power.  Besides,  except  the  "  Fragments"  of  Polybiiis,  we 
have  no  political  nor  military  history  of  these  times,  the  authority 
of  which  can  be  relied  on  with  any  satisfaction,  for  the  detail  of 
events.  No  more  then  will  be  here  attempted,  than  briefly  to 
trace  the  succession  of  the  Roman  conquests,  and  to  notice  the 
causes  which  rendered  them  so  unbroken  and  so  universal. 

2 


10  BATTLE  OF  CYNOCEPHALE. 

No  sooner  was  the  second  Pnnic  war  ended  than  the  senate  of 
u. C.553.*  B.C. 201.  Rome  determined  to  crush  the  power  of  Phihp, 
Firstiviacedonian^ar'.  j^jj^g  of  Maccdon.  Hc  had  joincd  Hannibal  in  the 
most  critical  period  of  the  late  war,  when  the  destruction  of  Rome 
seemed  inevitable  ;  he  was  the  most  considerable  potentate  in  the 
countries  neighbouring  to  Italy  on  the  east ;  and  the  fame  of  his 
armies,  derived  from  the  conquests  of  Alexander,  was  not  yet  ex- 
tinguished. These  were  considerations  sufficient  to  point  him 
out  as  the  next  object  of  hostiUty  to  the  Roman  arms ;  and 
although  peace  had  been  concluded  with  him  two  or  three  years 
before,  yet  the  grounds  of  a  new  quarrel  were  soon  discovered. 
He'^  was  accused  of  having  attacked  the  Athenians  and  some 
others  of  the  allies  of  Rome  ;  and  of  having  sent  some  Macedo- 
nian soldiers  to  the  assistance  of  Hannibal  in  Africa.  A  Roman 
army  was  instantly  sent  over  into  Greece,  and  a  Roman  fleet  co- 
operated with  the  naval  force  of  Attains,  king  of  Pergamus,  and 
the  Rhodians  ;  these  powers,  together  with  the  ^tolians,  being 
constantly  enemies  to  Macedon,  and  the  present  war  being  under- 
taken by  the  Romans  chiefly,  as  was  pretended,  on  their  account. 
The  barbarous '  tribes  on  the  north  and  west  of  Macedonia  were 
also  led,  by  the  temptation  of  plunder,  to  join  the  confederacy  ; 
and  their  irruptions  served  to  distract  the  councils  and  the  forces 
of  Philip.  Yet,  under  all  these  disadvantages,  he  maintained 
Battle  of  cynocephaie.  tlio  coutcst  witli  great  vis:our  for  three  years  ;  till 
o;l.i45.'4.  ■  ■  ■  being  defeated  in  a  general  action  at  Cynocephaie 
in  Thessaly,  and  his  whole  country,  exhausted  as  it  already  was 
by  the  war,  being  now  exposed  to  invasion,  he  was  reduced  to 
accept  peace  on  such  terms  as  the  Romans  thought  proper  to 
dictate.  These,  as  usual,  tended  to  cripple  the  power  of  the  van- 
quished party,  and  at  the  same  time  to  increase  the  reputation  of 
the  Romans,  by  appearing  more  favourable  to  their  allies  than  to 
themselves.  PhiUp  was  *  obliged  to  give  up  every  Greek  city  that 
he  possessed  beyond  the  limits  of  Macedonia,  both  in  Europe  and 
in  Asia  ;  a  stipulation  which  deprived  him  of  Thessaly,  Achaea, 
Phthiotis,  Perrhajbia,  and  Magnesia,  and  particularly  of  the  three 
important  towns  of  Corinth,  Chalcis,  and  Demetrias,  which  he 
used  to  call  the  fetters  of  Greece.  All  these  states  were  declared 
free  and  independent ;  except  that  the  Romans  (pretending  that 
Antiochus,  king  of  Syria,  threatened  the  safety  of  Greece)  retained, 
for  the  present,  the  strong  places  of  Chalcis  and  Demetrias^  in 
their  own  hands.  Philip  was  forced  also  to  satisfy  the  several 
demands  of  Attains,  of  the  Rhodians,  and  of  the  other  allies  of 

[>  According  to  Niebuhr,  Vol.  IV.  232,  '  Livy,  XXXI.  28.  38.  41,  &c. 

this  date  should  be  552,  and  that  for  the  *  Polybius,  XVIII.  27,  et  seq.  17,  and 

battle  of  Cynocephaie  55G,  Livy   having  XVI [.  2. 

«iade  an  error  of  one  year. — Ed.]  ['  Polybius,  XVIII.  28. — Ed.] 

'  Livy,  XXX.  42  ;  XXXI.  5. 


WAR  WITH  ANTIOCHUS  THE  GREAT.  1 X 

Rome,  except  of  the  .^Etolians,  whom  it  was  now  the  policy  of  the 
Romans  to  humble  ;  as  the  depression  of  Philip  had  left  them  the 
principal  power  in  Greece.  In  addition  to  these  sacrifices,  he  was 
to  surrender  almost  the  whole  of  his  navy,  and  to  pay  to  Rome  a 
thousand  talents. 

Immediately^  after  the  conchision  of  this  treaty  followed  the 
memorable  scene  at  the  Isthmian  games,  where  it  was  announced 
to  all  the  multitude  assembled  on  that  occasion,  that  the  Ro- 
mans bestowed  entire  freedom  upon  all  those  states  of  Greece 
which  had  been  subject  to  the  kings  of  Macedon.  The  Greeks, 
unable  to  read  the  future,  and  having  as  yet  had  no  experience 
of  the  ambition  of  Rome,  received  this  act  with  the  warmest  grat- 
itude ;  and  seemed  to  acknowledge  the  Romans  in  the  character 
which  they  assumed,  of  protectors  and  deliverers  of  Greece. 

The  kingdom  of  Macedon  being  now  humbled,  there  was  no 
one  in  a  condition  to  dispute  the  power  of  the  Romans  war  with  Antiochus 

,~.  1         •        1  1    •  c    ct        ■  mi    •       <he  Great.     U.  C.  562. 

m  Greece,  except  Antiochus,  kmg  oi  Ibyria.  1  his  b.  c.  192. 
prince  had  lately^  enlarged  his  dominions  by  reducing  those  cities 
on  the  coast  of  xisia  Minor,  which,  in  the  course  of  the  many  wars 
between  the  successors  of  Alexander,  had  been  gained  by  the 
kings  of  Egypt.  He  now  professed  his  intention  of  crossing  into 
Europe,  and  re-uniting  to  his  empire  those  cities  and  parts  of 
Thrace  which  had  been  conquered  from  Lysimachus  by  one  of 
his  predecessors  ;  and  which  had  since  been  wrested  from  the 
crown  of  Syria  by  the  kings  of  Egypt  and  Macedon.  But  the 
Romans  having  now  brought  their  war  with  Philip  to  an  end, 
resolved  at  once  to  stop  the  progress  of  Antiochus  ;  and  their  am- 
bassadors, who  found  him  at  Lysimachia,  required  him  to  restore 
every  place  that  he  had  taken  from  Ptolemy,  king  of  Egypt,  and 
to  leave  those  cities  independent,  which,  Slaving  lately  belonged 
to  Philip,  were  now  destined  by  the  Romans  to  enjoy  their 
liberty. 

Antiochus  replied,  that  the  Romans  had  no  more  concern  in 
the  affairs  of  Asia  than  he  had  in  those  of  Italy  ;  and  the  ambas- 
sadors departed  without  gaining  their  demands.  In  this  state  of 
things,  the  vEtolians,^  who  were  now  totally  alienated  from  the 
Romans,  in  consequence  of  the  neglect  with  which  they  had  been 
treated  in  arranging  the  terms  of  the  peace  with  Philip,  eagerly 
solicited  the  king  of  Syria  to  enter  Greece,  encouraging  him  to 
hope,  that,  with  their  assistance,  he  might  destroy  the  influence 
of  Rome  in  that  country  altogether.  He  accordingly  crossed  over 
with  a  small  force,  and  was  admitted,  through  the  intrigues  of 
the  iEtolians,  and  the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants,  into  several 
places  of  importance  ;  but '  the  Achseans  and  Eumenes,  who  had 

«  Polybius,  XVIII.  29,  et  scq.  "  Livy  XXXV.  12.  33.  43,  &c. 

'  Polybius,  XVIII.  32,  33,  and  Livy,  »  Livy,  XXXV.  50,  51 ;  XXXVI.  14, 

XXXIIL  19. 38.  et  seq. 


12 


BATTLE  OF  MAGNESIA. 


lately  succeeded  Attains  on  the  throne  of  Pcrgamus,  declared 
against  him,  and  their  forces  occupied  Chalcis,  in  Euboea,  to  se- 
cure it  from  his  attacks.  Philip,  king  of  Maccdon,  also  decided 
on  taking  part  with  the  llomans  ;  yet,  notwithstanding,  Anti- 
ochus  succeeded  in  reducing  Chalcis,  and  the  whole  of  Kuboea, 
and  won  besides  several  cities  in  Thessaly.  He  returned  to 
Chalcis  to  pass  the  winter  ;  and  the  consul,  Manius  Acilius  Gla- 
brio,  arriving  in  Epims  in  the  ensuing  spring,  and  having  marched 
thence  into  Macedonia  to  concert  measures  with  Philip,  and  after- 
wards having  advanced  into  Thessaly,  Antiochus  took  post  at 
tho  famous  pass  of  Thermopyhr  to  oppose  his  further  progress. 
lie  was  easily  dislodged,  however,  by  the  Romans;  and  that 
with  such  severe  loss,  that  he  thouglit  it  prudent  at  once  to  aban- 
don Cireece,  and  to  return  to  Asia  by  sea  from  Chalcis,  leaving 
the  i'pjtolians  to  bear,  as  they  Ijcst  could,  the  whole  weight  of  the 
Roman  vengeance. 

They  were  accordingly  attacked  by  the  consul.  IVIanius  Acil- 
ius,'" and,  after  seeing  soiue  of  their  towns  taken,  they  implored 
and  obtained  an  armistice  for  a  certain  period,  in  order  to  allow 
them  time  to  send  ambassadors  to  Rome.  Hut  the  demands  of 
the  senate  being  more  exorbitant  tlian  they  could  yet  brin^  them- 
selves to  accept,  the  war  was  again  renewed,  and  Manius"  was 
actively  employed  in  besieging  Amphissa,  when  the  arrival  of  his 
successor,  l>.  Cornelius  Sripio,  afforded  the  iKtolians  another 
respite.  The  new  consul,  who  was  wholly  bent  on  crossing 
over  into  Asia,  to  finish  the  war  with  Antiochus,  was  easily  per- 
suaded to  grant  the  ilOtolians  a  truce  for  six  months  :  and  their 
affairs  were  in  so  desperate  a  state,  that  even  this  doubtful  favour 
seemed  to  thorn  most  acceptable. 

Having  thus  freed  himself  from  the  possible  danger  of  leaving 
an  enemy  in  his  rear,  L.  Scipio  set  forward  for  the  Hellespont, ''•' 
accompanied  l)y  his  brother,  the  famous  Scipio  Afriranus,  who 
acted  under  him  as  his  lieutenant.  The  march  of  the  army  was 
facilitated  to  the  utmost  by  Philip,  king  of  Macedon  ;  who  seems 
vainly  to  have  hoped  that  by  a  faithful  and  zealous  observance 
of  the  treaty  of  peace,  he  might  soften  the  remorseless  ambition 
of  the  Romans.  A  naval  victory,  won  by  the  Roman  fleet,  en- 
sured the  safety  of  the  passage  into  Asia;  and  Antiochus,'^ 
distrusting  his  own  strength,  abandon(?d  the  sea  coast,  and  con- 
centrated his  army  near  Magnesia  and  Thyatira.  Here  he  was 
Pftue  of  Magnesia,  attacked  by  the  Romans,  and  totally  defeated. 
U.C.5M.  B.C.  190.  Sardis  aud  several  Other  places  sun-endered  imme- 
diately after  the  battle;  and  Antiochus, completely'^  panic-struck, 
sent  ambassadors  to  the  consul  and  his  brother,  soliciting  peace 

»»  Livy,  XXXVI.  22-3.5.  •'  Livy,  XXXVII.  30,  31.  33,  et  seq. 

«'  PolybiuB,  XXI.  1,  2.  &c.  '*  Polybius,  XXI.  13,  &c. 

"  Livy,  XXXVII.  1.  7. 


DEFEAT  OK  THE  GALATIANS.  |o 

on  their  own  terms.     He  was  ordered  accordingly  to  resign  his 
pretensions  to  any  dominion  whatever  in  Europe,  and  to  cede 
every  thing  that  he  possessed  in  Asia  westward  of  Mount  Taurus  • 
to  pay  fifteen  thousand  talents  to  the  Romans  wiihin  twelve 
years,  to  reimburse  them  for  the  expenses  of  the  war ;  to  pay  to 
Eumenes,  king  of  Pergamus,  four  hundred  talents  in  money,  and 
a  certain  quantity  of  corn,  which  he  had  engaged  by  treaty  to 
pay  to  the  late  king  Attains  ;  to  give  up  Haimibal  and  some  other 
individuals  who  were  obnoxious  to  the   Romans;  and  to  give 
twenty  hostages  immediately,  as  a  pledge  of  his  sincerity,  to  be 
selected  at  the  pleasure  of  the  consul.    These  terms  were  accepted 
by  Antiochus,  and  hostilities  ceased  therefore  on  both  sides.    Am- 
bassadors were  then  sent  to  Rome  by  Antiochus,  to  procure  a 
ratification  of  the  peace  from  the  senate  and  peoj)le  ;  and  by  Eu- 
menes, the  RJiodians,  and  almost  every  state   within  the   limits 
ceded  by  tlie  van([uished  king,  to  court  the  favour  of  the  new 
arbiters  of  the  fate  of  Asia,  and  to  gain  for  themselves  as  large  a 
share  as  possible  of  the  spoils  of  the  .Syrian  monarchy.     After 
the  several  embassies  had  received  an  audience  of  the  senate,  the 
peace  with  Antiochus  was  ratified,  and  ten  commissioners'^  were 
appointed  to  .settle  all  disputed  points  in  Asia;  with  these  general 
instructions,  that  all  llie  dominions  ceded  by  tin;   king  of  Syria 
to  the  Romans  should  Ix;  given  to  Eumenes,  with  the  exception 
of  Lycia  and  part  of  Caria,  which  were  bestowed  on  the  Rho- 
dians,  and  those  Greek  cities  which  had  paid  tribute  to  Antiochus, 
and  which  were  now  declared  independent.     IJut  before  these 
commissioners  arrived  in  Asia,  the  Roman  arms  had  been  em- 
ployed in   another  successful   war.     Cn.  Manlius'«  Yulso,  who 
succeeded  L.  .Scipio  in  the  con.vulsbij)  and  in  the  conmiand  of  the 
army  in  Asia  Minor,  anxious  to  distinguish  hiiuself  by  some  con- 
quest, had  attacked  tlie  (iaiatians,  or  Asiatic  Gauls,  on   the  pre- 
tence that  they  had  furnished  a.ssistance  to  Antiochus ;  and,  after 
several    engagements,    had    obliged    the    different     pefeat of  the  Gai«. 
tribes  to  sue  for  peace.     Their  ambassadors  came  to     "'^' 
him  towards  the  close  of  the  winter  to  receive  his  answer  ;  and 
about  the  same  lime  Eumenes  and  the  ten  commissioners  arrived 
from  Rome.    A  definitive  treaty  of  peace  was  then  concluded  with 
Antiochus,  in  which,  besides  the  concessions  formerly  mentioned, 
he  agreed  to  give  up  almost  the  whole  of  his  navy,  and  all  his 
elephants,  and  not  to  make  war  in  Europe,  or  in  the  islands  of 
the  Mgean. 

The  Galatians,  having  been  already  plundered  to  the  utmost 
during  the  war,  were  only  warned  to  confine  themselves  within 
their  own  limits,  and  not  to  molest  the  kingdom  of  Eumenes  ;  and 

*»  Polybius,  XXII.  7.  '«  Polybius,  XXII.  16.  24,et  seq.  Livy, 

XXXVIII.  12,et8eq. 


14 


INTRIOIIES  OF  PUTI.IP. 


Ariaiathcs,  king  of  Cappadocia,  who  had  also  given  assistance  to 
Antiochus,  was  obliged  to  deprecate  the  anger  of  Rome  by  the  pay- 
ment of  six  hundred  talents  ;  half  of  which,  liowever,  was  after- 
wards remitted  to  him  at  the  intercession  of  Kumcnes.  This  last 
prince  received  a  great  increase  of  territory,  both  in  Asia  and  in 
Europe  ;  and,  together  with  the  commonwealth  of  Rhodes,  was  in 
appearance  the  greatest  gainer  from  the  victory  of  the  Romans. 
However,  in  the  mere  act  of  giving  away  kingdoms  at  her  discre- 
tion, Rome  plainly  declared  the  pre-eminence  of  her  own  power; 
and  she  soon  after  showed,  that  she  could  resume  her  gifts  as 
easily  as  she  liad  made  them,  whenever  the  conduct  of  her  allies 
began  to  excite  her  jealousy. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned,  that  L.  Scipio,  wlien  marching 
towards  Asia,  granted  a  truce  for  six  months  to  the 
conquctof  .Eioiia.  ^^j^n^jj^.  y^^^^^^  thcycould  uotyctbc  induced  to  sur- 
render at  discretion  to  the  mercy  of  the  Romans,  the  war  was  again 
renewed,  and  M.  Fulvius  Nobilior,'^  the  colleague  of  Cn.Manlius 
in  the  consulship,  crossed  over  into  Greece  to  complete  their  sub- 
jugation, lie  first  laid  siege  to  Ambracia,  which  was  vigorously 
defended;  but  the  TEtolians,  now  convinced  of  their  inability  to 
maintain  the  contest,  sued  for  peace  through  the  intercession  of 
the  Rhodians  and  Athenians  ;  and  terms  were  at  length  granted 
them,  which  besides  diminishing  their  territory,  and  obliging  them 
to  pay  a  sum  of  money,  reduced  them  to  a  state  of  entire  depend- 
ence on  Rome,  by  obliging  them  to  follow  the  Romans  in  all 
their  wars,  and  to  acknowledge  and  obey  the  power  and  sove- 
reignty of  Rome.  Their  fate  excites  the  less  compassion,  when 
we  remember  that  they  first  invited  the  Romans  into  Greece  ;  and 
that  their  faithless  and  ambitious  policy  had  mainly  contributed 
to  prevent  the  union  of  the  Greeks  in  one  powerful  state,  which 
might  have  been  able  long  to  maintain  its  independence  against 
every  enemy. 

Eleven  years  had  not  passed  since  the  conclusion  of  the  last 
war  with  Macedon,  when  it  became  apparent  that 
Intrigues  of  Phi  ip.  auothcr  was  iikcly  to  commeucc.  In  the  late  war 
with  Antiochus,  Philip,  as  has  been  seen,  sided  with  the  Romans  ; 
and  thus  took  from  the  king  of  Syria  the  towns  of  ^nus  and 
Maronea,  and  some  other  towns  and  fortresses  on  the  coast  of 
Thrace ;  and  from  the  jEtolians,  several  cities  which  they  had 
occupied  in  Thessaly  and  Perrhaebia.  All  these  places,  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  war,  he  proposed  to  retain  in  his  possession ; 
but  on  one  side,  Eumenes  laid  claim'^  to  the  towns  of  Thrace, 
insisting  that  the  Romans  had  given  to  him  that  portion  of  the 
territories  conquered  from  Antiochus ;  and  on  the  other,  the  Thes- 
is Li  vy,  XXXVII.  49  ;  xxxviii.  3,  "  Polybius,  XXIII.  6.  11.  Livy, 
et  seq.     Polybius,  XXII.  9,  et  seq.  XXXIX.  23,  et  seq. 


ACCESSION  OF  PERSEUS.  ,c 

salians  and  Penhaebians  demanded  the  restoration  of  the  cities 
taken  possession  of  by  PhiUp  in  their  country,  urging  that  the 
^toHans  had  unjustly  seized  them,  and  that  on  their  expulsion 
they  ought  to  revert  to  their  original  and  rightful  owners.     The 
senate,  as  usual,  appointed  commissioners  to  hear  and  to  decide 
on  this  question  ;  and  sentence  was  given,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  against  the  pretensions  of  Philip.     He  had  no  intention, 
however,  to  yield  without  resistance  ;  but  not  being  yet  prepared 
for  war,  he  sought  to  gain  time  by  sending  his  son  Demetrius'"  to 
Rome  to  plead  his  cause.     This  prince  liud  formerly  been  one  of 
the  hostages  given  by  his  father  for  his  faithful  execution  of  the 
terms  of  the  last  treaty  with  the  Romans ;  and  he  had  then  so 
won  the  favour  of  many  of  the  Roman  nobility,  that  Philip  trusted 
much  to  the  influence  he  might  possess  on  the  present  occasion. 
Nor  was  he  disappointed ;  for  Demetrius  was  sent  back  with  re- 
newed expressions  of  the  kindness  entertained  for  him  by  the 
senate,  and  ^^  with  a  promise  that  out  of  regard  for  him,  a  fresh 
commission  should  be  appointed  to  reconsider  the  points  in  dis- 
pute between  Philip  and  his  opponents.     Yet  the  new  commis- 
sion confirmed  the  judgment  of  the  former  one;  and  Philip  was 
obliged  to  withdraw  his  garrisons  from  all  the  contested  towns  both 
in  Thrace  and  Thessaly  :  nor  did  the  favour  shown  by  the  Ro- 
mans to  Demetrius  produce  any  other  result  than  his  destruction. 
A  suspicion  arose  that  he  aspired  to  succeed  to  the  throne,  through 
their  support,  to  the  exclusion  of  his  elder  brother     Tmgicai  end  of  hu. 
Perseus.     This  produced  an  open  enmity  between     «on,  Demetriua. 
the  brothers  ;  and  after  many  mutual  accusations  of  each  other, 
Philip,  it  is  said,'^'  was  induced  to  order  the  death  of  Demetrius 
by  poison  :  but,  according  to  the  Roman  writers,  being  afterwards 
convinced  of  his  innocence,  he  intended  to  deprive  Perseus  of  the 
succession,  in  abhorrence  of  his  treachery  towards  Accession  of 

his  brother.     He  died,  however,  before  his  inten-  Penc^'!"  ° 

tions  could  be  carried  into  efl'ect,  and  Perseus  ascended  the  throne 
without  difficulty.  This  account  of  the  private  affairs  of  the 
royal  family  of  Macedon,  as  it  relates  to  matters  y  p  5,5  ^  ^  179 
not  likely  to  be  known  with  certainty  by  the  pub-  0^.144,2. 
He,  and  as  it  comes  to  us  from  writers  disposed  to  believe  every 
calumny  against  Perseus,  merits  very  little  attention.  It  is  only 
known,  that  the  Romans  were  disposed,  from  the  very  beginning 
of  his  reign,  to  regard  the  new  king  of  Macedon  with  aversion  ; 
and  that  he,  foreseeing  that  a  war  in  defence  of  the  independence 
of  his  crown  would  soon  be  inevitable,  took  every  method  of  ren- 
dering himself  popular  in  Greece,  and  of  strengthening  the  inter- 
nal resources  of  his  kingdom. 

»•  Polybius,  XXiri.  14.  21  Livy,  XL.  24.  55,  56. 

*•  Polybius,  XXIV.  2.  6. 


16  SECOND  MACEDONIAN  WAR. 

The  Romans  alleged,"  as  the  causes  of  their  quarrel  with 
Rocond Macedonian  Pcrscus,  that  hc  had  uiadc  war  on  some  of  their 
*"•  allies  ;    that  he  had  endeavoured  to  draw  away 

others  to  a  connexion  with  himself,  incompatible  with  their  duty 
to  Rome ;  and  that  he  had  hired  assassins  to  make  an  at- 
tempt on  the  life  of  king  Eumenes,  when  returning  from  Rome, 
whither  he  had  gone  to  instigate  the  senate  to  declare  war 
against  Macedon.  In  answer'^^  to  these  charges,  Perseus  replied, 
that  his  hostilities  with  the  allies  of  Rome  were  purely  defensive  : 
and  the  charge  of  intended  assassination  he  strongly  and  flatly 
denied.  With  regard  to  his  endeavouring  to  seduce  the  allies  of 
Rome  from  their  fidelity,  he  is  made  by  Livy  to  refer  to  a  former 
justification  of  himself  on  that  point,  which  is  not  at  present  to  be 
found  in  Livy's  history\  However,  it  is  evident  that  the  Romans 
were  determined  on  war,  and  that  the  king  of  Macedon  took 
every  step,  consistent  wilh  the  independence  of  his  crown,  to 
avoid  it.  Although  the  Romans^*  had  accused  him  of  making 
great  military  preparations  in  time  of  peace,  and  hc  was,  in  fact, 
in  a  far  better  condition  to  commence  immediate  hostilities  than 
they  were,  yet  he  lost  the  opportunity  thus  afforded  him,  from 
his  anxious  desire  to  negotiate  with  the  enemy  ;  and  when  he 
■was  actually  driven  to  take  up  arms,-^  and  had  gained  some  ad- 
vantage over  the  consul  Licinius,  he  instantly  renewed  his** 
offers  of  peace,  consenting  to  the  same  terms  which  his  father 
had  only  submitted  to  after  his  total  defeat  at  Cynocephale. 
The  most  open  and  unprincipled  ambition  in  modern  times, 
would  hardly  dare  to  avow  such  an  answer  as  that  made  by  the 
Roman  general,  to  a  proposal  so  conciliatory.  He  replied,  that 
Perseus  must  submit  himself  to  the  discretion  of  the  senate,  and 
allow  it  to  decide  on  the  state  of  Macedon  as  it  should  think 
proper.  In  other  words,  the  time  was  now  come,  when  the  Ro- 
mans, in  their  career  of  conquest,  had  reached  the  kingdom  of 
Philip  and  Alexander,  and  nothing  could  induce  them  to  delay, 
far  less  to  renounce,  their  resolution  of  sacrificing  it  to  their  law- 
less and  systematic  ambition. 

This  refusal  to  negotiate  after  a  defeat,  was  a  general  maxim 
of  Roman  policy,  and  has  often  been  extolled  as  a  proof  of  he- 
roic magnanimity.  It  should  rather  be  considered  as  a  direct  out- 
rage on  the  honour  and  independence  of  all  other  nations,  which 
ought,  in  justice,  to  have  put  the  people  who  professed  it  out  of 
the  pale  of  all  friendly  relations  with  mankind.  In  a  moment  of 
madness,  the  French  Convention,  in  1794,  passed  a  decree,  that 
the  garrisons  of  the  four  fortresses  on  the  northern  frontier,  then 
in  the  possession  of  the  allies,  should  be  put  to  the  sword,  if  they 

«  Livy.  XLII.  30.  40.  «  Livy,  XLII.  47. 

"  Livy,  XLII.  41.  «  Polybius,  XXVII.  8, 

^  Livy,  XLII.  43. 


BATTLE  OP  PYDNA. 


17 


did  not  surrender  within  twenty-four  hours  after  they  were  sum- 
moned. To  this  decree,  a  notice  of  which  accompanied  the  sum- 
mons of  the  besieging  general,  the  Austrian  governor  of  Le 
Q,uesnoy  nobly  replied,  "  No  one  nation  has  a  right  to  decree  the 
dishonour  of  another  :  I  shall  maintain  my  post  so  as  to  deserve 
the  esteem  of  my  master,  and  even  that  of  the  French  people 
themselves.''  In  like  manner,  a  refusal  to  make  peace  except  on 
their  submission,  was  to  decree  the  dishonour  of  every  other  na- 
tion :  nor  had  Rome  any  right  to  insist,  that  whatever  were  the 
events  of  a  war,  it  should  only  be  terminated  on  such  conditions 
as  should  make  her  enemy  the  inferior  party.  Had  other  nations 
acted  on  the  same  principle,  every  war  must  necessarily  have 
been  a  war  of  extermination  ;  and  thus  the  pride  of  one  people 
would  have  multiplied  infinitely  the  sufferings  of  the  himian 
race,  and  have  reduced  mankind  to  a  state  of  worse  than  savage 
ferocity.  The  avowal  of  such  a  maxim,  in  short,  placed  Rome 
in  a  condition  of  actual  hostility  with  the  whole  world ;  and 
would  have  justified  all  nations  in  uniting  together  for  the  pur- 
pose of  forcing  a  solemn  and  practical  renunciation  of  it;  or,  in 
case  of  a  refusal,  of  extirpating  utterly  the  Roman  people,  as  the 
common  enemies  of  the  peace  and  honour  of  mankind. 

After  the  refusal  of  the  consul  Licinius  to  negotiate  with 
Perseus,  the  war  was  protracted  for  two  years  more  without  any 
decisive  success ;  the  Roman  officers  who  were  employed  in  it 
displaying  little  ability  or  enterprise,  and  disgracing  themselves 
by  flagrant  "^^  acts  of  extortion  and  oppression  towards  their 
allies.  At  last  L.  iEmilius  Paullus,  son  of  the  consul  who  was 
killed  at  Canna3,  and  himself  inheriting  his  father's  reputation 
for  wisdom  and  valour,  was  chosen  consul ;  and  the  province  of 
Macedonia  falling  to  his  share,  he  took  every  method  to  bring 
the  war  to  a  successful  issue.  Great  care  was  ^^  observed  in  the 
appointment  of  the  officers  who  were  to  serve  under  him ;  and 
when  he  arrived  in  Greece  and  took  the  command,  he  greatly  re- 
formed the  discipline  of  the  army,  and  brought  it  into  a  high 
state  of  order  and  activity.  His  exertions  were  Bainoofpydna.  End 
soon  rewarded  by  the  battle  of  Pydna,  of  the  ^iJ^ek.ngdomofMa. 
details  of  which  we  have  only  the  account  of  oL^isTi.  ^  ^' """ 
Plutarch,  but  the  event  is  abundantly  known.  The  Macedonian 
army  was  totally  destroyed  ;  the  cities  of  the  kingdom  succes- 
sively surrendered  to  the  conquerors  ;  and  Perseus  himself  short- 
ly after  gave  himself  up  to  the  consul's  mercy.  He  was  taken 
to  Rome  with  his  flunily,  to  adorn  the  triumph  of  iEmilius  ;  and, 
according  to  Paterculus,  died  about  four  years  afterwards  at 
Alba,=^»  which  was  assigned  as  the  place  of  his  confinement.  His 

"  Livy,  XLIII.  4,  5,  6,  &,c.  would   be  nearer  the   truth  to  say,  that 

**  Ivivy,  XLIV.  21.  34.  Perseus  was  murdered   by  the  Romans  ; 

^  Vid.  Veil.   Patercul.  I.   11. — But  it      for  after  having  suffered  such  cruel  treat- 


13  CONDUCT  OF  ROME  TO  HER  ALLIES. 

principal  nobility,  and  every  man  ^°  who  had  ever  held  any  office 
under  him,  were  ordered  to  transport  themselves  into  Italy,  on 
pain  of  death,  lest  they  should  disturb  the  new  settlement  of  their 
country.  Macedonia  was  then  divided  into  four  districts  ;  each 
of  which  was  to  be  under  a  republican  government.  Half  the 
tribute  formerly  paid  to  the  king,  was  henceforward  to  be  paid  to 
the  Romans,  who  also  appropriated  to  themselves  the  produce  of 
all  the  gold  and  silver  mines  of  the  kingdom.  The  inhabitants 
were  forbidden  to  fell  timber  for  ship-building ;  and  all  intermar- 
riages and  sales  of  land  between  the  people  of  the  several  dis- 
tricts Avere  forbidden.  With  these  marks  of  real  slavery,  they 
were  left,  for  the  present,  nominally  free ;  and  Macedonia  was 
not  yet  reduced  to  the  form  of  a  Roman  province. 

It  is  curious  to  observe,  how,  after  every  successive  conquest, 
Conduct  of  Rome  to  tlic  Romaus  altered  their  behaviour  to  those  allies 
'''="'"''^«-  who  had  aided  them  to  gain  it,  and  whose  friend- 

ship or  enmity  was  now  become  indifferent  to  them.  Thus,  after 
their  first  war  with  Philip,  they  slighted  the  .^Etolians  ;  after  they 
had  vanquished  Antiochus,  they  readily  listened  to  complaints 
against  Philip  ;  and  now  the  destruction  of  Macedon  enabled 
them  to  use  the  language  of  sovereigns  rather  than  of  allies  to 
their  oldest  and  most  faithful  friends,  Eumenes,  the  Rhodians, 
and  the  Achaeans.  The  ^'  senate  first  tampered  with  Attains,  the 
brother  of  Eumenes,  hoping  that  he  might  be  persuaded  to  accuse 
his  brother,  and  to  petition  for  a  share  of  his  dominions  ;  but 
when  they  found  him  deaf  to  their  temptations,  they  retracted 
some  promises  which  they  had  before  made  him,  in  the  hope  that 
he  would  listen  to  them.  Afterwards,  when  Eumenes  himself 
landed  in  Italy  on  ^^  his  way  to  Rome,  with  the  view  of  removing 
the  suspicions  entertained  against  him,  the  senate,  aware  of  his 
purpose,  issued  an  order  that  no  king  should  be  allowed  to  come 
to  Rome  ;  and  despatched  one  of  the  quaestors  to  announce  it  to 
him  at  Brundusium,  and  to  command  him  to  leave  Italy  immedi- 
ately. The  Rhodians  had  offended  by  declaring  openly,  "  that 
they  "  were  tired  of  the  war  with  Perseus ;  that  he,  as  well  as 
the  Romans,  was  the  friend  of  their  commonwealth  ;  that  they 
should  wish  to  see  the  contending  parties  reconciled  ;  and  that 
they  would  themselves  declare  against  those  whose  obstinacy 
should  be  an  impediment  to  peace."  This  declaration,  which 
was  received  at  Rome  most  indignantly,  had  been  privately  re- 

ment  in  the  dungeon  to  which  he  was  under  their  persecutions — Vid.  Fragment. 

at  first  consigned,  that  iEtnilius  PauUus  Diodor.  Sicul.  XXXL  893,  edit.  Rhodora. ; 

complained  of  it  in  the  senate  as  a  nation-  and   Mithridatis  Epistolam,  apud  Fragm. 

al  disgrace,  he  was  removed  to  a  less  mis-  Sallust. 

erable  prison  ;  and  there  having   offended  ^^  Livy,  XLV.  32.  29. 

the  soldiers  who  guarded  him,  they,  in  ^'  Folybius,  XXX.  1,  et  seq. 

revenge,  harassed  him  night  and  day, and  ^*  Folybius,  XXX.  17. 

never  allowed  him  to  sleep  till  he  expired  ^^  Folybius,  XXIX.  7.    Livy.XLIV.  14. 


CONDUCT  OF  ROME  TO  HER  ALLIES.  jg 

commended  by  Q,.  Marcius,  the  Roman  consul,  to  one  of  the  Rho^ 
dian  ambassadors,  who  had  visited  him  in  his  camp  in  Macedo- 
nia, during  the  preceding  year :  and  Polybius  ^^  reasonably  con- 
jectures, that  Marcius,  confident  of  a  speedy  victory  over  Perseus, 
gave  this  advice  to  the  Rhodians  with  the  treacherous  purpose  of 
furnishing  the  senate  with  a  future  pretence  of  hostility  against 
them.  However,  their  fault  was  punished  by  the  loss  of  Lycia 
and  Caria,"5  which  the  senate  now  declared  independent;  and 
the  individuals  who  were  accused  of  favouring  Perseus  were 
given  up  to  the  Romans,^^  or  at  the  instigation  of  Roman  officers 
were  put  to  death  by  the  Rhodian  government.  Nor  should  it 
be  ^''  omitted,  that  a  general  inquiry  was  institnted  throughout 
Greece  into  the  conduct  of  the  principal  men  in  the  several  states 
during  the  late  war.  Those  who  were  accused  by  their  country- 
men of  the  Roman  party  of  having  favoured  Perseus,  were  sum- 
moned to  Rome  to  plead  their  cause  as  criminals  ;  and  some  were 
even  put  to  death.  But  if  the  mere  opinions  and  inclinations  of 
individuals  were  thus  punished,  the  states  which  had  actually 
taken  part  with  Macedon  met  with  a  still  heavier  destiny.  Let 
it  be  for  ever  remembered,  that  by  a  decree  '^  of  the  senate,  seven- 
ty towns  of  Epirus  were  given  up  to  be  plundered  by  the  Roman 
army,  after  all  hostilities  were  at  an  end  ;  that  falsehood  and  de- 
ceit were  used  to  prevent  resistance  or  escape  ;  and  that  in  one 
day  and  one  hour  seventy  towns  were  sacked  and  destroyed,  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  human  beings  sold  for  slaves. 
The  instrument  employed  on  this  occasion  was  L.  iEmilius  Paul- 
lus,  the  conqueror  of  Macedon,  and  one  of  those  whom  we  are 
taught  to  regard  as  models  of  Roman  virtue.  There  is  no  reason 
to  doubt  his  sincere  affection  for  his  country,  his  indifference  to 
money,  and  his  respectability  as  a  citizen,  husband,  son,  and  fa- 
ther. But  it  is  useful  to  see  what  dreadful  actions  the  best  men 
of  ancient  times  were  led  unhesitatingly  to  commit,  from  the  utter 
absence  of  a  just  law  of  nations,  and  the  fatal  habit  of  making 
their  country  the  supreme  object  of  their  duty.  Nor  is  it  possible 
that  these  evils  should  be  prevented,  unless  truer  notions  have  in- 
sensibly established  themselves  in  the  minds  of  men,  even  of 
those  who  are  least  grateful  to  the  source  from  which  they  have 
derived  them ;  and  if  modern  Europe  be  guided  by  purer  princi- 
ples, the  Christian  historian  cannot  forget  from  what  cause  this 
better  and  happier  condition  has  arisen. 

It  remains  now  that  we  speak  of  the  conduct  of  the  Romans 
towards  the  Achaeans.  The  early  history  of  the  Achaean  league, 
and  the  leaning  of  its  councils  towards  a  friendly  connexion  with 

M  Polybius,  XXVIIL  15.  =»  Polybius,    XXX.   15.     Livy,   XLV. 

«  Polybius,  XXX.  5.  8.  34.     Plutarch,  in  Vita  iEmilii  PauUi,  c. 

38  Livy,  XLV.  10.  29. 
3»  Livy,  XLV.  31. 


20  CONDUCT  OF  ROME  TO  HER  ALLIES. 

Macodon,  has  been  already  noticed.  In  the  war  between  the 
Romans  and  Phihp,  however,  the  Achaians  were  persuaded  to 
join  with  the  former;  a  ^tep  which  Polybius^'  describes  as  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  their  safety  ;  whether  it  were  altogether 
equally  honourable,  we  have  hardly  the  means  of  deciding.  But 
their  new  connexion,  whatever  may  be  thought  of  its  origin,  was 
ever  afterwards  faithfully  observed ;  insomuch  that  the  Romans, 
though  sufficiently  adroit  in  finding  matter  of  complaint,  when 
they  were  disposed  to  do  so,  and  though  offended  by  the  free  and 
independent  tone  which  the  Achaean  government  always  main- 
tained towards  them,  could  yet  obtain  no  tolerable  pretext  for 
attacking  them.  There  was,  however,  a  traitor  amongst  the 
Acha^ans,  named  Callicrates,^"  who,  jealous  of  the  popularity  of 
the  ruling  party  in  the  councils  of  his  country,  endeavoured  to 
supplant  them  through  the  influence  of  Rome  ;  and  to  ingratiate 
himself  with  the  senate  by  representing  his  opponents  as  despisers 
of  the  Roman  authority,  which  he  and  his  friends  vainly  endea- 
voured to  uphold.  After  the  Macedonian  war,  his  intrigues^' 
were  carried  to  a  greater  extent  than  ever.  He  accused  a  great 
number  of  the  most  eminent  of  his  countrymen  of  having  favoured 
the  cause  of  Perseus  ;  and  although  the  conduct  of  the  Achaean 
government  towards  Rome  had  been  perfectly  blameless,  and 
nothing  was  found  among  the  papers  of  the  king  of  Macedon 
which  confirmed  t'le  charge,  even  against  any  of  its  individual 
citizens,  yet,  on  the  demand  of  the  Romans,  more  than  a  thousand 
of  the  most  eminent  men  in  the  commonwealth  were  arrested 
and  sent  into  Italy,  under  pretence  that  they  should  be  tried  for 
their  condnct  at  Rome.  On  their  arrival  in  Italy,  they  were  con- 
fined in  the  different  cities  of  Tuscany,  and  there  remained 
nearly  seventeen  years.  The  senate  repeatedly  refused  the  peti- 
tion of  the  Achaean  government,  that  they  might  either  be  released, 
or  else  be  brought  to  trial.  It  is  added,  that  wlioever  among  them 
were  at  any  time  detected  in  endeavouring  to  escape,  were  invaria- 
bly put  to  death.  At  last,*^  after  most  of  them  had  died  in  cap- 
tivity, the  influence  of  Cato  the  censor  was  exerted  in  behalf  of 
the  survivors,  at  the  request  of  Sicpio  ^Emilianus,  who  was 
anxious  to  serve  one  of  their  number,  his  own  familiar  friend,  the 
historian  Polybius.  But  the  manner  in  which  Cato  pleaded  their 
cause  deserves  to  be  recorded.  He  represented  the  Achaean 
prisoners  as  unworthy  of  the  notice  of  the  senate  of  Rome  :  "  We 
sit  here  all  day,"  said  he,  "  as  if  we  had  nothing  to  do,  debating 
about  the  fate  of  a  few  wretched  old  Greeks,  whether  the  under- 
takers of  Rome  or  Achaea  are  to  have  the  burying  of  them."  We 
have  dwelt  the  more  fully  on  this  treatment  of  the  Achaeans, 

39  Polybius,  XVn.  13.  ■•'  Polybius,    XXX.    10.       Pausanias. 

«>  Polybius,  XXVI.  1,  et  seq.  Achaea,  10. 

«  Polybius,  XXXV.  6. 


ACH^AN  WAR. 


21 


because  it  sets  in  the  clearest  light  the  character  of  the  Roman 
government ;  and  enables  us  to  appreciate  the  state  of  the  world 
under  the  Roman  dominion,  when  such  men  as  Polybius  were 
subject  to  the  worst  oppression  and  insolence  from  a  nation  which 
boasted  of  Cato  the  censor  as  one  of  its  greatest  ornaments. 

Hitherto,  however,  Achaea  and  the  rest  of  Greece  still  enjoyed 
a  nominal  independence,  notwithstanding  the  real  importance  of  Andns- 
supremacy  of  the  Roman  power.  But  within  little  u"'c.603.  b.  c.  isi. 
more  than  tw^enty  years  from  the  overthrow  of  Per-  <Jl.i57,  2. 
sens,  even  these  poor  remains  of  freedom  were  destroyed.  A  man^^ 
of  low  condition,  named  Andriscus,  availing  himself  of  his  per- 
sonal resemblance  to  the  royal  family  of  Macedon,  assumed  the 
name  of  Philip,  and  pretending  that  he  was  the  son  of  Perseus, 
was  joyfully  received  by  the  Macedonians.  After  a  short  contest, 
he  was  defeated  and  led  prisoner  to  Rome  by  Q,.  Ca^cilius  Metel- 
lus  ;  and  from  henceforward  Macedon  was  placed  entirely  on  the 
footing  of  a  Roman  province.  The  fall  of  Achsca 
followed  almost  at  the  same  time.  It  appears  ^^  that 
a  party  had  lately  acqnired  an  ascendency  in  the  Achaean  coun- 
cils, warmly  inclined  to  throw  off  the  control  of  Rome  ;  but  with- 
out the  wisdom  or  integrity  which  had  enabled  Philopoemen  and 
Lycortas  to  command  respect  from  the  Romans,  while  they  avoid- 
ed giving  them  the  slightest  pretence  for  attacking  their  indepen- 
dence. The  party  now  in  power,  on  the  contrary,  seemed  bent 
upon  provoking  a  Avar  with  Rome.  They  attacked  Lacedffimon,^^ 
which,  although  obliged  to  become  a  member  of  the  Achcean  con- 
federacy, was  on  all  occasions  ready  to  break  off  its  connexion  ; 
and  when  tiie  Lacedaemonians  appealed  to  Rome,  and  commis- 
sioners were  sent  as  usual  to  give  their  judgment,  the  Achaean 
government  treated  them  with  the  utmost  indifference,  and  took 
the  most  violent  measures  for  exciting  popular  feeling  throughout 
Greece  against  the  arbitrary  interference  of  the  Romans.  The 
ferment  was  at  its  height  when  the  commissioners,  who  had 
arrived  at  Corinth,  ^^  pronounced  it  to  be  the  pleasure  of  the  senate, 
that  not  only  Lacedacmon,  bnt  Corinth  also,  and  Argos,  and 
several  other  states  which  had  been  united  with  the  Achacans, 
should  now  be  separated  from  them,  because  they  had  originally 
formed  no  part  of  Achaea.  Nothing  can  be  said  in  excuse  of  this 
decision,  which  was  alike  insolent  and  unjust ;  yet  where  resist- 
ance is  so  evidently  hopeless,  as  it  was  at  this  time  in  Greece,  it 
must  ever  be  condemned  as  a  useless  aggravation  of  a  people's 
sufferings.  The  whole  frame  of  society  was  loosened  by  the 
Achaean  leaders ;  and  great  immediate  evils  were  occasioned  with 
no  reasonable  prospect  of  their  leading  to  permanent  good.  Slaves^'' 

*■'  Livy.Epitom.  XLIX.  1.     Floius.  II.  *'  Paiisanias,  Acliaica,  8,  et  seq, 

14.     Jornand.  I.  *^  Pausanias,  Achaicn,  14. 

"  Polybius,  XXXVII.  1,  &c.  '"'  Polybius,  XL.  2  ;  XXXVIII.  3. 


22  CAPTURE  OF  CORINTH. 

were  set  at  liberty,  and  enlisted  to  swell  the  Achaian  army ;  debtors 
were  protected  from  their  creditors  ;  and  heavy  requisitions  were 
laid  on  all  individuals,  male  and  female,  to  contribute  to  the  wants 
of  the  commonwealth.  But  there  was  no  corresponding  spirit  in 
the  people  ;  and  these  strong  measures  which,  if  adopted  volun- 
tarily, often  produce  eflects  so  wonderful,  were  considered  vexa- 
tious and  oppressive  when  enforced  by  an  unpopular  government. 
Metellus  at  this  time  commanded  in  Macedonia  ;  and  wishing  to 
win  the  double  glory  of  being  the  pacificator  of  Macedon  and 
Acha3a,  he  was  anxious  to  persuade  the  Acha^ans  to  submit 
before  Mummius  the  consul  should  arrive  to  take  the  command 
against  them.  His  advances  were  slighted,  because  they  were 
attributed  to  fear ;  and  an  Achaean  army  *^  marched  towards 
Thermopyla3  to  oppose  his  march  into  Greece.  But  so  totally 
unequal  were  the  Greeks  to  the  maintenance  of  this  contest,  that 
they  abandoned  their  ground  on  the  first  approach  of  Metellus ; 
and,  being  overtaken  on  their  retreat,  were  immediately  and  com- 
pletely routed.  Metellus  then  advanced  towards  Corinth,  having 
reduced  Thebes  and  Mogara  on  his  march  ;  and  his  offers  of 
peace  being  again  rejected,  he  was  obliged  to  surrender  the  task 
of  finally  subjugating  Greece  to  L.  Mummius,  who  about  this  time 
Capture  of  Corinth,  arrivcd  from  Italy.  The  new  commander  finished 
OL.  iTs.  the  war  in  a  single  battle,  under  the  walls  of  Co- 

rinth. Dia3us,  the  Achaean  general,  fled  to  Megalopolis,  and  there 
destroyed  himself  by  poison  ;  the  Corinthians,  for  the  most  part, 
abandoned  their  city,  and  Mummius  entered  it  with  little  or  no 
resistance.  But  every  horror  that  follows  the  most  hardly-won 
capture  of  a  town  by  storm,  was  practised  with  deliberate  cruelty. 
Most  of  the  citizens  were  slain ;  the  women  and  children  were 
sold  for  slaves ;  the  temples  and  houses  were  alike  ransacked ; 
and  Corinth,  finally,  was  burnt  to  the  ground.  The  Achaean 
league  was  then  dissolved,  and  Greece  was  henceforward  treated 
as  a  province,  was  subjected  to  tribute,  and  was  governed  by  a 
Roman  proconsul,  or  praetor. 

We  have  thus  related  the  final  overthrow  of  Grecian  inde- 
pendence somewhat  more  particularly  than  the  difficulty  of  the 
conquest  or  its  particular  importance  might  seem  to  demand. 
Something,  however,  is  due  to  the  memory  of  illustrious  names; 
and  interested  as  we  are  from  our  childhood  in  the  fortunes  of 
Greece,  the  story  of  its  fall  cannot  be  read  without  attention.  It 
now  remains  that  we  turn  to  a  scene  in  itself  far  more  striking, 
and  presenting  a  still  more  painful  picture  of  misery  and  atrocious 
ambition,  the  third  Punic  war,  and  the- destruction  of  Carthage. 

Since  the  time  at  which  Hannibal  was  obliged  to  abandon  his 

***  Pausaniap,  Achaica,  15,  16. 


STATE  OP  CARTHAGE.  gg 

country,  by  the  animosity  of  those  whose  corrup- 
tions he  had  exposed  and  checked,  and  by  the  s'^'^ "^  canhage. 
jealousy  of  the  Romans,  Carthage  seems  to  have  rested  quietly  in 
the  state  of  humihation  to  which  the  event  of  the  second  Punic 
war  had  reduced  her.  Forbidden  as  she  was,  by  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  of  peace,  to  take  up  arms  against  the  allies  of  the  Ro- 
man people,  she  was  obliged  to  suffer  repeated  aggressions  on 
the  part  of  Masinissa,  king  of  Numidia  ;  and  when,  as  her  only 
resource,  she  applied  to  Rome  ^^  for  protection,  she  found  a  tardy 
and  insufficient  redress.  She  observed,  however,  faithfully,  the 
conditions  of  her  submission ;  and  Carthaginian  ships  formed  a 
part  of  the  Roman  fleet,  in  the  wars  with  Antiochus,  and  with 
Perseus.^"  But  when  some  years  had  elapsed  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Macedonian  monarchy,  the  Romans,  having  no  other 
enemy  to  attract  their  attention,  felt  their  hatred  of  Carthage  re- 
vive ;  and  it  was  openly  professed  by  some  members  of  the  senate, 
that  the  very  existence  of  that  commonwealth  ought  no  longer  to 
be  permitted.  The  resistance  which  the  Carthaginians  had  been 
at  last  driven  to  make  to  the  continued  encroachments  and  hostil- 
ities of  Masinissa,  furnished  the  Romans  with  a  pretext  for  declar- 
ing war ;  and  the  two  consuls,  with  two  consular  armies  and  a 
large  fleet,  were  despatched  to  Sicily,  in  order  to  cross  over  from 
that  island  into  Africa  as  soon  as  possible.  The  Carthaginians 
had  tried  every  means  of  pacifying  the  Romans,  without  throw- 
ing themselves  entirely  upon  their  mercy  ;  but  when  they  found 
that  an  army  was  actually  on  its  way  to  attack  them,  and  that 
Utica,^'  the  most  important  of  all  their  dependencies  in  Africa, 
had  already  oflered  an  entire  submission  to  the  Romans,  the  dan- 
ger seemed  too  great  for  any  further  hesitation  ;  and  their  ambas- 
sadors at  Rome  announced  to  the  senate,  that  Carthage  yielded 
herself  up  entirely  to  its  disposal.  In  return,  they  were  promised 
the  enjoyment  of  their  laws  and  liberty,  and  the  uninterrupted 
possession  of  their  lands  and  moveable  property,  on  condition  that 
they  should  send  over  to  Lilyba^um,  within  thirty  days,  three 
hundred  children,  of  the  first  families  in  Carthage,  as  hostages, 
and  that  they  should  obediently  receive  the  commands  which 
the  consuls  should  deliver  to  them  on  their  arrival  in  Africa. 
A  vague  suspicion  of  the  fate  that  awaited  them  possessed 
the  Carthaginians  on  the  return  of  their  ambassadors  ;  still  they 
resolved  to  persevere  in  their  submissions.  The  hostages  were 
sent  to  Lilybaeum,  and  then  were  despatched  to  Rome  ;  and  a 
deputation  waited  on  the  consuls,  soon  after  their  landing  at  Utica, 
to  know  the  final  pleasure  of  the  senate,  and  to  express  the  readi- 
ness of  Carthage  to  obey  it.     The  consuls  commanded  that  all 

*»  Appian,  Punica,  68,  69.  *"  Livy,  XXXVI.  42  ;  XLII.  56.     Po- 

lybius,  XXXVI.  1,  et  seq. 
*'  Appian,  Punica,  69,  et  seq. 


24  THIRD  PUNIC  WAR. 

arms,  offensive  and  defensive,  and  all  engines  of  war,  should  be 
surrendered  to  them  ;  and  even  this  was  complied  with.^'^  A 
number  of  members  of  the  supreme  council,  of  priests,  and 
of  other  individuals  of  the  greatest  distinction  in  Carthage, 
followed  the  long  train  of  wagons  in  which  the  arms  were  carried 
to  the  Roman  camp.  They  hoped  to  move  compassion,  by  the 
sight  of  all  that  was  most  noble  and  most  venerable  in  their 
country  reduced  to  the  condition  of  suppliants.  But  one  of  the 
consuls,  L.  Marcius  Censorinus,  having  arisen,  and  composed  his 
countenance,  says  Appian,  to  an  cxpressiou^^  of  sternness,  briefly 
told  them,  "  That  they  must  abandon  Carthage,  and  remove  to 
any  place  more  inland,  that  should  be  about  nine  or  ten  miles 
distant  from  the  sea  ;  for  Carthage,"  said  he,  "  we  are  resolved  to 
raze  to  the  ground."  This  declaration  was  received  by  the  Car- 
thaginians who  heard  it,  with  the  most  lively  emotions  of  rage 
and  despair  ;  they  vented  curses  against  the  Romans,  as  if  wish- 
ing to  provoke  them  to  forget  the  sacred  character  which  they 
bore.  To  this  burst  of  passiou  the  deepest  grief  succeeded  ;  they 
bewailed  the  fate  of  their  country  with  such  agony  of  sorrow,  that 
it  is  said  even  the  Romans  were  moved  to  tears  ;  and  they  at- 
tempted even  yet  to  obtain  from  the  consuls  a  mitigation  of  their 
sentence.  But  when  Censorinus  repeated  that  the  orders  of  the 
senate  must  be  performed,  and  that  immediately,  and  when  the 
lictors  began  to  drive  the  deputation  from  the  consuls'  presence, 
they  begged  to  be  heard  again  for  a  few  moments  ;  and  then  said, 
that  they  only  entreated  the  Romans  to  advance  with  their  fleet 
instantly  to  the  city,  to  prevent  the  people  from  provoking  their 
lUter  destruction  by  some  act  of  despair.  Censorinus  accordingly 
moved  forwards  with  twenty  ships,  and  remained  off  the  mouth 
of  the  harbour,  while  the  Carthaginians  brought  back  the  report 
of  their  doom  to  Carthage. 

The  tidings  were  received  with  one  common  feeling  of  indig- 
Third  Punic  war.  uatiou  by  tho  supromo  councll  and  by  the  people. 
u.  c.  603.  B.  c.  149.  Gciicrals  were  chosen  immediately  ;  and  when  the 
consuls  refused  to  grant  a  truce  for  thirty  days,  in  order  that  am- 
bassadors might  be  sent  to  Rome,  war  was  at  once  resolved  on  ; 
and  the  whole  population,  men  and  women  alike,  began  to  labour 
night  and  day  in  tiie  fabrication  of  arms,  to  supply  the  place  of 
those  which  they  had  surrendered.  The  consuls,  after  waiting 
some  days,  to  see  if  the  ferment  would  subside,  at  length  marched 
towards  Carthage  and  the  operations  of  the  siege  commenced. 
But  such  was  the  strength  of  the  fortifications,  and  such  the 
spirit  of  their  defenders,  that,  notwithstanding  their  want  of  arms, 
they  repulsed  every  attempt  of  the  enemy  ;  and  the  Roman  army, 
baffled  by  the  Carthaginians,  and  suffering  from  sickness,  saw 

*^  Appian,  Punica,  80,  et  seq.  "  Appian,  Punica,  80, 


SIEGE,  CAPTURE,  AND  DESTRUCTION  OF  CARTHAGE.  35 

the  year  draw  to  a  close  without  having  obtained  any  other 
success  than  such  as  the  extreme  wickedness  of  the  cause  de- 
served.^* Nor  were  the  consuls  of  the  following  year  more  fortu- 
nate ;  and  the  spirit  of  the  Carthaginians,  encouraged  by  their 
long  resistance,  began  to  anticipate  a  final  deliverance.  Masi- 
nissa,  the  old  ally  of  Rome,  was  drawing  near  the  end  of  his  life  ; 
and  whilst  promising  succours  to  the  Roman  army,  evidently 
showed  no  real  disposition  to  assist  it.^^ 

But  in  the  third  year  of  the  war,  P.  Scipio  TEmilianus,  the 
son  of  iEmilius  Paullus,  but  adopted  into  the  fam-  gjggg  capture,  and 
ily  of  Scipio  by  the  son  of  the  famous  Africanus,  fi^lg"'''''''"  "^^^" 
was  elected  consul,  and  appointed  to  the  command  u  c.eos.  b.c.  h6. 
in  Africa  by  an  especial  vote  of  the  people.  He  had  greatly  dis- 
tinguished himself  under  the  former  consuls,  when  serving  as  a 
military  tribune  ;  and  there  was  besides  a  superstitious  persuasion 
among  the  people  in  his  favour,  that  the  Scipios  were  destined  to 
be  the  conquerors  of  Carthage.  On  his  succeeding  to  the  com- 
mand, his  first  care  was  to  restore  the  discipline  of  the  army, 
which  had  suffered  greatly  from  the  misconduct  of  the  last  con- 
sul ;  and  by  his  ability  in  this  respect,  as  well  as  by  his  skill  in 
the  conduct  of  the  war,  he  soon  destroyed  all  the  hopes  of  the 
Carthaginians.  The  situation  of  Carthage,  from  this  time,  began 
to  resemble  the  picture  left  us  of  the  miseries  of  Jerusalem  in  its 
last  siege  by  Titus.  Numbers  died  of  famine  through  the  strict- 
ness of  the  blockade  ;  numbers  deserted  to  the  enemy;  while  As- 
drubal,  who  commanded  the  principal  military  force  in  the  town,^^ 
was  himself  rioting  in  luxury,  and  exercising  the  greatest  tyranny 
over  his  countrymen  ;  his  conduct,  as  a  general,  at  the  same  time, 
being  totally  destitute  of  courage  and  wisdom,  and  marked  only 
by  savage  cruelty  towards  the  prisoners  who  fell  into  his  power. 
Yet"  the  city  continued  to  hold  out  during  the  year  of  Scipio's 
consulship ;  and  the  winter  was  employed  by  him,  successfully, 
in  reducing  the  strongholds  which  still  remained  in  the  power  of 
the  Carthaginians  in  the  neighbouring  country.  In  the  following 
spring,  his  command  being  still  continued,  he  resumed  the  siege 
with  vigour ;  and,  by  a  combination  of  assaults,  succeeded  in 
forcing  his  way  into  one  of  the  quarters  of  the  city,  when  famine 
had  enfeebled  the  bodies  and  the  spirits  of  its  defenders.  But  the 
Byrsa,  or  citadel,  still  remained  untaken ;  and  six  days  were 
consumed  in  a  horrible  struggle  from  street  to  street,  and  from 
house  to  house ;  in  the  course  of  which,  fire  and  the  sword,  and 
the  ruin  of  falling  buildings,  combined  to  carry  on  the  work  of 
destruction  to  the  uttermost.  At  last  the  remnant  of  the  inhabit- 
ants sued  for  mercy,  and  it  was  granted  them ;  such  mercy  as 

»*  Appian,  Punica,  97,  etseq.  "  Folybius,  XXXIX.  2. 

"  Appian,  Punica,  94.  "  Appian,  Punica,  126,  et  seq. 


26         pro'gress  of  the  roman  arms. 

was  practised  iu  ancient  times,  when  hopeless  slavery,  without 
distinction  of  sex  or  age,  was  the  lot  of  all  whom  the  sword  had 
spared.  Fifty  thousand  individuals  were  thus  made  prisoners, 
to  enrich  their  coiKpjerors  by  the  price  to  be  paid  for  them  in  a 
slave  market  at  Rome  ;  and  the  victorious  army  was  then  allowed 
to  plunder  the  city  for  several  days.  Shortly  after,  a  commis- 
sion** often  senators  was  sent  from  Rome,  as  usual,  to  determine 
the  future  condition  of  the  conquered  coimtry.  By  their  orders, 
whatever  part  of  the  buildings  of  Carthage  had  survived  the 
siege,  was  now  levelled  with  the  ground  ;  and  cmses  were  im- 
precated on  any  man  who  should  hereafter  attempt  to  build  on 
the  spot.  The  territory  was  subjected  to  a  tribute,  and  governed 
henceforth  as  a  Roman  province,  with  the  exception  of  certain 
portions  which  were  given  to  the  people  of  Utica  and  Hippo,  as  a 
reward  for  their  timely  desertion  of  the  Carthaginian  cause.  Thus 
was  the  great  rival  of  Rome  totally  destroyed,  only  a  few  months 
before  the  final  conquest  of  Greece,  in  the  year  of  Rome  008, 
and  about  a  hundred  and  forty-six  years  before  the  Christian 
era. 

It  will  now,  perhaps,  be  most  advisable  to  trace  the  progress 
Progress  of  the  Ro-     ^^  ^^^^"  I^omau  arms  in  Spain  and  Gaul;  then  to 
mail urras  in  Spain,     notico  iho  acccsslous  to   tlicir  empire  gaiucd  in  Af- 
rica  by  the  conquest  of  Jugurtha  ;  and  to  conclude  with  a  general 
view  of  the  extent  of  their  dominion  at   the  period  which  forms 
the  limit  of  the  present  sketch.     The  end  of  the  second   Pimic 
war  had  left  the  Romans  no  other  enemies  in  Spain  to  contend 
with  than  the  natives  themselves  ;  but  these  were  of  so  stubborn 
and  warlike  a  temper,  that  it  was  not  easy  to  eftect  their  subjuga- 
tion.    It  may  be  asked,  what  claim  of  right  could  be  advanced 
by  the  Romans  in  attempting  this  conquest ;  and  no  answer  can 
be  given,  except  that  a  civilized  nation,  in  its  intercourse  with  an 
uncivilized  one,  easily  finds  grounds  of  quarrel,  while  it  exacts 
from  men,  ignorant  of  all  law,  an  observance  of  those  rules,  which 
men,  in  a  more  advanced  state  of  society,  have  agreed  to  call  the 
law  of  nations.     Those  Spanish  tribes  that  had  been  subject  to 
Carthage,  were  treated  by  the  Romans,  on  the  defeat  of  the  Car- 
thaginians, as  a  conquered  people,  were  subjected  to  a  tribute,  and 
governed  with  the  usual  arbitrary  authority  of  the  Roman  provin- 
cial magistrates.     If  they  attempted  lo  shake  off  the  yoke,  it  was 
not  unnatural  that  some  warriors  of  those  tribes,  which  were  yet 
independent,  should  join  the  armies  of  their  countrymen  ;  and  this 
afforded  the  Romans  a  pretext,  sometimes,  for  demandir.g  hostages 
from  the  people  whose  citizens  had  been  found  in  arms  against 
them;  or,  sometimes,  for  requiring  the  surrender  of  their  arms  ; 
conditions  which,  since  in  their  eyes  they  implied  degradation, 

"  Appian,  Punica,  135,  et  seq. 


NUMANTIAN  WAR. 


27 


were  generally  refused,  and  thus  gave  occasion  to  war.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  they  were  acceded  to,  the  Romans  would  proceed  to 
exercise  some  acts  of  sovereignty  which  would  provoke  the  tribes 
to  take  up  arms  ;  or  the  mere  detention  of  their  hostages  was  a 
continual  irritation  to  their  minds,  which  at  last  would  break  out 
in  open  hostility.  Or,  if  this  pretence  failed,  there  was  another 
which  could  scarcely  ever  be  wanting.  If  the  vanquished 
soldiers  of  any  tribe  engaged  in  war  with  Rome,  received  from  their 
countrymen  the  ordinary  succours  of  humanity  ;  if  they  were  en- 
tertained or  sheltered,  this  was  called  assisting  tlie  enemies  of  the 
republic,  and  was  supposed  to  justify  a  Roman  general  in  demand- 
ing satisfaction  from  those  who  had  been  guilty  of  it.  This  was 
the  original  cause  of  the  quarrel  between  Rome  and  Numantia.*' 
Thirdly,  if  there  were  any  tribes  whose  situation,  or  whose  cau- 
tion, had  preserved  them  from  any  sort  of  connexion  with  the 
enemies  of  the  Romans,  some  dispute  amongst  themselves  was 
likely,  sooner  or  later,  to  arise,  and  the  vanquished  party  was 
always  sure  to  find  in  the  Romans,  willing  and  effectual  support- 
ers. The  Roman"  generals  instantly  interfered  as  arbiters ;  and 
if  their  decision  was  not  submitted  to,  they  presently  proceeded 
to  enforce  it  by  arms.  A  system  like  this  steadily  pursued 
amongst  a  warlike  and  independent  people,  naturally  furnished 
the  Romans  with  an  occasion  of  attacking,  in  their  turn,  the  in- 
habitants of  every  part  of  the  peninsula.  Of  all  these,  the  most 
obstinate  and  successful  in  their  resistance  were  the  Lusitanians 
and  Numantians.  The  first,  under  ^'  the  command  of  Virialhus, 
a  chief  of  remarkable  enterpiise  and  ability,  maintained  the  con- 
test for  several  years,  and  defeated  several  of  the  Lusitanian  war  ends. 
Roman  officers;  till  their  leader  was  assassinated  Numuntian war. 
by  three  of  his  followers,  at  the  instigation  of  Servilius  Cffipio, 
the  Roman  general,  then  commanding  against  him.  Numantia 
has  acquired  still  greater  fame,  by  the  disgraces  which  its  inhab- 
itants inflicted  on  the  Roman  arms,  and  the  desperation  of  their 
final  defence.  They  obliged  a  Roman  consul,*'^  C.  Hostilius  Man- 
cinus,  to  purchase  the  safety  of  his  army  by  an  unfavourable 
treaty;  and  when  the  senate,  in  contempt  of  the  public  faith, 
refiised  to  ratify  the  terms,  and  ordered  Mancinus  to  be  given  up 
to  the  enemy  to  expatiate  his  act  with  his  own  life,  the  Numan- 
tians refused  to  accept  him  :  and  the  Roman  writers  record,  with- 
out a  blush,  this  contrast  between  the  honour  of  the  barbarians 
and  their  own  perfidy.  At  last,  Scipio  iKmilianus^  the  conqueror 
of  Carthage,  was  elected  consul,  on  pnrpo.se  to  carry  on  the  war 
with  Numantia.     With  an  army  of  60,000  men,  he  blockaded  the 

"  Florus,  II.  18.  *'  Appian,  Hispanica,  80.  83.  Velleius 

^^  Appian,  Hispanica,  51.  Palerculus,  II.  1.  Florus, II.  18. 

"   Appian.  Hispanica,  61,  et  seq.  Florus, 
II.  17.  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  1. 


28  DESTRUCTION  OP  NUMANTIA. 

city,  the  armed  population  of  which  had  never  exceeded"  8000; 
and  fearing  to  encounter  the  despair  of  the  inhabitants,  he  hem- 
med them  in,  with  hues  of  circumvallation,  and  waited  patiently 
till  famine  should  do  his  work  for  him  without  danger  to  himself. 
The  Numantines  tried  to  obtain  tolerable  conditions  ;  but  they 
had  been  too  formidable  to  find  mercy  from  an  enemy  like  the 
Romans,  who  never  had  any  sympathy  with  courage  from  which 
they  themselves  had  suffered.  Finding  that  they  had  no  hope 
Deatruction  of  Nu-  Icft,  tlic  besicgod  mostly  destroyed  themselves  and 
u.'c'e^ai.  B.C.  133.  their  relations,  and  a  few  only  surrendered  alive  to 
the  conqueror.  He  selected^^  fifty  of  their  number  to  adorn  his 
triumph,  the  rest  he  sold  for  slaves,  and  then  levelled  Numantia 
to  the  ground  ;  and  for  such  a  victory,  so  hardly  won,  over  an 
enemy  so  inferior  in  numbers  and  resources,  he  was  extolled  with 
the  highest  praises  at  Rome,  and  received  the  surname  of  Nu- 
mantinus.  Still,  even  after  the  destruction  of  Numantia,  the 
Spaniards  continued,  at  various  times,  to  maintain  the  struggle 
for  liberty ;  nor  were  they  fully  reduced  to  obedience  till  a  much 
later  period  than  that  with  which  we  are  now  concerned. 

The  Romans  were  first  led  to  carry  their  arms  into  Transal- 
pine Gaul,  by  an  application  from  the  people  of  the 
In  Gaul.  Greek  colony  of  Marseilles  to  protect  them  against 

the  assaults  of  some  of  the  native  tribes  in  their  neighbourhood. 
An  embassy  to  this  etfect  remains  recorded  in  one  of  the  Frag- 
ments®^  of  Polybius,  and  appears  to  have  taken  place  as  early  as 
the  year  of  Rome  600 ;  but  no  important  consequences  seemed  to 
have  followed  from  it  immediately.  About  twenty-eightyears  af- 
terwards, however,  on  a  new  complaint  from  the  people  of  Mar- 
seilles, a  Roman  army  attacked  and  conquered  the  Salyes,"  a 
tribe  of  Transalpine  Gauls  ;  and  after  their  defeat,  the  AUobroges 
and  Arverni,  their  neighbours,  Avere  accused  of  having  given  them 
assistance,  and  of  having  offered  injuries  also  to  the  .^dui,  another 
Gaulish  tribe,  which  had  before  obtained  the  friendship  of  Rome. 
Several  victories  were  gained  over  these  new  enemies,  and  one  or 
two  colonies  Avere  founded  in  Gaul,  such  as"  Aqua3  Sextiee,  or 
Aix,  in  Provence,  planted  by  C.  Sextius,  and  Narbo,®^  or  Nar- 
bonne,  the  origin  of  which  is  fixed  a  little  later.  By  these  means 
the  countries  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean,  on  both  sides  of 
the  Rhone,  from  the  Alps  to  the  Pyrenees,  and  extending  inland 
as  far  as  the  Jura^*  and  the  mountains  of  Auvergne,  were  reduced 
to  the  form  of  a  Roman  province,  about  the  year  of  Rome  632. 

^  Appian,  Hispan.  97.     Florus  makes  ^^  Livy,  Epit.  LXI. — Cassiodori  Chro- 

them  only  four  thousand,  II.  18.  nicon. 

**  Appian,  Hispan.  98.  68  Velleius  Paterculus,  I.  15. 

63  Polybius,  XXXIII.  4.  «9  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  III.  4. 

66  Florus,  III.  2.    Livy,  Epitom.   LX. 
LXI.     Appian,  Gallica,  12. 


HISTORY  OF  JUGURTHA. 


29 


While  the  republic  was  thus  extending  its  dominion  in  Spain 
and  Gaul,  its  empire  in  Africa  received  an  import-  -.^ .  t,  ^  .v,  u. . 

,,.;  .         \  r-ivT  ■  T  ^  ^  -^Ketch  of  the  hittory 

ant  addition  m  the  conquest  oi  Numidia.  After  "fjuganha. 
the  destruction  of  Carthage,  the  principal  part  of  the  territories  of 
that  commonwealth  were  at  once  subjected  to  the  Roman  govern- 
ment ;  and  thus  the  Romans  were  brought  into  close  contact  with 
the  kings  of  Numidia,  whose  dominions  lay  to  the  west  and  south- 
west of  Carthage,  and  stretched  along  the  coast  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean till  they  were  bounded  by  the  confines  of  Mauritania. 
The  name  of  Numidians,  borrowed  from  the  Greek  term  Nomades, 
signifies  a  people  who  live  by  pasturage,  and  has  accidentally 
become  the  peculiar  appellation  of  the  native  tribes  in  the  west  of 
Africa ;  although  under  the  government  of  Syphax,  Masinissa, 
and  Micipsa,  they  seem  to  have  been  in  many  respects  advanced 
far  above  a  mere  pastoral  life.  Micipsa,^"  the  son  of  Masinissa, 
divided  his  kingdom  between  his  sons  Hiempsal  and  Adherbal, 
and  his  nephew  Jugurtha  ;  but  on  his  death,  Jugurtha,  who  was 
much  older  than  his  cousins,  and  who  had  acquired  military  ex- 
perience and  high  distinction  by  serving  in  the  Roman  army  at 
the  siege  of  Numantia,  at  once  proceeded  to  assassinate  Hiempsal, 
and  ihen  openly  invaded  the  dominions  of  the  surviving  prince 
Adherbal.  He  easily  overcame  him,  stripped  him  of  his  territories , 
and  obliged  him  to  fly  to  Rome  for  refuge  and  redress.  But 
dreading  lest  tlie  Romans  should  avail  themselves  of  so  fair  a 
pretext  to  seize  upon  the  kingdom  of  Numidia  for  themselves,  he 
strove  to  deprecate  their  enmity  by  employing  bribery  to  a  large 
extent  among  the  members  of  the  senate ;  and  thus  nothing  was 
done  in  favour  of  Adherbal,  except  the  sending  a  commission  of 
ten  senators  to  Africa,  to  divide  the  kingdom  between  him  and  Ju- 
gurtha. It  is  said,^'  however,  that  this  commission  was  also 
corrupted  by  Jugurtha,  and  thus  was  induced  to  assign  to  him  by 
far  the  most  valuable  share  of  Micipsa's  inheritance.  Of  this  he 
took  advantage,  and  in  a  short  time  he  again  attacked  Adherbal, 
defeated  him,  shut  him  up  in  the  strong  town  of  Cista,  and  there 
besieged  him  for  some  months,  till  the  Italian  soldiers,  who  formed 
the  most  effective  part  of  the  garrison,  persuaded  Adherbal  to  sur- 
render himself  to  his  rival,  and  stipulating  only  for  his  life,  to  rely 
for  every  thing  else  on  the  interposition  of  Rome.  But  no  sooner 
had  he  given  himself  up,  than  Jugurtha  ordered  him  to  be  put  to 
death  in  torments. 

Sallust,  the  warm  partisan  of  Cassar,  and  anxious,  therefore, 
to  vilify  to  the  utmost  the  character  of  the  senate,  asserts  '^  that 
even  this  flagrant  crime  would  have  been  passed  over  with  im- 
punity, owing  to  the  influence  which  Jugurtha  had  obtained  by 

70  Sallust,  Bell   Jugurthin.  9,  et  seq.  "  Bell.  Jugurthin.  27. 

"  Sallust,  Bell.  Jugurthin.  16. 


30  JUGURTHINE  WAR. 

his  bribes  among  the  nobility,  had  not  one  of  the  tribunes  roused 
the  feelings  of  the  people,  and  denounced  the  scandalous  motives 
to  which,  as  he  said,  the  senators  were  sacrificing  the  honour  of 
their  country.  However  this  be,  war  was  declared  against  Ju- 
gurtha,  and  L.  Bestia  Calphurnius,  one  of  the  consuls,  was  sent 
over  to  Africa  to  commence  hostilities  against  him.  Still,  we  are 
told,'^  Jugurtha  continued  to  employ  his  usual  arts  ; 
jugurthine  war.  ^^^^  ^j^^  cousul,  after  sutfcring  the  campaign  to  be 
protracted  in  fruitless  negotiations,  at  last  granted  his  enemy 
peace,  on  condition  of  his  laying  down  his  arms,  and  submitting 
himself  and  his  kingdom  to  the  Romans.  But  only  a  small  part 
of  Jugurtha's  resources  were  in  fact  surrendered,  and  the  consul 
returning  to  Rome  to  preside  at  the  elections  for  the  ensuing  year, 
the  war  was  as  far  from  conclusion  as  ever.  The  succeeding 
season  was  equally  unproductive  of  any  decisive  event ;  but  to- 
wards the  close  of  it,  when  the  consul  Sp.  Albinus  had,  as  usual, 
returned  to  Rome,  the  army  which  he  left  under  the  command  of 
his  brother,  sustained  a  severe  defeat  from  the  enemy,  and  was 
reduced  to  such  difficulties  as  to  purchase  its  retreat  by  a  promise 
of  evacuating  Numidia  within  ten  days;  and,  it  is  added,  by  con- 
cluding a  treaty  of  peace.  But  Jugurtha,  who  had  served  at  Nu- 
mantia,  must  have  remembered  how  lightly  the  senate  could 
violate  the  stipulations  made  by  its  ofiicers  ;  and  he  could  not  rea- 
sonably calculate  on  gaining  any  other  advantage  from  his  agree- 
ment, than  the  getting  rid  of  the  Roman  army  for  the  present. 
The  treaty,  as  he  might  have  expected,  was  immediately  disa- 
vowed at  Rome,  and  the  new  consul,  d.  Ceecilius  Metellus,  was 
likely  to  prove  a  far  more  formidable  adversary  than  those  whom 
he  had  hitherto  encountered.  Metellus  was  bent  on  prosecuting 
the  war  in  earnest.  He  reformed  the  discipline  of  the  army, 
which  is  always  described  as  faulty,  when  the  usual  career  of 
Roman  victory  was  delayed  or  interrupted  ;  but  he  did  not  scru- 
ple, at  the  same  time,  to  tamper^^  with  the  several  officers  whom 
Jugurtha  sent  to  him  to  propose  terms  of  peace,  and  to  tempt  them 
to  betray,  or  even  to  assassinate  their  master.  He  evaded  giving 
any  decisive  answer  to  the  offers  made  to  him,  but  continued  to 
advance  into  the  heart  of  Jugurtha's  country,  and  had  deprived 
him  of  a  large  portion  of  his  resources,  before  the  Numidian  per- 
ceived that  his  enemy  was  merely  amusing  him,  and  that  he  had 
nothing  but  the  sword  to  trust  to.  In  the  course  of  the  campaign, 
Metellus  gained  some  advantages,  but  he  received  also  several  se- 
vere checks  from  the  activity  of  Jugurtha,  who  turned  to  the  best 
account  his  own  perfect  knowledge  of  the  country,  and  the  pecu- 
liar excellence  of  his  subjects  in  desultory  warfare.  Experience, 
however,  taught  Metellus  to  guard  more  completely  against  this 

T3  Bell.  Ju^urthin.  29.  '*  Bell.  Jugurth.  46. 


RISE  OF  CAIUS  MARIUS. 

kind  of  annoyance  ;  and  his  intrigues  were  so  successful  with  the 
prnjcipal  officers  of  his  enemy,  that  Jugurtha  found  those  whom  he 
had  most  trusted  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  against  his  hfe  •  and 
although  he  escaped  the  immediate  danger  by  putting  them  to 
dea  h,  his  prospects  for  the  future  were  overcast  with  fear  and  he 
regarded  every  one  about  him  with  suspicion.     Meantime  the  fa 
mous  Cauis  Marius,^  who  had  served  with  dis- 
tinction under  MeteUus  as  his  second  in  command    ^'^«  °^  ^aius  Mariw. 
impatient  of  holding  an  inferior  station,  and  covet'ing  to  himself 
tlie  glory  of  conquering  Jugurtha,  had  obtained  leave  to  -o  to 
Kome,  and  offer  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  consulship  "^  He 
was  a  man  of  low  birth,  and  totally  ilUterate,  but  active  and  able 
with  power  sufficient  to  make  him  feared  by  the  nohilitv  and 
with  an  inveterate  hatred  against  them,  because  their  scorn  of  his 
mean  condition  galled  liis  pride,  and  impeded  his  way  to  great- 
ness.    By  depreciating^^   Metellus,  and  promisinc^ 
soon  to  end  the  war  if  the  command  were  in  his     "*^ '''""=o"8'''^hip. 
own  hands  he  won  the  favour  of  the  multitude ;'  for  invectives 
against  high  birth  and  station,  joinei  to  an  unabashed  self-assur- 
ance, are  powerful  pleaders  with  the  low  and  the  ignorant-  and 
he  was  elected  for  the  first  time  to  that  office  which  he  afterwards 
filled  more  frequently  than  any  other  Roman,  and  in  which  he 
was  the  author  of  as  signal  military  services,  and  as  great  do- 
mestic injuries,  as  any  one  individual  has  ever  been  known  to 
bring  upon  his  country. 

Marius,  soon  after  his  election,  received  from  the  people  in 
spite  of  a  contrary  resolution  of  the  senate,  the  com-    He  is  appoint^  to 
mand  of  the  army  in  Numidia,  and  the  conduct    ™X""^ "'"'"'''" 
of  the  war  with  Jugurtha.     On  his  arrival  in  Africa,  he  found  that 
some  of  the  most  important  towns  in  Numidia  had  been  taken 
by  Metellus,  and  that  Jugurtha  had  implored  and  obtained  the 
assistance  of  Bocchus,  king  of  Mauritania,  so  that  he  had  an  ad- 
ditional enemy  to  encounter.     But  Bocchus,  having  no  direct  in- 
terest in  the  quarrel,  did  not  refuse  to  listen  to  the  overtures  of  the 
Roman  general,  and  promised  himself,  if  the  fortune  of  war  should 
prove  adverse,  to  secure  his  own  interests  by  surrenderinc>  Jucrur- 
tha  to  his-  enemies.     However,  for  the  present,  the  two  kmc^s 
were  in  close  alliance  with  each  other ;  and  Marius,  in  hopes  of 
bringing  them  to  action,  employed  himself  in  besieging  some  of 
the  most  valuable  towns  and  fortresses  in  the  Numidian  domin- 
ions.    It  IS  worthy  of  notice,  that  at  Capsa,'^  a  strong  place  in 
one  ot  the  remotest  parts  of  the  country,  after  it  had  been  surren- 
dered, the  whole  male  population  was  massacred,  the  women  and 
children  were  sold  for  slaves,  and  the  city  was  plundered  and 

T5  Bell.  Jugurth.  63,  64,  &.c.  77  Sallust  91 

7s  Sallust,  64.  ,  5  . 


32  EXTENT  OF  ROMAN  DOMINION. 

burnt,  for  no  other  reason  than  because  the  place  was  inconven- 
ient for  the  Romans  to  garrison,  and  the  people  were  not  thought 
trustworthy.  If  we  remember  how  strong  a  sensation  has  been 
excited  in  our  own  times  by  the  massacre  of  the  Turkish  prison- 
ers at  Jaffa,  and  then  observe  how  Sallust  excuses'^  the  conduct 
of  Marius  at  Capsa,  we  shall  somewhat  understand  how  dreadful 
were  the  atrocities  of  Roman  warfare,  and  how  degraded  the  con- 
dition of  Roman  morality. 

The  loss  of  these  towns  drove  Jugurtha  and  Bocchus,  as  Ma- 
rius had  hoped,  to  try  their  fortune  in  the  field,  and  he  defeated 
them  in  two  battles  with  severe  loss.  This  disposed  the  king  of 
Mauritania  to  open  a  communication  with  the  Romans,  the  man- 
agement of  which  was  intrusted  by  Marius^'  to  L.  Cornelius 
Sylla,  his  qua3stor,  and  after  nuich  debale,  Bocchus  consented  to 
win  the  favour  of  Rome,  by  betraving  Jugurtha. 

Betrayal  of  Jugurtha.      .  t        i        i  •  ii  j    i      .\     o'li  ]'"t 

Accordmgly,  havmg  allured  both  Sylla  and  Jugur- 
tha with  the  hope  that  he  was  going  to  deliver  their  enemy  into 
their  hands,  he  proposed  that  they  should  have  a  meeting  with 
each  other,  to  discuss  the  possibiUty  of  concluding  a  peace,  and 
when  the  appointed  time  came,  he  ordered  Jurgurtha  to  be  seized, 
Death  of  Jugurtha.  ^^^^  delivered  him  bound  to  Sylla.  He  was  by  him 
U.C.648.  B.C.  106.  (aken  to  the  head-quarters  of  Marius,  and  from 
thence  conducted  to  Rome,  led  in  triumph^"  with  his  two  sons  be- 
for  the  chariot  of  the  conqueror,  and  then  put  to  death  in  prison. 
His  own  crimes  had  well  deserved  his  punishment,  but  they  in  no 
way  lessen  the  iniquity  of  the  Romans  in  inflicting  it,  by  no  other 
right  than  that  of  conquest. 

By  the  event  of  this  war,  Numidia  was  added  to  the  list  of 
Extent  of  Roman  Rouian  proviuccs.  It  was  uot  till  a  somewhat 
dominion.  later  period  that  the  republic  acquired  Cyrene  and  its 

dependencies,  by  the  bequest  of  their  king,  Ptolemy  Appion  ;  and 
Egypt  and  Mauritania  remained  unconquered  till  the  times  of 
the  Cajsars.  In  the  year  of  Rome  652,  the  date  at  which  the  pre- 
sent narrative  closes,  the  dominions,  formerly  subject  to  Carthage, 
and  the  kingdom  of  Numidia,  were  all  that  the  Romans  possessed 
in  Africa  ;  and  these  extended,  to  speak  generally,  along  the  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean  from  the  greater  Syrtis®'  to  the  river  Amp- 
saga,  or  the  town  of  Sardis,  corresponding  nearly  with  the  limit 
between  the  modern  governments  of  Tunis  and  Algiers.  Their 
limit  towards  the  interior,  it  is  impossible  precisely  to  ascertain  ; 
and  indeed,  in  fixing  the  extent  of  the  Roman  empire  at  any  one 

78  Id  facinus, contra  jus  belli,  non  avari-         79  Sallust,  102,  et.  seq. 
tia  neque  scelere  consulis  admissum  :  sed         *"  Livy,  Epitom.  LXVII. 
quia    locus   Jugurthae    opportunus,   nobis         ^i  PUny,  Histor.  Natur.  V.  2,  3.     Stra- 

aditu  dlfficilis:    genus  hominum   mobile,  bo,  XVII.  p.  972.  edit.  Xyland. 
infidum,  neque  beneficio  neque  metu  coer- 
citum.  91. 


EXTENT  OP  ROMAN  DOMINION. 


38 


period,  minute  accuracy,  if  attainable  at  all,  would  not  repay  the 
labour  of  arriving  at  it ;  because,  our  materials  for  the  history  of 
Rome  are  by  no  means  full  and  uninterrupted  ;  and  many  coun- 
tries were  at  one  time  given  away  to  some  ally,  and  then  again 
united  to  the  empire,  and  thus  are  sometimes  included  amongst 
the  provinces,  and  sometimes  spoken  of  as  independent.  Again, 
in  some  parts,  as  for  example,  in  the  countries  between  Macedo- 
nia and  the  Danube,  continual  warfare  was  carried  on  for  ages 
between  the  Romans  and  the  natives  ;  and  whilst  a  victory  would 
nominally  extend  the  bounds  of  the  empire,  by  leading  to  the 
submission  of  various  tribes,  any  change  of  circumstances  would 
presently  contract  them,  by  exciting  the  new  subjects  to  revolt. 
Besides,  the  imperfect  state  of  ancient,  and  we  may  add,  of  mod- 
ern geography,  makes  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  with  regard 
to  many  quarters  of  the  Roman  empire,  to  fix  the  limits  of  prov- 
inces or  of  countries  loosely  inhabited  by  barbarian  tribes  ;  and 
even  where  there  is  any  great  natural  division  spoken  of  as  the 
boundary,  such  as  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube,  at  a  later  period, 
or  the  chain  of  Mount  Taurus,  after  the  war  with  Antiochus, 
there  might  be  natural  fastnesses,  and  wild  districts,  even  within 
the  general  frontier,  which  defied  the  Roman  authority,  and  fur- 
nished the  provisional  officers  with  occasions  of  victories  and  tri- 
umphs. These  considerations  may  excuse  the  imperfections,  or 
even  the  inaccuracies,  of  that  sketch  of  the  extent  of  the  empire, 
which  we  now  propose  to  offer. 

"What  has  been  already  said  in  the  course  of  the  narrative,  will 
sufficiently  show  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  Roman  power  in 
Africa,  Spain,  and  Gaul.  The  Balearian^-  islands  were  conquered 
by  CI.  Metellus  about  the  year  630,  complaint  having  been  made 
that  the  inhabitants  infested  the  sea  with  piracies.  Sardinia  and 
Sicily  had  been  gained  from  Carthage,  as  has  been  mentioned 
in  a  former  part  of  this  history,  before  the  second  Punic  war  ;  and 
Corsica  had  been  conquered  at  the  same  time  with  Sardinia,  but 
it  seems  to  have  been  considered  of  little  importance ;  and  there 
is  no  mention  of  any  attempt  having  been  made  on  it  by  either 
party,  during  the  war  with  Hannibal.  Melita,  or  Malta,  of  which 
we  speak  only  on  account  of  its  modern  celebrity,  was  first  taken, 
according  to  Livy,"  in  the  very  first  year  of  the  second  Punic 
war ;  and  at  the  end  of  that  war,  was  finally  ceded  by  the  Car- 
thaginians, together  with  their  other  islands  in  the  Mediterranean. 
The  whole  of  Italy,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  term,  was  already 
subject  to  the  Romans;  although  the  Ligurians  and  Istrians 
were  still  probably  in  a  state  of  imperfect  obedience.  To  the 
eastward,  the  countries  between  the  Danube  and  Greece  offer,  as 

82  Strabo,   III.   p.  177.   edit.   Xyland.        83  Livy,  XXI.  51. 
Florus,  III.  8. 


34  EXTENT  OP  ROMAN  DOMINION. 

we  have  said,  the  most  indistinctly  marked  portion  of  the  empire. 
A  part  of  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Adriatic  had  been  conquered, 
even  before  the  second  Punic  war  ;  or  rather  underwent  the  first 
introduction  to  conquest,  in  becoming^*  alhed  to  the  Romans.  In 
the  second  Macedonian  war,  Gentius,  a  king^^  of  a  large  part  of 
Illyria,  having  allied  himself  with  Perseus,  paid  the  penalty  of 
losing  all  his  dominions.  Dalmatia,  to  the  north-west  of  Illyria, 
skirting  the  Eastern  coast  of  the  Adriatic,  had  been  first  at- 
tacked and  partially  subdued  by  C.  Marcius  Figulus*^  and  P. 
Scipio  Nasica,  in  the  years  of  Rome  597  and  598  ;  but  triumphs 
continued  to  be  earned,  by  victories  in  Dalmatia,  even  down  to 
the  time  of  Augustus:  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  Thrace,  and 
the  other  countries  to  the  north  of  Macedonia,  which  remained 
so  long  in  a  wild  and  unsettled  state,  that  we  read  of  revolts  in 
Thrace"  even  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Csesar,  If  we  turn  to  the 
southward,  Macedonia,^^  Thessaly,  and  Epirus,  are  said  to  have 
been  reduced  at  one  time  to  the  form  of  a  province,  at  the  end  of 
the  third  Macedonian  war,  in  the  year  of  Rome  608.  The  south- 
ern states  of  Greece  were  also  subjected  to  the  government  of  a 
Roman  prajtor,  by  the  decree  of  the  ten  commissioners,  who,  as 
usual,  were  sent  to  determine^'  the  future  condition  of  the  country, 
after  the  destruction  of  Corinth.  By  their  decision,  the  popular 
assemblies  were  every  where  abolished,  and  the  local  administra- 
tion was  made  strictly  oligarchical ;  but  afterwards,  the  old  assem- 
blies were  restored,  when  the  power  of  Rome  was  so  securely  es- 
tablished, that  such  empty  shows  of  liberty  might  be  granted 
without  danger. 

By  the  termination  of  the  war  with  Antiochus,  Rome,  as  we 
have  seen,  gained  to  herself,  nominally,  no  dominion  in  Asia. 
But  as  she  claimed'"  the  right  of  resuming  at  pleasure,  such 
gifts  of  territory  as  she  awarded  to  her  allies,  she  may  thus  be 
considered  the  actual  sovereign  of  Lycia  and  Caria,  which  she 
bestowed  on  the  Rhodians,  and  of  Phrygia,  Lydia,  and  several 
other  provinces,  which  were  given  to  the  king  of  Pergamus.  The 
first  actual  province,"  however,  which  the  Romans  formed  in 
Asia,  consisted  of  the  dominions  of  their  oldest  allies ;  of  those 
very  kings  of  Pergamus,  who  had  given  them  such  useful  aid  in 
all  their  wars  with  the  Greek  princes  and  commonwealths,  from 
the  first  contest  with  Philip,  king  of  Macedon,  to  the  final  over- 
throw of  the  Achaean  confederacy.'"^  Attains,  the  son  of  Eume- 
nes,  dying  in  the  year  of  Rome  620,  left  his  dominions  by  will  to 

8<  Polybius,  II.  11  ;  III.  16.  89  Pausanias,  Achaica,  86. 

85  Appian,  Illyrica,  9.  9"  Appian,Numidica,  §3,edit.  Schweig- 

86  Appian,  Illyrica,  11.     Livy,  Epitom.     hseuser. 

II.  91  Jomandes,  I.     Florus,  II.  20. 

87  Tacitus.Annal.  II.64;IV.46,et8eq.         92  Strabo,  XIII.  p.   721;  and  XIV.  p. 

88  Rufus  Festus.  Jomandes.  744,  edit.  Xyl.     Livy,  Epit.  LIX. 


CAUSES  OP  THE  ROMAN  CONQUESTS.  35 

the  Roman  people.  But  Aristonicus,  a  natural  brother,  as  some 
say,  of  the  late  king,  endeavoured  to  obtain  the  kingdom  for  him- 
self, and  at  first  met  with  some  success,  but  was  afterwards  de- 
feated and  taken,  and  according  to  the  usual  practice  of  the  Ro- 
mans, was  led  in  triumph,  and  afterwards  pul'^  to  death.  It  is 
mentioned  by  Florus,'*  that  Manius  Acquilius,  by  whom  this  war 
was  brought  to  an  end,  did  not  hesitate  to  poison  the  wells,  in 
order  to  reduce  some  of  the  revolted  cities  to  submission ;  nor 
does  it  appear  that  for  so  dreadful  a  crime,  his  conduct  was  ever 
called  in  question  by  his  government.  In  this  manner,  by  the 
overthrow  of  Aristonicus,  the  kingdom  of  Pergamus  was  reduced 
into  the  form  of  a  province,  which  was  called  peculiarly  the  pro- 
vince of  Asia.  Along  the  southern  shore  of  the  Euxine,  the  king- 
doms of  Bithynia,  Cappadocia,  and  Pontus,  still  subsisted  under 
their  native  sovereigns  ;  and  from  the  last  of  the  three,  was  soon  to 
arise  an  enemy,  only  second  to  Hannibal  in  the  abilities  and 
obstinacy  with  which  he  so  long  combated  the  Romans,  the 
famous  Mithridates.  To  the  south  of  the  province  of  Asia,  the 
countries  of  Lycia,  Pamphylia,  and  Cilicia,  were  not  yet  formally 
annexed  to  the  empire  ;  although  Lycia  and  Pamphylia,  having 
been  among  the  districts  ceded  by  Antiochns,  enjoyed  their 
liberty  only  as  a  gift  from  Rome.  Further  to  the  eastward,  the 
Romans,  as  yet,  had  made  no  advances  :  Crete  and  Cyprus  were 
untouched  ;  and  Rhodes,  taught'^  by  the  treatment  it  received 
after  the  war  with  Perseus,  hafl  been  since  careful  to  purchase 
its  municipal  independence  by  the  utmost  deference  to  the  will  of 
the  senate  and  its  officers. 

Great  as  was  the  empire  which  the  Romans  had  by  this  time 
acquired,  none  of  their  conquests,  since  the  end  of  causes  of  the  Roman 
the  second  Punic  war,  were  such  as  can  at  all  sur-  co^iuests. 
prise  us.  The  ascendency  of  a  well  constituted  army,  and  a  good 
system  of  military  policy,  over  the  utmost  perfection  of  rude  cour- 
age or  individual  ability,  is  so  well  known,  that  the  gradual  reduc- 
tion of  Spain,  of  Gaul,  of  Thrace,  and  of  lUyricum,  as  well  as  the 
subjugation  of  Numidia,  may  be  considered  as  matters  of  course. 
Carthage,  at  the  time  of  its  final  struggle,  was  hardly  more  than 
a  single  city  ;  and  the  long  disuse  of  arms  had  taken  away  all 
the  opportunities,  by  which  good  officers,  and  an  efficient  milita- 
ry system  are  created  ;  to  which  we  may  add,  that  the  Cartha- 
ginians helped  their  own  ruin,  by  the  surrender  of  their  arms  and 
engines  of  war,  at  the  very  moment  when  they  were  most  needed. 
Antiochns  was  a  prince  of  little  ability  or  courage,  and  the  event 
of  the  first  general  battle  frightened  him  into  submission  ;  nor 
can  the  issue  of  that  battle  in  itself  appear  wonderful,  when  we 

93  Paterculus,  II.   4.     Strabo,  XIV.  p.         ^  Florus,  II.  20. 
744.      Sigonius,  Comment,   in    Fest.   et         95  Rufus  Festus.  Jornandes. 
Triumph.  Romanorum. 


36  CAUSES  OF  THE  ROMAN  CONaUESTS. 

remember  how  little  skill  and  discipline  have  ever  been  found  in 
the  organization  pf  Asiatic  armies  ;  and  that  the  kings  of  Syria 
were,  by  this  time,  fully  infected  with  the  ignorance  and  weakness 
of  Asia.  It  is  only  in  Greece  and  in  Macedon  that  we  might 
have  expected  a  longer  and  a  more  doubtful  contest.  The  coun- 
try which  first  sent  forth  regular  armies  to  war,  and  the  infantry 
of  which  had  long  maintained  so  complete  a  superiority  over  the 
soldiers  of  all  other  nations,  ought  not,  we  may  think,  to  have 
bowed  beneath  the  yoke  of  Rome,  without  signalizing  its  fall  by 
some  heroic  effort,  and  yielding  to  its  enemy  a  dearly  purchased 
victory.  The  posterity  of  Xenophon,  of  Epaminondas,  and  of 
Alexander,  might  surely  have  inflicted  on  Rome  a  second  Cannge, 
before  they  suffered  defeats  more  humiliating  than  that  of  Zama. 

But,  in  fact,  the  circumstances  of  the  Macedonian  and  Achaean 
wars  abundantly  explain  the  easiness  with  which  the  Romans 
obtained  their  successes.  In  their  first  contest  with  Philip  they 
hemmed  him  in  on  every  side  with  enemies,  and  the  resources  of 
Macedon  were  exhausted  by  the  plundering  parties  of  the  ^to- 
lians  and  Dardanians  on  one  side,  and,  on  the  other,  by  the  united 
fleets  of  Rome,  Pergamus,  and  Rhodes,  which  infested  the  coasts  ; 
and  by  the  main  consular  army,  the  ranks  of  which  were  swell- 
ed by  the  contingents  of  half  the  states  of  Greece.  The  battle 
of  Cynocephale  was  the  only  regular  action  in  the  whole  war  ; 
and  its  result  laid  open  to  the  victorious  army  the  whole  of  Thes- 
saly,  and  the  entrance  into  Macedon  itself  As  for  the  event  of 
that  battle  there  is  no  reason  to  dispute  the  judgment  of  Polybius, 
who  pronounces  the  Macedonian  tactics  to  have  been  unable  to 
compete  with  the  Roman ;  and  Hannibal's  authority  ought  to 
have  determined  all  other  .commanders  to  oppose  the  Roman 
legion  with  troops  armed  and  organized  in  the  same  manner. 
Neither  Philip  nor  Perseus  were  able  generals  ;  and  the  monar- 
chy of  Macedon  was  so  rudely  constituted,  that  all  depended  on 
the  personal  character  of  the  sovereign  ;  nor  could  the  king  have 
seen,  without  jealousy,  and  probably  without  danger,  the  actual 
control  of  his  armies  in  the  hands  of  a  subject,  whose  ability 
might  supply  his  own  deficiencies.  Had  Hannibal  been  the  gen- 
eral of  the  Macedonians,  his  genius  would  probably  have  so  mod- 
ified the  Grecian  tactics,  as,  without  forfeiting  their  own  peculiar 
advantages,  to  have  given  them  some  of  the  improvements  of 
the  system  of  their  enemies,  and  thus  he  might  have  changed 
the  fortune  of  particular  battles  ;  but,  where  the  force  of  the  two 
contending  powers  was  so  unequal,  he  could  scarcely  have  hoped 
to  alter  the  event  of  the  war. 

With  regard  to  the  Greek  republics,  in  addition  to  the  inferior- 
ity of  their  tactics,  which  they  shared  in  common  with  the  Ma- 
cedonians, they  laboured  under  a  defect  peculiar  to  themselves, 
and  arising  naturally  from  their  inconsiderable  extent  and  power, 


NATIONS  OP  THE  NORTH  OF  EUROPE. 


37 


and  the  insignificant  scale  on  which  they  had  been  used  to  see 
mihtary  operations  conducted.  Tliough  much  individual  courage 
existed  amongst  the  generals  and  soldiers,  yet  war  had  assumed 
a  character  of  less  horror,  from  the  balanced  strength  of  the  sev- 
eral commonwealths,  the  habit  of  avoiding  extreme  measures  on 
either  side,  and  the  comparatively  little  slaughter  with  which  their 
battles  were  accompanied.  The  Romans,  on  the  contrary,  made 
it  a  part  of  their  policy  to  give  war  its  most  terrible  aspect. 
Their  battles  were  decisive  and  bloody ;  the  very  wounds  which 
were  inflicted  by  their  favourite  weapon,  a  heavy  sword,  equally 
calculated  for  slabbing  or  for  cutting,  wore  an  appearance  of  pe- 
culiar ghastliness ;  and  in  the  storming^^  of  towns,  they  added 
to  the  usual  horror  of  such  scenes  by  deliberately  lopping  the 
hmbs  of  the  dogs  and  other  animals  which  fell  in  their  way,  on 
purpose  to  exaggerate  the  impression  of  the  destruction  occasion- 
ed by  their  arms.  A  large  army  of  twenty  or  thirty  thousand 
men,  conducting  a  campaign  on  this  system,  and  regarded,  be- 
sides, with  that  terror  which  civilized  nations  usually  feel  towards 
those  whom  they  consider  barbarians,  filled  the  minds  of  the 
Greeks  with  fearful  imaginations  of  its  superior  strength  and  fe- 
rocity ;  exactly  in  the  same  manner,  and  from  the  same  causes, 
as  the  little  states  of  Italy,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  trembled  be- 
fore the  impetuous  courage  of  the  French  ;  when  they  found  that 
the  field  of  battle  was  made  the  scene  of  actual  and  terrible 
slaughter,  and  not,  as  in  their  own  insignificant  encounters,  a 
mere  stage  for  the  display  of  their  arms  and  their  manoeuvres. 

Thus  victorious  over  every  enemy,  and  removed,  as  it  might 
have  seemed,  far  above  any  apprehension  of  dan-  sketch  of  the  nations 
ger,  the  Roman  republic  was  suddenly  obliged  to  Ewope."^"^*"°"''°^ 
struggle  for  its  very  existence ;  and  amidst  all  its  warlike  popu- 
lation could  find  one  man  alone  to  whose  guidance  it  could  ven- 
ture to  trust  its  armies  in  this  alarming  emergency.  The  reader 
will  perceive  that  we  are  alluding  to  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  a 
vast  swarm  of  barbarians  from  the  north  of  Europe,  known  by 
the  various  names  of  Cimbri,  Teutones,  Ambrones,  and  Tigurini. 
And  here  we  cannot  but  remark  a  striking  peculiarity  in  the  state 
of  the  most  civilized  of  the  ancient  nations,  which  widely  dis- 
tinguishes them  from  the  empires  and  kingdoms  of  modern  Eu- 
rope. The  Greeks  and  Romans  saw  almost  before  their  eyes  the 
limits  of  that  world  with  which  alone  they  were  concerned,  and 
beyond  which  they  knew  nothing.  The  Alps  and  the  moun- 
tains of  Thrace  were  like  the  enchanted  barriers  of  romantic 
story,  beset  with  so  many  various  perils,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
the  region  which  they  inclosed  attempted  not  to  surmount 
them.    A  few  vague  reports,  brought  by  some  enterprising  trader, 

«  Polybius,  X.  15. 


13140S 


3Q  SKETCH  OF  THE  NATIONS 

and  collected  amidst  the  difficulties  of  imperfectly  understood  di- 
alects, from  the  fabling  ignorance  of  barbarians,  were  the  only 
information  which  could  be  gained  concerning  those  vast  coun- 
tries which  are  now  the  seat  of  so  many  mighty  empires,  from 
the  Danube  to  the  Frozen  Ocean,  from  China  to  the  British  Isles. 
Yet  this  unknown  region  was  not  like  the  sands  of  Africa,  the 
unpeopled  and  impracticable  wastes  of  which  afford  the  countries 
on  which  they  border  their  best  security  against  the  attacks  of 
an  enemy ;  on  the  contrary,  the  north  of  Europe  teemed  with 
inhabitants,  and  might  be  likened  to  a  volcano,  the  inward  work- 
ings of  which  cannot  be  seen,  nor  the  causes  of  its  eruptions 
traced,  but  which,  from  lime  to  time,  pours  forth  upon  the  cities 
at  its  base  a  sudden  and  unforeseen  di^strnction.  In  this  manner 
the  earliest  Greek  historian®^  records  the  irruptions  of  Cimmerian 
and  Scythian  tribes  into  the  more  civilized  parts  of  Asia,  the 
dominions  of  Lydia  and  Media ;  and  the  earliest  memorials  of 
Italy  bear  testimony  to  similar  invasions  of  the  Celts  or  Gauls, 
who  sometimes  overran,  and  sometimes  permanently  occupied, 
the  countries  to  the  south  of  the  Alps.  In  process  of  time,  as 
the  Roman  power  extended  itself,  Gaul  became  better  known, 
and  it  was  found  that  inroads  from  that  quarter  were  no  more  to 
be  dreaded,  for  the  Gauls  were  now  become  a  settled  people,  and, 
instead  of  wandering  forth  to  prey  on  others,  had  acquired  those 
comforts  which  began  to  induce  their  more  barbarous  neighbours 
to  prey  upon  them.  But  if  Gaul  had  ceased  to  inspire  alarm,  it 
was  not  so  with  the  wide  tract  of  country,  which  from  the  Rhine 
and  the  Alps  extended  eastward  and  northward,  far  beyond  the 
knowledge  or  even  the  reasonable  conjectures  of  the  Romans. 
Amidst  the  forests  with  which  Germany  was  then  overspread, 
there  was  nurtured  a  race  of  men,  bold,  strong,  hardy,  and  totally 
uncivilized,  delighting  in  war,  and  despising  the  confinement  of  a 
settled  habitation  ;  numerous,  from  the  unchecked  instinct  of  pop- 
ulation, where  nothing  more  was  coveted  than  a  bare  subsistence, 
yet  still  occasionally  multiplying  to  such  a  point  that  even  this 
could  not  readily  be  found,  and  then  pouring  forth  upon  wealthier 
countries,  to  gain  by  their  swords,  in  a  manner  to  them  most  wel- 
come, indulgences  which  not  even  the  labour  that  they  hated 
could  have  procured  for  them  at  home.  We  are  now  to  record 
the  first  assault  made  by  this  people  on  the  dominions  of  Rome  ; 
from  which  period  the  Romans,  as  their  power  increased,  for  a 
long  succession  of  years  were  in  their  turn  the  assailants,  and 
advanced  the  limits  of  their  empire  and  their  knowledge  from  the 
Alps  to  the  Danube.  Beyond  that  river  they  could  never  pene- 
trate ;  and  soon  after  they  had  ceased  to  go  forward  with  tlieir 
conquests,  the  Germans  renewed  their  old  incursions  upon  them, 

"  Herodotus,  Clio.  15.  103. 


INHABITING  THE  NORTH  OF  EUROPE. 


39 


till  the  empire  was  totally  dismembered,  and  Italy  itself,  together 
with  i(s  provinces,  submitted  to  the  sceptre  and  the  laws  of  a 
northern  conqueror. 

It  was  just  at  the  close  of  the  war  with  Jugurtha,  that  the 
alarm  of  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  was  at  its  height  in  Rome. 
They  had  been  first  heard  of  about  eight  or  nine  years  before, 
when  they  attacked  the  province^^  of  lUyricum,  and  there  defeated 
Cn.  Papiiius  Carbo,  one  of  the  consuls,  with  a  consular  army.  After 
this  victory  they  turned  their  course  in  another  direction,  and  are 
said  to  have  attacked  several  nations^^  of  Gaul,  and  even  to  have 
penetrated  into  Spain  ;  but  being  repelled  from  that  country,  they 
presented  themselves   on  the   frontiers  of  the    Roman  province 
of  Transalpine  Gaul ;  and  requested  admittance,  as  settlers,  into 
some  part  of  the  Roman  dominions,  ofiering  to  employ  their  arms 
in  the  service  of  the  republic,  as  a  return  for  the  lands  which 
they  should  hold.     On  receiving  a  refusal,  they  proceeded  to  gain 
their  ends  by  force  ;  and  in  two  successive  years  they  defeated 
two  other  Roman  consuls  in  Gaul :   but,  with  the  caprice  of  bar- 
barians, instead  of  following  up  their  successes,  they  were  allured 
in  pursuit  of  some  other  objects,  and  left  the  Romans  for  two 
years  unmolested.     But  in  the  year  of  Rome  648,  they  again  fell 
upon  them,  and  defeated  two  consular ""'  armies  united,  with  such 
terrible  slaughter,  that  the  capital  itself  was  filled  with  alarm,  and 
all  men  concurred  in  raising  Marius  to  the  consulship,  as  the  only 
commander  capable  of  saving  his  country.     Fortunately,  perhaps, 
for  his  reputation,  the  Germans  again  forbore  to  cross  the  Alps, 
and  moved  off  into  Spain  ;  and  being  a  second  time  driven  back 
by  the  natives,  they  re-crossed  the  Pyrenees,  and  spent  another 
year  in  wandering  over  Gaul ;   while  Marius  had  been  re-elected 
a  third  and  a  fourth  time  to  the  consulship,  and  had  thus  the  rare 
advantage  of  becoming  thoroughly  acquainted  with   his  army, 
and  inuring  them  to  exertion""  and  implicit  obedience  by  the 
strictest  discipline,  and  by  employing  them   in   some  of  those 
laborious  works  which  afterwards   became  so  familiar  to  the 
Roman  legions  in  all  parts  of  the  empire.     Thus   when,  in  his 
fourth  consulship,  the  Cimbri,  reinforced  by  some  other  German 
hordes,  attacked  the  Romans  at  once  in  Transalpine  Gaul  and 
towards   the  north-eastern   side  of  Italy,  Marius  not  only  com- 
pletely destroyed  the  multitude  by  which   he   was  assaulted  in 
Gaul,  but  hastening  immediately  after  his  victory  to  the  support 
of  Lutatius  Catulus,  his  colleague,  engaged  the  other  division  of 
the  enemy  in  conjunction  with  him,  and  gave  them  a  second  over- 
throw as  complete  as  the  first,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Verona. 

98  Appian,  Gallica,  13.  Livy,  Epitom.         ><»  Sallust,  Bell.  Jugurth.    114.     Livy, 
LXIII.  Epit.  LXVJI. 

99  Caesar,   Bell.   Gallic.  VII.      Florus,         'oi  Plutarch,  in  Mario,  13,  et  seq. 
III.  3. 


40  NATIONS  OF  THE  NORTH  OF  EUROPE. 

By  these  battles  their  force  was  entirely  broken,  and  the  alarms 
which  had  so  long  disturbed  the  minds  of  the  Romans  were 
totally  dispelled. 

Here,  then,  this  portion  of  our  narrative  closes.  From  the 
period  at  which  we  are  now  arrived,  ten  years  only  elapsed 
before  the  beginning  of  the  war  between  Rome  and  the  states 
of  Italy,  and  thirteen  before  the  first  expulsion  of  Marius,  and 
the  commencement  of  the  civil  war.  These  transactions,  to- 
gether with  some  of  an  earlier  date,  such  as  the  seditions  of  the 
Gracchi,  and  the  revolt  of  the  slaves  in  Sicily,  will  form  a  fit 
introduction  to  that  history  of  the  domestic  affairs  of  the  republic, 
upon  which  we  now  propose  to  enter. 


4 


CHAPTER  II. 

TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS.—U.C.  621,  B.C.  133. 

There  are  few  portions  of  history  more  deserving  our  attention 
than  that  to  which  we  now  return,  the  civil  wars  of  Tibenus  Gracchus 
the  Romans.  The  origin  of  these  wars  arose  from  ^-  ^-  ^^^-  ^-  °-  ^^s- 
the  conflict  between  the  interests  of  the  two  great  divisions  of 
society — the  rich  and  the  poor.  The  characters  and  events  which 
mariied  their  progress,  possess  every  quahty  most  fitted  to  awaken 
a  hvely  interest  in  the  reader  ;  and  their  final  issue  in  establish- 
ing a  monarchy  as  the  government  of  the  civilized  world,  may 
possibly  have  exercised  an  influence  over  the  fate  of  Europe, 
which  we  feel  even  at  this  day.  They  are  most  remarkable  also, 
as  they  exhibit  the  state  of  mankind  at  the  period  immediately 
preceding  the  promulgation  of  Christianity :  when,  therefore,  if 
experience  be  the  measure  of  knowledge,  the  world  must  have 
attained  to  the  highest  point  in  intellectual  and  moral  discoveries 
which  it  iias  ever  reached  without  the  assistance  of  revelation.  It 
will  surely  be  no  uninteresting  inquiry  to  collect,  so  far  as  we 
can,  the  general  amount  of  human  virtue  and  happiness  antece- 
dently to  the  great  revolution  introduced  by  the  preachers  of  the 
Gospel,  in  order  that  we  may  judge  of  the  probable  result  of  the 
destruction  of  Christianity,  which  some  avowedly,  and  many  in- 
directly, consider  as  desirable. 

The  period  then  of  the  civil  wars  of  Rome,  which  comprises 
somewhat  more  than  a  hundred  years,  from  the  tribuneship  ot 
Tiberius  Gracchus  to  the  final  establishment  of  monarchy  in  the 
person  of  Octavius  Caesar,  divides  itself  naturally  into  two 
portions.  The  first  of  these  ends  at  the  death  of  Sylla,  and  the 
ascendency  of  the  aristocratical  party,  which  was  eflected  by  his 
government.  And  it  is  upon  this  first  division  that  we  now  pre- 
pare to  enter. 

At  Rome,  as  in  many  other  countries,  the  original  distinctions 
between  the  different  ranks  of  society  were  wholly  arbitrary. 
The  patricians  and  plebeians  were  two  separate  castes,  be- 
tween which  insurmountable  barriers  existed.  No  wealth,  nor 
talents,  nor  virtues,  could  raise  a  plebeian  to  the  rank  and  pri- 

4 


42 


BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS. 


vileges  of  a  patrician  ;  and  as  all  intermarriages  between  the  two 
classes  were  unlawful,  the  government  was  an  hereditary  oligar- 
chy, from  which  the  bulk  of  the   nation,  wqth  their  posterity  for 
ever,  were  by  law  utterly  excluded.     The  details  of  the  particu- 
lar events  by  w^hich  this  system  was  overthrown,  belong  to  the 
earlier  period  of  Roman  history.     Before  the  Punic  wars,  how- 
ever, it  was  entirely  subverted  ;  all  cilices  of  state  were  laid  open 
to  the  plebeians, \vhile  the  tribuneship  was  still,  as  before,  exclu- 
sively  their  own  :  and  a  more  liberal  aristocracy  w^as  formed,  in 
which  nobility  began  to  be  derived  from  the  possession  of  high 
political  dignities,  instead  of  being  the  necessary  previous  qualifi- 
cation for  obtaining  them.  But  a  third  caste  in  the  commonwealth 
still  subsisted,  composed  of  those  persons  who  either  by  birth,  or 
by  captivity  in  war,  or  by  the  violence  of  regular  slave  traders, 
were  doomed  to  the  condition  of  slavery.     The  fortune  of  this 
caste  was  not  so  totally  without  hope  as  that  of  the  old  plebeians, 
because  a  slave  might  be  enfranchised  ;  and  when  once  a  free- 
man, the  course  of  time,  or  extraordinary  personal  merit,  might 
remove  the  taint  of  slavery  from  his  blood,  and  raise  his  posterity 
to  honours  and  powder.     But  so  long  as  he  remained  a  slave,  his 
degradation  was  complete  ;  he  was  not  considered  as  a  member 
of  the  commonwealth,  he  could  hold  no  property  except  by  his 
master's  sufterance  ;  and  his  protection  from  the  extremity  of  per- 
sonal violence  was  little  better  than  nugatory.     The  little  notice 
which  the  ancient  writers  have  paid  to  this  class  of  men,  has  per- 
haps prevented  us  from  sufficiently  estimating  their  eflect  on  the 
state  of  society.     We  cannot,  however,  form  a  correct  notion  of 
the  relative  situations  of  the  rich  and  the  poor  at  Rome,  without 
keeping  in  mind  the  existence  of  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  whole 
population  in  the  condition  of  slavery.     The  numbers  of  slaves 
increased  greatly  with  the  increasing  dominioji  of  the  republic  ; 
we  have  already  seen  how  many  were  carried  ofl'from  Africa,  in 
the  descents  made  on  that  coast  in  the  two  first  Punic  w^ars;  fifty 
thousand  more  are  mentioned  as  having  been  taken  at  one  time  in 
the  destruction  of  Carthage ;  and  no  fewer  than  a  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  w^ere  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  army  that  had  de- 
feated Perseus,  collected  from  the  sack  of  seventy  towns  in  Epirus. 
These  were  purchased  in   large  multitudes,  and  probably  at  a 
low  price,  by  the  great  landed  proprietors  of  Italy,  and  generally 
superseded  the  use  of  free  labourers,  as  their  work  was  much 
cheaper,  and  could  be  exacted  with  greater  severity.     In  conse- 
quence of  this,  the  lower  orders  of  freemen  w^ere  reduced  to  great 
distress,  and  their  numbers  were  rapidly  diminished,  insomuch, 
that  in  process  of  time,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  free  peasantry 
to  be  found  in  some  parts  of  Italy,  slaves  being  used  almost  ex- 
clusively as   agricultural   labourers,  and   forming  probably   by 
much  the  largest  proportion  of  those  employed  in  trade  or  man- 


BIOGRAPHV-TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS.  43 

ufactures.  At  the  same  time,  the  legions  were  filled  with  none 
but  freemen  ;  and  they  whose  swords  gained  the  republic  her 
conquests,  were  impatient  at  seeing  the  fruits  of  their  victories 
pass  into  the  hands  of  others,  while  their  own  condition  was  ab- 
solutely rendered  worse  by  the  consequences  of  their  own  valour. 
For  we  must  not  attribute  our  own  notions  on  public  matters 
to  the  citizens  of  the  ancient  commonwealths.  The  states  of 
antiquity  being  for  the  most  part  only  single  cities,  political  asso- 
ciation was  regarded  very  much  in  the  light  of  a  commercial 
partnership,  of  which  national  property  formed  as  it  were  the 
stock;  and  any  acquisitions  made  by  the  national  arms  were 
looked  upon  as  the  profits  of  the  trade,  in  which  every  partner 
ought  to  share.  Thus,  when  territory  was  gained  in  war,  the 
bulk  of  the  people  wished  to  have  an  inmiediate  division  of  it 
made  amongst  them  ;  whilst  the  government  or  managing  part- 
ners, were  anxious  that  it  should  still  be  employed  in  advancing 
the  joint  interests  of  the  whole  body,  instead  of  enriching  the  in- 
dividual shareholders.  In  other  words,  they  wished  it  to  be  sold 
to  the  highest  bidder,  and  the  {)rice  to  be  thrown  into  the  treasuiy 
to  supply  the  usual  wants  of  the  public  service.  This  in  fact  was 
the  system  usually  adopted  at  Rome  ;  and  thus  large  landed 
estates  came  into  the  hands  of  the  rich,  whilst  the  poor  fancied 
that  they  did  not  gain  in  their  due  proportion  from  the  growing 
greatness  of  their  country.  To  remedy  the  evil,  a  popular  tribune 
in  the  early  ages  of  the  republic,  C.  Licinius,  had  proposed  and 
carried  the  famous  law  which  bears  his  name,  and  which  limited 
the  amount  of  land  which  any  citizen  might  possess,  to  500  jugera, 
calculated  by  Arbuthnot  at  equal  to  330  English  acres.  But  this 
law  was  sometimes  evaded  by  land  being  held  for  the  proprietor 
under  other  names,'  and  was  sometimes  openly  disregarded. 
During  the  second  Punic  war,  however,  and  the  period  that  fol- 
lowed it  for  several  years,  the  nobility  enlarged  their  estates  with- 
out opposition,  partly,  perhaps,  because  the  aristocratical  interest 
was  at  this  time  all  powerful,  and  partly,  because  as  the  lands 
were  alienated  by  regular  sale,  so  long  as  the  former  owners 
could  find  employment  as  tenants  or  labourers,  and  were  not  su- 
perseded by  the  general  substitution  of  slaves,  the  change  in  their 
condition  was  patiently  borne.  But  when  they  found  themselves 
every  where  supplanted  by  a  class  of  men  whom  they  so  thor- 
oughly despised,  they  either  saw  themselves  debarred  altogether 
from  rearing  a  family,  or  they  were  forced  to  migrate  to  Rome, 
and  swell  the  multitude  of  needy  citizens  in  that  city.  Hie 
temptation  thus  offered  to  them  to  disturb  the  existing  order  of 
things,  was  peculiarly  strong.  As  individuals,  the  poor  often 
suffered  from  the  grasping  and  oppressive  spirit  of  the  rich:  yet, 

»  Plutarch,  Vita  Tib.  Gracchi,  8. 


44  BIOGRAPHY— TIHERIUS  GRACCHUS. 

as  members  of  the  popular  assembly,  they  formed  a  part  of  the 
sovereign  power  in  the  state,  and  might  amply  retaliate  on  the 
higher  orders  for  the  losses  they  had  suflered.  And  here  it  be- 
comes an  exceedingly  curious  question,  what  was  the  general 
character  of  the  popular  party  at  Rome  ;  what  was  their  station 
in  society  ;  and  what  were  their  moral  and  intellectual  attain- 
ments ?  as  it  is  on  a  knowledge  of  these  points  that  our  judgment 
of  the  disputes  which  so  long  distracted  the  commonwealth  nmst 
mainly  depend.  For  if  the  comitia  were  no  better  than  an  igno- 
rant and  protligate  rabble,  no  true  friend  to  liberty  can  possibly 
sympathize  with  their  cause  :  but  if  they  consisted  of  men  indus- 
trious though  poor,  of  men  whose  views  were  directed  towards  a 
reasonable  and  definite  object,  whose  private  morals  were  fair, 
and  who  respected  law  and  order,  we  shall  then  not  brand  them 
with  the  name  of  anarchists,  merely  because  llie  reform  which 
they  proposed  to  elfect,  could  in  our  days  be  attempted  by  none 
but  the  most  desperate  enemies  of  the  peace  of  society. 

The  Roman  plebeians,  or  all  those  citizens  not  of  patrician  ex- 
traction, whose  property  did  not  entitle  them  to  be  ranked  among 
the  equestrian  order,  may  be  divided  into  two  classes  ;  those  who 
lived  habitually  in  Rome,  and  those  who  were  settled  as  small  land- 
ed proi)rietors,  as  tenants  of  national  property,  or  as  labourers,  in 
dill'erent  parts  of  Italy.  The  former  were  naturally  those  who 
chiefly  composed  the  popular  assemblies,  and  they  consisted  of 
shop-keepers  and  mechanics,  and  of  that  lowest  description  of 
populace  by  which  great  towns  in  a  genial  climate  are  especially 
infested  ;  where  shelter  and  fuel  and  clothing  being  less  imj)ortant, 
they  can  more  easily  live  without  regular  employment,  as  having 
fewer  wants  to  provide  for,  and  where  even  the  food  required  is 
of  a  lighter  quality,  and  consists  of  articles  procurable  at  the 
cheapest  rate,  such  as  fruit,  vegetables,  oil,  and  the  light  wine 
of  the  country.  These  men  would  have  all  the  qualities  fitted  to 
make  them  mischievous :  idleness,  improvidence,  a  total  absence 
of  all  the  feelings  of  honest  independence,  and  a  great  sense  of 
their  own  importance,  both  as  freemen,  while  so  many  who  enjoy- 
ed far  more  personal  comforts  were  slaves,  and  as  members  of  a 
body  whose  power  was  the  greatest  in  the  world.  Nor  must  we 
at  all  judge  of  the  shop-keepers  at  Rome  by  those  of  London  or 
Paris.  The  sale  for  their  goods  would  lie  chiefly  among  the  com- 
mon people,  because  the  rich  supplied  themselves  with  most  of 
the  articles  they  consumed,  from  the  produce  of  their  lands  and 
the  labour  of  their  slaves.  Their  profits  therefore  w^ere  not  likely 
to  be  very  considerable,  and  their  rank  in  society  would  be  pro- 
portionably  low.  If  we  then  remember  the  illiterate  state  of  the 
Roman  people  in  general  at  the  period  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking  ;  and  if  we  reflect  besides,  that  whatever  literature  did 
exist  must  have  been  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  higher 


BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS.  45 

orders  from  the  expensiveness  of  books  ;  we  cannot  ascribe  much 
general  or  pohtical  information  to  the  plebeians  of  the  city.  Last 
of  all,  we  know  what  the  morals  of  the  lower  classes  in  large 
cities  are  at  this  day,  when  their  opportunities  of  being  rightly 
taught  are  far  greater  than  could  possibly  have  been  enjoyed  at 
Rome.  Without  descending  to  the  mere  idle  and  dissolute  populace, 
we  should  probably  have  found  in  the  bulk  of  the  plebeian  inhab- 
itants a  sense  of  their  own  interest  generally  predominant,  a  vio- 
lent and  cruel  spirit  towards  those  whom  they  looked  upon  as 
their  opponents,  and  an  obstinacy  in  maintaining  blindly  their 
own  notions,  mixed  at  the  same  time  with  many  kind  and  gen- 
erous aliections  towards  their  families  and  friends,  and  an  attach- 
ment to  the  name  and  institutions  of  their  country,  which  was 
hable  indeed  to  be  misled  or  overpowered  for  a  time,  but  which 
was  in  the  main  strong  and  sincere.  The  plebeians  of  the  coun- 
try are  generally  spoken  of  by  Roman  writers  as  a  more  respect- 
able class  than  those  of  the  city.  They  were  more  steadily  in- 
dustrious, as  having  less  to  call  off  their  attention  from  their 
own  employment :  they  were  more  domestic  in  their  habits,  and 
not  only  less  apt  for  political  contests  from  their  manner  of  living, 
but  in  their  houses  and  fields  they  possessed  a  property  which 
they  were  less  willing  to  hazard  in  civil  commotions.  Tlie  beau- 
tiful picture  which  Virgil  gives  of  the  simplicity  and  happiness  of 
the  small  landed  proprietors  of  Italy,  although  of  course  highly 
euibellished,  was  doubtless  not  altogether  imaginary  ;  and  it  may 
be  added,  that  the  hardheartedness  to  the  general  welfare  of  the 
poor,  which  is  so  often  the  fault  of  our  farmers,  was  less  called 
into  action  an^ong  the  Romans,  in  whose  country  there  were  no 
poor-rates  nor  parochial  offices  to  excite  a  continual  soreness 
in  an  uneducated  mind  ;  and  where  the  farmer  had  scarcely 
any  connexion  with  more  than  his  own  household  and  labourers, 
a  class  of  people  whom  it  is  most  natural  and  obvious  to  treat 
with  kindness  and  familiarity.  Yet  the  agricultural  plebeians 
must  have  been  ignorant,  and  were  likely  to  inherit  the  violence 
and  obstinacy  by  which  ignorance  is  ever  accompanied.  They 
must  have  entertained  too,  a  peculiar  jealousy  of  the  great  nobility, 
by  whom  their  own  rank  in  society  had  been  in  so  many  in- 
stances overwhelmed  ;  and  when  they  came  to  the  comitia  in  the 
city,  they  were  incapable  of  resisting  the  eloquence  of  popular 
orators,  ever  ready  to  encourage  their  angry  feelings  against 
the  rich,  to  flatter  their  self-importance,  and  to  persuade  them 
that  their  interests  were  the  same  with  the  public  good.  Above 
all,  the  nature  of  mankind  is  such,  that  even  the  best  and  most 
highly  educated  individuals,  when  assembled  together  in  a  nu- 
merous body,  are  apt  to  be  more  swayed  by  passion  and  less  by 
principle,  than  if  they  were  deliberating  alone,  or  in  a  small  so- 
ciety.    Much  more  is  this  the  case,  when  the  inhabitants  of  a 


4g  BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS. 

great  city  are  promiscuously  crowded  together ;  for  then  the 
evil  predominates  with  a  fearful  ascendency,  and  a  physical  and 
moral  excitement  is  created,  which  destroys  the  exercise  of  the 
judgment,  and  drowns  the  voice  of  moderation  and  self-restraint ; 
leaving  the  mind  open  to  any  unreasonable  impression  that  may 
be  produced,  whether  of  ridicule,  of  indignation,  of  compassion, 
or  of  pride. 

It  results  then,  from  this  view  of  the  state  of  the  plebeians, 
that  the  popular  party  in  the  times  of  Tiberius  Gracchus  was 
made  up  of  very  heterogeneous  elements ;  that  one  division  of  it, 
the  mere  city  populace,  was  thoroughly  worthless,  but  that  others 
were  composed  of  industrious  and  often  well  meaning  men, 
whose  great  misfortune  was  to  have  a  power  placed  in  their 
hands  collectively,  far  more  than  proportioned  to  their  knowledge. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  aristocratical  party  consisted  of  materials  not 
less  discordant.  Among  those  who  had  engrossed  the  landed  es- 
tates of  Italy,  there  were  many  who  in  the  command  of  armies, 
or  in  the  government  of  provinces,  had  given  the  utmost  proofs 
of  cruelty  and  rapacity,  and  who  displayed  the  same  temper  to 
their  poorer  countrymen  at  home.  Others  again,  sought  merely 
to  gratify  the  pride  of  nobility  by  the  enjoyment  of  a  large  for- 
tune and  influence  :  these  were  men  whose  selfishness  was  pas- 
sive, so  long  as  it  was  indulged  to  the  utmost,  but  who  could 
behave  M'ith  the  most  unscrupulous  cruelty  towards'  any  who 
should  attempt  to  restrain  it.  A  third  class  consisted  of  those 
whose  minds  were  loftier,  and  whose  ambition  was  of  a  nobler 
character  :  men  who  delighted  in  conducting  the  councils  or 
heading  the  armies  of  the  state ;  who  wished  to  promote  the 
greatness  of  their  country,  perhaps  without  being  conscious  to 
themselves  how  far  a  love  of  their  own  individual  greatness  min- 
gled in  the  wish  ;  and  who  felt  the  besetting  vice  of  great  abili- 
ties, contempt  for  the  ordinary  race  of  mankind.  Such  persons, 
like  the  magnanimous  man  of  Aristotle's  philosophy,  having 
done  the  state  great  service,  thought  it  just  that  their  station  in 
it  should  be  pre-eminent ;  and  scorned  the  thought  of  admitting 
the  lower  classes  of  the  people  to  a  participation  in  their  grandeur, 
as  an  outrage  on  the  majesty  of  Rome.  So  complicated  are  the 
motives  by  which  we  are  actuated,  and  so  hard  is  it  where  our 
own  welfare  coincides  with  what  we  deem  the  public  good,  to  de- 
cide how  much  of  a  selfish  bias  determines  lis  in  forming  our 
opinion.  There  yet  remained  a  fourth  description  of  supporters 
of  the  aristocracy,  in  those  who  by  their  own  merit  had  raised 
themselves  to  a  fair  and  honourable  affluence  ;  those  who  had 
inherited,  or  acquired  by  commerce,  a  respectable  but  not  an 
overgrown  fortune  ;  those  who,  content  with  little,  had  obtained 
consideration  by  their  eloquence,  their  military  services,  or  their 
tried  integrity ;  and  those  of  the  nobility  themselves,  who  though 


BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS.  a-j 

poor,  were  without  covetousiiess,  and  were  more  aristocratical 
from  the  influence  of  birth  and  connexions,  than  inchned  to  take 
tlie  popular  side  from  their  poverty.  Amongst  this  last  class 
were  numbered  the  majority  of  the  equestrian  order,  and  some 
of  the  most  eminent  individuals  in  Roman  history  ;  Scipio  JEim- 
lianus,  in  the  times  of  the  Gracchi,  and  at  a  later  period  M.  Ci- 
cero and  M,  Gate. 

Many  years  had  now  passed  since  Rome  had  been  disturbed  by 
civil  dissensions.  We  are  told,  indeed,  that  when  the  senate, 
immediately  on  the  conclusion  of  the  second  Punic  war,  propos- 
ed to  begin  a  fresh  contest  with  the  king  of  Macedon,  the  people 
were  strongly  disinclined  to  the  measure,^  and  complained  that 
the  nobility  sought  to  involve  the  nation  in  perpetual  hostilities, 
for  the  gratification  of  their  own  ambition.  13ut  when  the  seat 
of  war  was  removed  far  away  from  Italy,  and  an  uninterrupted 
succession  of  conquests  flattered  at  once  the  national  vanity,  and 
often  enriched  the  soldiers  by  the  plunder  which  it  threw  into 
their  hands,  the  popular  aversion  to  war  probably  subsided.  It 
was  likely  to  be  changed  into  fondness  for  it,  from  the  period  that 
the  acquisition  of  the  revenues  of  Macedon,  added  to  the  large  in- 
come derived  from  other  provinces,  relived  the  citizens  of  Rome 
from  taxation  altogether.  Those  changes,  indeed,  in  the  state  of 
property,  which  were  afterwards  to  occasion  such  fatal  quarrels, 
were  m  the  meanwhile  silently  being  effected  ;  but  they  were  not 
yet  so  great  as  to  call  ofl"  the  public  attention  from  subjects  of 
more  immediate  interest ;  and  it  has  ever  been  the  case,  that  the 
gradual  approach  of  financial  troubles  has  been  unheeded,  till  the 
moment  when  the  clouds  have  covered  the  whole  face  of  the  sky, 
and  the  storm  has  burst  in  thunder. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  when  speaking  of  the  war 
with  Numantia,  that  G.  Mancinus,  one  of  the  consuls  employed 
in  that  service,  was  obliged  to  purchase  the  safety  of  his  army  by 
an  unfavourable  treaty  ;  that  the  senate  violated  the  agreement  thus 
made,  and  ordered  the  general  who  had  concluded  it  to  be  de- 
livered up  to  the  enemy,  as  if  the  perfidy  of  the  government  could 
be  so  atoned  for.  The  officer  who  had  baen  particularly  employ- 
ed in  drawing  up  this  obnoxious  treaty,  was  the  consul's  qua3stor,^ 
Tiberius  Sempronius  Gracchus  ;  and  it  was  said  that  the  Nu- 
mantines  were  chiefly  induced  to  treat,  from  their  respect  to  his 
name  ;  his  father  having  served  in  Spain,  and  by  his  honourable 
conduct  having  won  the  esteem  and  regard  of  the  natives.  When 
then  the  senate  resolved  to  surrender  to  the  Numantines  not  only 
the  consul  but  all  his  prmcipal  officers,  the  popular  assembly 
interfered  ;  and  considering  that  Gracchus  had  done  no  more  than 
save  the  lives  of  many  thousand  citizens,  when  the  consul's  mis- 

2   Livy,  XXXI.  6.  3  Plutarch,  Vita  Tib.  Gracchi,  5. 


43  BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS. 

conduct  had  exposed  them  to  destruction,  it  determined  that  all 
the  other  officers  should  be  exempted,  and  that  Mancinus  should 
be  given  up  alone.  The  different  treatment  which  Gracchus  on 
this  occasion  received  from  the  senate  and  from  the  people,  is  said 
to  have  predisposed  him  to  thwart  the  one,  and  to  enlist  on  the 
side  of  the  other.  About  three  years  afterwards,  in  the  year  of 
Rome  621,  he  was  elected  one  of  the  tribunes  of  the  people. 

The  great  accumulation  of  slaves  in  Italy,  and  the  consequent 
dearth  of  free  labourers,  was  now  become  a  serious  evil.  Grac- 
chus had  been  struck  with  it,  we  are  told,  as  he  passed  through 
Tuscany,  on  his  way  home  from  Spain  ;  observing,  that  the 
visible  population  consisted  for  the  most  part  of  foreign  slaves, 
who  were  working  in  fetters  under  their  task-masters.  The 
dangers  of  this  system  had  been  also  made  manifest,  by  an  insur- 
rection which  had  lately  broken  out  among  the  slaves  in  Sicily ; 
for  the  immense  estates  possessed  in  that  island  by  Roman  or 
Latin  citizens,*  were,  like  those  in  Ital}^,  cultivated  entirely  by 
slaves,  whose  numbers  became  so  formidable,  that  being  roused 
to  arms  by  one  of  their  body,  they  maintained  a  long  and  bloody 
war  with  the  Roman  government,  spread  devastation  over  the 
whole  island,  and  defeated  no  fewer  than  four  Roman  praetors, 
who  were  sent  against  them.  Plutarch  tells  us  besides,  that 
Gracchus  being  known  as  a  young  man  of  enterprise  and  ability, 
Avas  called  upon  in  many  addresses  written  upon  the  walls  in 
different  parts  of  the  city,  to  stand  up  in  the  cause  of  the  poor, 
and  to  recover  for  them  the  public  lands  which  the  rich  had 
monopolized. 

Thus  instigated  at  once  by  the  pressing  evils  of  the  listing 
system,  by  personal  predilections,  and  by  the  allurements  of  an 
evident  popularity,  Tiberius  Gracchus  entered  on  his  unfortunate 
career.  The  remedy  which  he  proposed  for  the  growing  distresses 
of  the  poor,  consisted  in  a  revival  of  the  Licinian  law,  with  cer- 
tain modifications  ;  that  is  to  say,^  he  allowed  a  father  of  a  family 
to  hold  500  jugera  of  public  or  conquered  land  in  his  own  right, 
and  250  more  in  right  of  each  of  his  sons ;  but  any  man  who 
possessed  more  than  this  amount,  was  to  restore  it  to  the  nation 
on  receiving  a  price  for  it  from  the  treasury.  To  this  proposition 
was  added,  that  the  lands  thus  recovered,  should  be  divided 
among  the  poorer  citizens,  and  that  it  should  be  unlawful  at  any 
time  that  any  of  these  allotments  should  be  sold :  and  finally,  in 
order  to  provide  for  the  execution  of  the  law,  three  commissioners 
were  to  be  appointed  annually,  with  powers  to  see  it  duly  carried 
into  effect,  and  its  enactments  observed  unbroken.  It  is  said  by 
Plutarch,  that  in  proposing  these  measures,  Gracchus  acted  with 

*  Florus,  III.  19.  5  Plutarch,  Vita  Gracchi,  9.      Appian, 

de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  9,  10. 


BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS.  49 

the  concurrence  of  some  individuals  of  distinguished  rank,  and 
of  great  legal  knowledge  ;  such  as  P.  Crassus,  then  Pontifex 
Maximus,  and  P.  Mucins  Scaevola,  one  of  the  consuls ;  both  of 
whom  are  often  mentioned  by  Cicero®  as  eminent  for  their  ac- 
quaintance with  the  civil  law,  as  well  as  for  their  general  elo- 
quence and  ability.  If  this  be  true,  it  is  a  proof  that  the  mis- 
chievous tendency  of  an  agrarian  law  was  not  so  palpable  to 
the  Romans  as  it  is  to  us,  and  the  apparent  extravagance  of 
Gracchus's  conduct  is  much  lessened.  Indeed,  we  should  remem- 
ber, that  he  only  professed  to  enforce,  even  in  mitigated  severity, 
an  actually  existing  law ;  and  that  though  time  had  seemed  to 
sanction  the  encroachments  of  the  rich,  he  might  yet  not  unnatu- 
rally think  that  the  people  could  never  lose  their  rights  by  mere 
disuse ;  and  that  his  proposed  indulgences  to  the  holders  of 
national  property,  abundantly  cdmpensated  for  any  wrong  they 
might  sustain  by  the  sudden  revival  of  a  long  dormant  claim. 
It  is  not  possible  that  we,  with  the  added  experience  and  know- 
ledge of  more  than  nineteen  centuries,  can  hesitate  to  condemn 
his  scheme  as  pernicious  and  impracticable  ;  nor,  indeed,  did  it 
appear  otherwise  to  calm  and  sensible  men  at  that  very  time ;  for 
C.  Laelius,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Wise,  endeavoured  in  his 
tribuneship,  a  few  years  before,  to  remedy  the  evils  arising  from 
the  accumulation  of  estates  ;  but  finding  that  they  could  not  be 
removed  without  greater  mischief,  he  abandoned  the  attempt  alto- 
gether. But  still,  although  the  conduct  of  Gracchus  was  violent 
and  unwise,  it  does  not  imply  in  him  such  a  degree  of  profligacy 
or  folly,  as  would  be  justly  imputed  to  a  similar  proposal  now. 

The  aristocracy  in  general  warmly  opposed  the  projected  law  ; 
and  Gracchus,  impatient  of  any  opposition  to  a  scheme  which  he 
deemed  so  beneficial,  at  once  lost  his  temper  ;  and  dropping  the 
more  conciliatory  clauses,  proposed  merely  that  the  holders  of  na- 
tional lands  beyond  the  legal  amount,  should  be  obliged  to  give 
them  up  immediately.''  This  only  added  to  the  vehemence  of  the 
opposition  against  it ;  and  the  question  being  one  of  such  universal 
interest,  great  crowds  of  people  flocked  to  Rome  from  all  quarters 
of  Italy,  to  take  part  with  the  friends  or  enemies  of  the  law.^  But 
the  aristocratical  party,  well  knowing  how  the  tribes  were  likely 
to  vote  if  it  were  left  to  their  decision,  had  secured  the  negative  of 
M.  Octavius,  one  of  the  tribunes  :  and  this  being  resolutely  inter- 
posed, whenever  the  measure  was  brought  forward,  it  was  impos- 
sible for  Gracchus,  according  to  the  forms  of  the  constitution,  to 
carry  his  point.  He  too,  however,  availed  himself  of  his  power 
as  tribune  to  embarrass  his  opponents  ;  for  he  suspended  by  his 
negativ^e  the  functions  of  every  officer  in  the  state,''  and  sealed  up 

6  De  Claris  Orator.  26.     De  Oratore,  I.         »  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  10. 
50.  56.     De  Officiis,  II.  13.  9  Plutarch,  Vita  Gracchi,  10. 

7  Plutarch,  Vita  Gracchi,  10. 


50  BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS. 

the  doors  of  the  treasury,  thus  stopping  all  issues  or  receipts  of 
money  for  the  public  service.  So  strange  was  the  extent  of  the 
tribunitian  authority,  that  Gracchus  in  these  violent  proceedings 
was  acting  agreeably  to  law  ;  and  the  nobility,  unable  to  resist 
him,  went  into  mourning,  to  show  their  sense  of  the  distress  and 
dangerous  state  of  the  republic. 

Still,  while  Octavius  persisted  in  his  opposition,  the  law  could 
not  be  carried."  Gracchus,  therefore,  resolving  to  overbear  every 
obstacle,  and  having  endeavoured  to  win  over  his  colleague  by 
entreaty,  as  he  was  personally  well  known  to  him,  and  by  the 
utmost  efforts  of  his  eloquence,  at  last  finding  him  immoveable, 
openly  declared,  that  two  men  so  opposed  to  one  another  ought 
not  to  continue  in  office  together ;  that  either  Octavius  or  himself 
ought  therefore  to  be  forced  by  the  people  to  lay  down  the  tribune- 
ship.  And  with  a  mockery  of  fairness,  he  desired  Octavius  first 
to  submit  to  the  comitia  the  question,  that  Tiberius  Gracchus 
should  be  no  longer  tribune.  When  this  was  declined,  he  an- 
nounced his  own  intention  of  proposing  a  similar  resolution  on 
the  following  day  with  regard  to  Octavius.  Accordingly,  when 
the  assembly  met,  Gracchus,  after  another  personal  appeal  to  his 
colleague,  entreating  him  to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  the  people,  and 
finding  him  still  resolute  in  his  refusal,  proposed  to  the  tribes  the 
sentence  of  degradation.  Seventeen  successively  voted  for  it,  and 
as  the  total  number  of  the  tribes  was  thirty-five,  the  votes  of  one 
more  would  constitute  a  majority.  At  this  point,  then,  Gracchus 
paused  and  once  more  conjured  Octavius  to  spare  him  the  neces- 
sity of  proceeding  to  such  a  painful  extremity.  Octavius,  it  is 
said,  was  staggered ;  but  the  sight  of  the  nobility,  who  anxiously 
watched  his  behaviour,  and  the  shame  of  being  intimidated  by 
personal  considerations,  gave  him  fresh  firmness,  and  he  told 
Gracchus  to  do  whatever  he  thought  proper.  The  eighteenth 
tribe  then  gave  their  votes  for  his  degradation,  and  the  measure 
being  carried,  Gracchus  sent  one  of  his  officers  to  drag  Octavius 
down  from  the  seat  which  he  occupied  as  tribune.  When  this 
had  been  done,  and  Octavius  had  been  thrust  out  among  the 
people,  the  mob  immediately  fell  upon  him,  and  although  Gracchus 
tried  to  check  them,  he  found  that  a  demagogue  has  little  power 
in  restraining  his  followers  from  violence,  and  Octavius  with  dif- 
ficulty escaped  from  their  fury  by  the  eftbrts  of  the  nobility  and 
the  zeal  of  his  own  slaves,  one  of  whom  lost  his  eyes  in  defend- 
ing his  master. 

After  such  an  example,  no  tribune  ventured  any  more  to 
impede  the  progress  of  the  law,  which  was  passed  immediately 
without  difficulty.  But  it  appears  that  Crassus  and  Mucins  were 
either  disgusted  at  the  late  conduct  of  Gracchus,  or  that  he  began 

10  Plutarch,  Vita  Gracchi,  11,  12.    Appian,  12. 


BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS. 


51 


now  to  throw  himself  entirely  into  the  arms  of  the  common 
people,  for  neither  their  names,  nor  those  of  any  other  dis- 
tinguished senator  unconnected  with  the  tribune,  were  to  be 
found  among  the  commissioners  appointed  to  carry  the  law  into 
effect.  The  list  consisted  of  Gracchus  himself,"  of  his  younger 
brother  Caius,  a  youth  of  only  twenty  years  of  age,  and  at  this 
time  serving  under  Scipio  in  Spain,  and  of  his  father-in-law,  Ap- 
pius  Claudius.  It  was  evident  that  the  real  power  of  the  commis- 
sion would  rest  solely  with  Tiberius  Gracchus,  and  this  circum- 
stance was  likely  to  embitter  still  more  the  feelings  of  the  senate 
towards  him.  Their  hatred  betrayed  itself  in  a  manner  at  once 
impolitic  and  mean,  for  they  refused  him  the  usual  allowance 
granted  to  a  public  commissioner, '^  and  reduced  it  to  a  denarius 
and  a  half,  or  about  one  shilling  a  day.  Both  parties  were  full 
of  suspicion  against  each  other  ;  a  friend  of  Tiberius  happening 
to  die  suddenly,  the  appearance  exhibited  by  liis  body  was  attri- 
buted to  the  effects  of  poison,  and  Tiberius  himself,  as  if  afraid 
for  his  own  life,  put  on  mourning,  and  with  his  young  children 
in  his  hand,  went  round  among  the  people,  recommending  his 
family  to  their  protection,  in  case  he  himself  should  fall  a  victim 
to  his  enemies.  On  the  other  hand,  Gracchus  began  to  incur 
the  imputation  which  had  proved  so  often  fatal  to  former  dema- 
gogues, that  of  aspiring  to  make  himself  tyrant  of  Rome.'' 
Attains,  the  last  king  of  Pergamus,  was  lately  dead,  and  one  of 
his  ministers  had  arrived  in  Rome  with  his  will,  by  which  he 
bequeathed  his  dominions  and  treasure  to  the  Roman  people, 
Gracchus  immediately  proposed  a  law,  that  the  treasure  should 
be  divided  among  those  citizens  who  should  receive  allotments  of 
land  under  the  new  conmiission,  in  order  to  enable  them  to  stock 
their  farms,  and  that  the  disposal  and  management  of  the  kingdom 
should  be  lodged  exclusively  with  the  popular  assembly.  Under 
the  oditnn  which  such  conduct  excited,  any  accusation  against 
him  was  readily  listened  to  ;  and  a  senator,  whose  house  was 
next  to  that  of  Gracchus,  stood  up  in  the  senate,  and  asserted  on 
his  own  knowledge,  that  the  minister  of  the  late  king  of  Pergamus 
had  presented  Gracchus  with  a  diadem  and  a  scarlet  robe,  pre- 
paratory, as  he  insinuated,  to  his  usurping  the  regal  state  of  which 
those  decorations  were  the  insignia. 

But  his  conduct  towards  Octavius  afforded  his  enemies  a  surer 
ground  of  censure.  Even  many  of  the  people,  it  is  said,  were 
struck  with  the  unprecedented  violence  of  that  measure ;  and 
Gracchus  thought  proper  to  justify  himself  at  some  length,  and 
endeavoured  to  show  that  the  sacredness  of  the  tribunitian  office 
was  destroyed,  when  a  tribune  turned  his  power  to  the  injury  of 

1'  Appian  and  Plutarch,  ubi  supra.    Vel-         12  piutarch,  Vita  Gracchi,  13. 
leius  Paterculus,  II.  2.  i3  Plutarch,  14. 


52  BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS. 

that  part  of  the  people  whose  interests  he  was  especially  appointed 
to  guard.     What  etfect  his  arguments  produced  on  the  minds  of 
his  hearers  cannot  he  known  ;  but  in  the  judgment  of  posterity 
his  conduct  has  appeared  indefensible.     The  negative  of  the  tri- 
bunes was  their  peculiar  and  constitutional  privilege,  and  it  had 
often  been  exerted  in  defence   of  individuals  against  popular 
violence,  as   well  as  in  behalf  of  the  interests  of  the  commons 
collectively  against  the  encroachments  of  the  aristocracy.     To  set 
it  aside  whenever  it  opposed  the  inclinations  of  a  majority  of  the 
comitia,  and  far  more  to  degrade  the  tribune  who  interposed  it, 
was  a  direct  injury  to  the  personal  liberty  of  every  citizen,  and 
left  him  absolutely  without  defence  against  the  wildest  tyranny 
which  the  popular  assembly  might  be  excited  by  its  orators  to 
commit.    It  was  a  violation  of  the  letter  of  the  constitution,  not  on 
the  plea  of  necessity,  but  merely  of  expediency  ;  and  itfmnished 
a  pretence  for  the  more  flagrant  violation  of  it,  of  which  the  op- 
posite party,  in  their  turn,  were  soon  proceeding  to  be  guilty. 
Meanwhile  the  crowds  who  had  flocked  to  Rome,  during  the 
discussion  of  the  agrarian  law,  had  left  the  city  and  returned  to 
their  homes,  elated  with  their  triumph.'*     It  was  possible  that 
Gracchus  might  not  always  be  able  to  command  a  majority  iii 
the  comitia,  and  in  that  case  he  had  the  prospect  before  his  eyes 
of  impeachment,  condemnation,  and  exile.    He  resolved,  therefore, 
to  avail  himself  of  his  present  popularity,  for  the  purpose  of  being 
re-elected  tribune  for  the  following  year,  and  he  trusted  that  his 
supporters  from  the  country  would  re-assemble  on  such  an  occa- 
sion, and  would  secure  his  election.     To  win  still  more  the  favour 
of  the  multitude,  he  allured  them  with  the  hope  of  a  number  of 
popular  measures  which  he  proposed  to  carry  in  his  next  tribune- 
ship :  the  term  of  military  service,'^  to  which  every  citizen  was 
bound  by  law,  was  to  be  shortened  ;  the  judicial  power  in  ordinary 
criminal  causes,  which  had  hitherto  been  confined  to  senators,  was 
to  be  shared  with  the  equestrian  order;  and  Paterculus  adds,'^ 
that  he  promised  to  procure  the  freedom  of  Rome  for  all  the  in- 
habitants of  Italy.     These  were  indeed  the  proceedings  of  a  dan- 
gerous demagogue  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  decide  whether  Grac- 
chus desired  a  second  tribuneship  as  a  defensive  or  an  oftensive 
measure  :  whether  he  wished  it  only  as  a  protection  for  himself, 
or  whether  he  meditated  plans  still  more  subversive  of  all  good 
government  than  those  which  he  had  already  avowed.     But  fear 
has  been  justly  numbered  among  the  causes  which  led  them  into 

1^  Appian,  13.  and  no  one  mentions  any  of  these  meas- 

13  Plutarch,  16,  seems  to  speak  of  these  ures  among  the  actual  offences  of  Tiberius, 

laws    as    actually    proposed    by    Tiberius  I   have  thought  it  most  probable  that  they 

Gracchus  ;  but  as  the  one  which  regards  were  only  taked  of  by   hmi,   and   were 

the  judicial  power  is  ascribed  both  by  Pa-  never  carried  into  effect, 
terculus  and  Appian  to  his  brother  Caius,         '^  Velleius  Paterculus,  ubi  supra. 


BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS. 


53 


injustice  ;  and  acts  which  he  might  have  deemed  necessaiy  to 
his  own  safety,  might  have  been  of  a  nature  no  less  violent  than 
such  as  the  most  deliberate  treason  against  his  country  would 
have  dictated. 

The  season  of  election  was  now  approaching/'  and  the  friends 
of  the  aristocracy  insisted  that  the  same  person  could  not  legally 
be  appointed  tribune  two  years  successively.  Accordingly,  on 
the  day  of  election,  a  demur  on  this  point  was  made  by  the  tri- 
bune who  presided  at  the  comitia,  and  who  accepted  or  refused 
the  votes  of  the  citizens.  He  was  requested  to  resign  his  office  to 
Mucins  or  Mummius,  a  v/arm  partisan  of  Gracchus,  and  the  man 
who  had  been  lately  elected  to  fill  the  place  of  Octavius.  But 
the  other  tribunes  objected  to  this  arrangement,  and  a  dispute  en- 
suing, the  friends  of  Gracchus  perceived  that  the  result  was  like- 
ly to  be  unfavourable  to  them,  and  contrived  to  protract  the  dis- 
cussion to  so  late  an  hour,  that  the  assembly  was  obliged  to  be 
adjourned  to  the  following  day.  During  the  remainder  of  the 
afternoon  and  evening,  Gracchus  again  went  about  in  mourning 
with  his  children,  appealing  to  the  compassion  of  the  people  ;  and 
so  strong  a  sentiment  was  excited  in  his  behalf,  that  a  great 
crowd  watched  through  the  night  around  his  house,  in  order  to 
secure  him  from  the  violence  which  he  affected  to  dread.  He 
himself  meanwhile  was  concerting  with  his  friends  the  measures 
to  be  pursued  on  the  morrow ;  and  a  signal  was  agreed  upon 
amongst  them.'^  to  be  used  in  case  it  should  be  necessary  for 
them  to  employ  force.  The  capitol  was  occupied  by  his  party 
while  it  was  yet  dark,  and  in  the  morning  he  left  his  house  to 
join  them,  and  was  received  with  the  loudest  acclamations ;  a 
crowd  of  his  friends  ranging  themselves  around  his  person,  in  or- 
der that  no  one  on  whom  they  could  not  depend  might  approach 
too  near  him. 

From  this  point  the  relations  of  Plutarch  aud  Appian  vary ; 
nor  have  we  any  contemporary  account  which  might  teach  us 
how  to  reconcile  them  with  each  other,  or  assist  us  in  judging 
which  of  the  two  we  ought  to  follow.  We  shall  attempt  to  com- 
pose such  a  statement  as  may  be  probable  in  itself,  and  not  in- 
consistent with  either  of  our  authorities.  At  the  first  outset,  the 
tribunes  who  were  opposed  to  Gracchus,"  and  the  partisans  of 
the  nobility,  endeavoured  to  interrupt  the  election,  on  the  ground 
which  had  been  urged  on  the  preceding  day,  that  a  tribune  could 
not  be  re-elected  for  the  following  year.  A  disturbance  thus  arose 
among  the  multitude, '^*'  and  at  the  same  moment  Fulvius  Flaccus, 
a  senator  attached  to  the  popular  party,  arrived  in  haste  from  the 
senate^  and  making  signs  that  he  wished  to  speak  to  Gracchus, 

"  Plutarch  and  Appian,  ubi  supra.  '^  Plutarch  and  Appian. 

"  Appian,  15.  «>  Plutarch,  18. 


54  BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS. 

obtained  a  passage  through  the  crowd.  He  brought  information 
that  the  nobility,  being  unable  to  procnrc  the  sanction  of  the  con- 
sul, were  preparing  of  themselves  to  attack  the  comitia,  and  had 
armed  for  this  purpose  a  considerable  body  of  their  friends  and  of 
their  slaves.  The  popular  faction,  already  in  a  high  state  of  agi- 
tation, were  roused  to  the  utmost  by  these  tidings.  They  tucked 
up  their  gowns  to  prepare  for  action,  seized  the  staves  from  the 
hands  of  the  ordinary  otiicers  who  kept  order  in  the  comitia,  broke 
them,  and  distributed  the  fragments  among  their  own  party,  and 
when  Gracchus  gave  the  concerted  signal'^'  by  raising  his  hand 
to  his  head,  they  at  once  fell  upon  the  tribunes  who  had  opposed 
them,  and  on  the  rest  of  the  supporters  of  the  senate,  and  drove 
them  from  the  place  of  assembly.  All  now  became  tumult ;  the 
priests  of  Jupiter  shut  the  gates  of  the  temple  in  the  capitol,  and 
a  thousand  vague  and  exaggerated  rumours  were  carried  to  the 
senate;  some  saying  that  Gracchus  was  deposing  the  other  tri- 
bunes from  their  office ;  others  that  he  was  nominating  himself  to 
a  second  tribuneship,  without  waiting  for  the  votes  of  the  people ; 
while  a  third  set,  who  had  from  a  distance  seen  him  raise  his 
hand  to  his  head,  affirmed  that  he  was  instantly  to  be  appointed 
king,  and  that  he  had  actually  signified  his  desire  to  receive  from 
the  people  a  crown. 

These  several  reports  reached  the  senators  who  were  assem- 
bled in  the  temple  of  Faith.  P.  Cornelius  Scipio  Nasica,  a  man 
of  the  highest  nobility,  of  great  landed  property,  and  of  a  stern 
and  determined  temper, '^'^  called  upon  P.  Mucins,  the  consul,  to 
take  instant  and  vigorous  measures  for  the  destruction  of  the  ty- 
rant. To  this  Mucins  answered,  that  he  would  not  set  the  exam- 
ple of  shedding  blood,  nor  destroy  any  citizen  without  trial ;  but 
if  the  people  were  seduced  or  terrified  by  Gracchus  into  any  ille- 
gal resolutions,  he  should  consider  such  resolutions  to  be  of  no 
authority.  Nasica  then  exclaimed,  "  The  consul  deserts  the  repub- 
lic ;  let  those  who  wish  to  preserve  it  follow  me."  At  once  the  sen- 
ators arose,  wrapped  their  gowns  around  their  left  arms  as  a  shield, 
and  proceeded  in  a  body  towards  the  capitol.  Nasica  led  them, 
with  a  fold  of  his  robe  thrown  over  his  head ;  and  the  train  was 
swelled  by  the  friends  and  slaves  of  the  senators,  who  had  provided 
themselves  beforehand  with  clubs  and  sticks.  On  the  approach 
of  this  band,  consisting  of  all  the  nobility  of  Rome,  the  people 
made  way  before  them,  and  fled  in  all  directions.  The  senators 
seized  the  staves  which  their  opponents  dropped  in  their  flight,  or 
armed  themselves  with  the  fragments  of  the  benches  which  had 
been  broken  down  in  the  confusion  of  the  crowd.  With  these 
weapons  they  attacked  all  who  fell  in  their  way  ;  and  Gracchus 

21  Appian,  15.  22  Cicero,  de  Officiis,  I.  30.     De  Claris 

Orator.  28. 


BIOGRAPHY— TIBERIUS  GRACCHUS. 


55 


himself  endeavouring  to  escape,  and  stumbling  over  those  who  had. 
already  fallen,  was  killed  by  repeated  blows  on  the  head.  About 
three  hundred  of  his  friends  shared  his  fate,  being  all  killed  by 
clubs  or  bludgeons,  which  were  the  only  weapons  employed.  The 
bodies  of  all  the  slain,  including  Gracchus  himself,  were  ordered 
to  be  thrown  into  the  Tiber,  and  the  senate  following  up  their 
victory,  put  to  death  afterwards  several  of  the  partisans  of  the 
late  tribune ;  some  of  them,  it  is  said,"'  with  circumstances  of 
atrocious  cruelty. 

It  throws  a  remarkable  light  on  the  notions  entertained  by  the 
Romans  on  political  justice,  that  Cicero,  a  man  whose  moral  prin- 
ciples were  far  purer  than  those  of  his  countrymen  in  general, 
speaks  more  than  once  of  the  murder  of  Gracchus  in  terms  of  the 
warmest  praise.*^*  So  accustomed  were  the  Romans  to  have  re- 
course to  the  plea  of  necessity  or  public  utility,  to  justify  the  vio- 
lation of  the  existing  laws  of  the  commonwealth.  Now,  as  it  is 
obvious  that  these  abstract  principles  are  of  a  far  more  pliable 
nature  than  written  forms  of  law  can  be,  all  parties  in  turn  might 
appeal  to  such  an  excuse,  with  plausibihty,  when  the  laws,  if 
duly  observed,  would  have  passed  on  each  a  just  condemnation. 
No  doubt  there  is  an  extreme  on  the  other  side  ;  and  a  blind  de- 
votion to  the  letter  and  forms  of  the  constitution  on  all  occasions, 
may  really  compromise  those  great  interests  for  the  sake  of  Avhich 
alone  forms  are  valuable.  But  there  cannot  be  a  question  that 
the  adherence  to  rules,  and  the  respect  for  particular  institutions, 
which  remarkably  distinguish  our  English  lawyers,  are  a  most 
valuable  security  to  personal  liberty,  and  that  they  serve  to  sub- 
ject the  fury  of  contending  factions  to  one  impartial  and  unim- 
passioned  decision.  At  Rome,  public  expediency  was  success- 
fully appealed  to,  to  justify  the  degradation  of  Octavius  and  the 
death  of  Gracchus  ;  whereas  a  truer  knowledge  of  the  interests  of 
justice  and  liberty  would  have  taught  them  to  abhor  both  those 
actions  as  illegal  and  tyrannical :  the  last,  as  is  usual  in  cases  of 
retaliation,  far  exceeding  the  former  by  which  it  was  provoked,  in 
violence  and  atrocity. 

23  Plutarch,  Vita  Tib.  Gracch.  20.  2^  De  Officiis,  I.  22.  30. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CAIUS  GRACCHUS.— FROM  U.C.  621,  B.C.  133,  TO  U.C.  633,  B.C.  121. 

The  murder  of  Tiberius  Gracchus  was  so  much  a  sudden  and 
Biography-caiu3  isolatcd  act,  that  it  did  not  at  all  interrupt  the 
From u"c. 621.  B  c.  cxecutioii  of  tho-sc  laws  which  he  had  proposed 
c\'i2i'.  ■  '  "  and  carried  in  his  tribuneship.  His  death  occasion- 
ed a  vacancy  among  the  commissioners  for  carrying  into  effect 
his  agrarian  law  ;  and  P.  Licinius  Crassus, '  who  was  nominated 
to  succeed  him,  perishing  shortly  after  in  the  war  against  Aristo- 
nicus,''  in  Pergamus  ;  and  Appius  Claudius,^  another  of  the  origi- 
nal commissioners,  dying  also  about  the  same  time,  the  commis- 
sion finally  was  composed  of  C.  Gracchus,  the  younger  brother 
of  Tiberius,  C.  Papirius  Carbo,  and  M.  Fulvius  Flaccus.  But  the 
extreme  youth  of  C.  Gracchus,  and  possibly  the  impression  pro- 
duced on  his  mind  by  the  fate  of  his  brother,  prevented  him  from 
immediately  taking  an  active  part  in  public  affairs.  His  col- 
leagues, however,  were  well  disposed  to  make  up  for  his  absence  ; 
and  they  proceeded  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  their  appointment  in 
that  summary  and  absolute  manner  which  was  so  familiar  to  the 
magistrates  of  Rome.  They  readily  received  accusations  against 
any  persons  who  were  charged  with  holding  national  lands  ;* 
and  decided  on  all  these  cases  by  their  own  sole  authority.  It 
often  happened  that  property  alleged  to  be  public,  was  intermixed 
with  estates  lawfully  belonging  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  allied 
states  of  Italy ;  and  now  the  present  commission  extended  its 
inquiries  to  the  titles  by  which  these  estates  were  held  ;  and  their 
owners  were  called  upon  to  show  how  they  had  acquired  them, 
and  to  produce  either  the  deeds  of  the  purchase,  or  the  grants  by 
which  they  had  received  them  from  the  Roman  government. 
Sometimes  these  documents  were  not  to  be  found ;  and  then  the 
commissioners  decided  at  their  discretion  upon  the  property  of  the 
land ;  and  removed  at  pleasure  from  their  estates  men  who  had 
peaceably  inherited  them  from  a  remote  period.  It  appears,  also, 
that  for  the  encouragement  of  agriculture,  permission  had  been 

I  Plutarch,  in  Tib.  Gracch.  21.  ^  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  18. 

«  Livy,  Epitom.  LIX.  «  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  18. 


OPPOSITION  TO  THE  AGRARIAN  COMMISSIONERS.  55 

given  to  individuals  on  former  occasions,  to  inclose  and  cultivate 
the  waste  lands  in  their  neighbourhood,  on  the  payment  probably 
of  a  rent,  scarcely  more  than  nominal,  to  the  treasury.  In  pro- 
cess of  time,  the  distinction  between  the  freehold  and  rented 
parts  of  an  estate  was  forgotten  ;  the  boundaries  between  the 
two  were  removed ;  and  the  whole  was  looked  upon  as  held  by 
the  same  tenure.  But  no  prescription  was  any  security  against 
the  new  commissioners  ;  all  pul)lic  land  whatever  was  to  be  re- 
covered out  of  private  hands,  and  to  be  divided  amongst  the 
poorer  citizens,  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  Sempronian 
law.  Nor  was  the  distribution  of  the  lots  to  be  thus  assigned 
less  arbitrary.'  The  law  allowed  an  individual  to  hold  500  ju- 
gera  of  national  property ;  but  it  seems  that  the  commissioners 
might  allot  them  to  him  in  whatever  part  of  Italy  they  thought 
proper.  Many  persons,  therefore,  were  deprived  of  the  lands 
which  they  held  adjoining  to  their  own  estates  ;  and  received  in  ex- 
change an  allotment  often  less  valuable  in  itself,  and  generally  far 
less  conveniently  situated.  Men  obnoxious  to  the  commissioners, 
either  on  political  or  personal  grounds,  were  thus  subjected  to 
numberless  vexations  ;  while  their  partisans,  their  creatures,  and 
their  friends,  might  be  most  unduly  favoured.  It  is  probable,  in- 
deed, that  the  most  industrious  and  peaceable  among  the  poorer 
citizens,  would  be  by  no  means  the  greatest  gainers  from  the  dis- 
tribution of  land  f  bat  that  the  opportunity  would  be  seized  to  re- 
ward the  most  violent  supporters  of  the  democratical  party  in  the 
popular  assembly,  and  to  encourage  the  riotous  and  seditious  for 
the  future,  with  the  hope  of  earning  for  themselves  a  similar 
prize,  by  an  active  and  unscrupulous  obedience  to  the  prevailing 
demagogues  of  the  day. 

It  strongly  marks  the  character  of  the  Roman  constitution, 
that  at  the  very  time  when  a  commission  so  favourable  to  the 
wildest  claims  of  the  democratical  party  was  actually  in  existence, 
the  consuls,^  P.  Popilius  and  P.  Rupilius,  were  proceeding  to  in- 
flict the  penalty  of  banishment  on  several  of  the  partisans  of  Ti- 
berius Gracchus,  by  no  other  authority  than  a  vote  of  the  senate, 
and  in  manifest  contempt  of  the  Valerian  law.  This,  as  was 
natural,  was  on  a  future  occasion  strongly  resented  by  the  popu- 
lar party ;  and  thus  in  the  tyrannical  powers  which  both  sides  in 
turn  allowed  themselves  to  exercise,  there  never  were  wanting  to 
either  pretences  of  retaliation,  whenever  they  could  gain  the  as- 
cendency. 

Meantime,  the  proceedings  of  the  agrarian  commissioners  ex- 
cited a  general  indignation  amongst  the  inhabitants  p.  scipio  opposes  tho 

,,  '-'.  /-Tria  /-I  111  commissioners  of  the 

of  the  provmces  01  Italy,  many  01  whom  had  been  agrarian  iaw. 

5  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  18.  '  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  7.     Plutarch, 

6  Coiif.  Cicero,  de  Lege  Agraria  contra     in  C.  Gracch.  4. 

Rullum;  Orat.  II.  29.  31.  8  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  19. 

5 


56 


DEATH  OF  P.  SCIPIO. 


dispossessed  of  estates  to  make  room  for  some  of  the  poor  citizens 
of  Rome.     In  looking  out  for  a  man  who  might  espouse  their 
cause  with  effect,  they  were  led  to  fix  their  eyes  on  P.  Cornelius 
Scipio  iEmilianus,  who  was  distinguished  for  his  military  ser- 
vices, and  had  lately  returned  to  Rome,  after  having  effected  the 
destruction  of  Numantia.     Scipio  had  hecome  acquainted  with 
many  of  the  Italians,  when  serving  under  him  as  allies  in  the 
Roman  army,  and  was  well  able  to  appreciate  their  value  ;  he  was 
inclined  also  of  himself  to  oppose  the  popular  party  ;  and  he  came 
forward  therefore  with  complaints  of  the  excessive  power  vested 
in  the  hands  of  the  commissioners,  and  proposed  that  all  points  in 
dispute  between  them  and  the  occupiers  of  land  should  be  decid- 
ed, not  by  themselves,  but  by  a  more  impartial  jurisdiction.     This 
seemed  so  fair,  that  it  was  acceded  to  ;  and  C.  Sempronius  Tudi- 
tanus,  one  of  the  consuls,  was  appointed  judge  of  all  appeals 
against  the  measures  of  the  commissioners.     But  this  officer,  dis- 
gusted with  the  difficulties  of  the  office,  soon  resigned  it,  and 
departed  to  his  province  of  Illyricum  ;  whilst,  as  no  one  acted  in 
his  place,  the  commissioners  again  were  enabled  to  defy  all  oppo- 
sition.    The  attempt,  however,   to  lessen   their  power  had  ren- 
dered Scipio  odious  to  their  party ;  nor  was  this  the  only  way  in 
which  he  offended  them  ;  for  he  had  on  a  former  occasion  procured 
the  rejection  of  a  law  brought  forward  by  Carbo,'  and  supported 
by  Gracchus,  to  allow  the  same  person  to  be  re- 
D.  0.623.     .   .624.  g|p(^{gj  ^j.jIj^ij^q  jjg  often  as  the  people  should  choose. 
He  did  not  abate  in  his  opposition  to  their  power  as  commission- 
ers, till,  on  the  night  preceding  the  day  on  which  he  was  going 
to  address  the  people  fully  on  the  subject,  he  died  suddenly  in  his 
bed  :'"  and  his  death  was  attributed  by  the  violence 
.ac.pio.     of  party  to  the  contrivances  of  Carbo  and  Gracchus. 
But  the  general,  and  the  most  probable  account  was,  that  his 
death  was  natural ;"  nor,  indeed,  is  secret  assassination  a  crime 
consistent  with  that  which  we  know  of  the  character  of  the  Ro- 
man political  quarrels  at  this  period  of  the  republic. 

The  agrarian  law  of  Tiberius  Gracchus,  which  had  arisen 
immediately  out  of  the  relative  situation  of  the  rich  and  poor  citi- 
zens of  Rome,  began  now  in  its  operation  to  affect  other  interests, 
and  to  bring  forward  new  claims,  and  new  changes.  It  has  been 
mentioned,  that  the  landholders  among  the  allied  states  of  Italy, 
felt  themselves  particularly  aggrieved  by  it,  and  that  they  had 
applied  to  Scipio  to  undertake  the  defence  of  their  cause.  After 
his  death  they  continued  their  opposition  to  it,'^  in  conjunction 
with  the  aristocratical  party  at  Rome  ;  and  thus  the  execution  of 

9  Livy,Epitom.  LIX.     Cicero,  de  Ami-        "  Vid.  Paterculus. 

cit.  25.  12  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  21. 

10  Appian,  20.     Velleius  Paterculus,  II. 
4.     Livy,  Epitom.  LIX. 


SCHEME  TO  CONCILIATE  ITALIAN  ALLIES. 


57 


the  law  was  delayed  and  impeded,  and  its  supporters  might  have 
despaired  of  ever  carrying  it  into  full  effect,  while  there  were  such 
powerful  interests  arrayed  against  it.  Upon  this  a  scheme  was 
devised,  which  should  at  once  conciliate  one  part  The  popular  leaders 
of  the  opponents  of  the  laws,  and  set  them  at  vaii-  ]"cl''il^iL^hlpl'i'{ 
ance  with  the  other  part.  Hopes  were  held  out  to  V  uomfu'cftizlns' 
the  Italian  allies,  that  they  should  be  admitted  to  all  the  privileges 
of  Roman  citizens  ;  and  in  return  for  so  splendid  a  gift,  it  was  ex- 
pected that  they  would  renounce  their  opposition  to  the  agrarian 
law.  Besides,  the  popular  leaders  might  probably  calculate  on 
making  the  strength  of  their  party  irresistible,  if  so  many  thou- 
sand members,  indebted  to  them  for  their  right  of  voting,  should 
be  added  to  the  popular  assembly ;  and  as  the  number  of  citizens 
would  then  be  so  great,  that  the  actual  meeting  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple in  one  place  would  be  impracticable  :  the  comitia  were  likely 
to  consist  of  an  assemblage  of  the  idlest  and  most  worthless  of  the 
community ;  to  be  more  than  ever  incapable  of  reason,  and  more 
than  ever  liable  to  become  instruments  of  mischief  in  the  hands 
of  their  favourite  orators.  However,  the  proposed  grant  of  citi- 
zenship completely  answered  the  views  of  the  popular  leaders  : 
the  Italians,  forgetting  the  agrarian  law  in  the  seducing  prospect 
now  opened  to  them,  crowded  to  Rome  to  witness  the  decision 
of  the  question,  and  to  influence  it  in  their  favour  by  every 
means  in  their  power.  While,  on  the  other  hand,  the  senate, 
considering  this  new  measure  as  more  dangerous  than  even  the 
division  of  the  national  lands,  prepared  vigorously  to  oppose  it ; 
and  M.  Junius  Pemms,'^  one  of  the  tribunes,  brought  forward  a 
law  under  their  authority,  commanding  all  aliens  to  depart  from 
Rome,  and  prohibiting  them  generally  from  access  to  it.  The 
law  was  carried,  and  the  success  of  the  senate  in  The  scheme  defeated 
this  previous  struggle  deterred,  as  it  seems,  the  lo' fie  senate. 
popular  leaders  from  bringing  on  the  main  question  for  the  pre- 
sent.    At  this  time,  also,  they  lost  one   of  their 

U   C    627      U   C    628 

number,  C.  Gracchus,  who  having   been   elected 

quaestor,  was  sent  into  Sardinia  with  L.  Aurelius  Orestes,'*  one  of 

the  consuls,  to  quell  some  disturbances  in  that  island. 

In  the  succeeding  year,  M.  Fulvius  Flaccus,  one  of  the  com- 
missioners of  the  agrarian  law,  was  elected  consul ;  and  availing 
himself  of  the  power  of  his  office,  he  threatened  to  bring  the  ques- 
tion concerning  the  Italian  allies  to  an  issue.  The  Renewed  unsuccess- 
senate  conjured  him,  it  is  said,'^  to  desist  from  his  FiaccuT. 
purpose  ;  and  finding  that  he  treated  them  with  contempt,  they 
averted  the  evil  for  the  time  by  sending  Fulvius  on  foreign  ser- 
vice;'® avaihng  themselves  of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the 

'3  Vid.  Ciceron.  de  Claris  Orator.  23.         '^  Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  5. 
De  Officiis,  III.  II.  is  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  L  34.     Livy, 

1*  Plutarch,  in  C.  Graccho,  1.  Epitom.  LX. 


58  SKETCH  OF  THE  AUTHORITIES 

Salyes,  a  tribe  of  Transalpine  Gaul,  who  liad  attacked  the  do- 
minions of  the  city  of  Marseilles,  an  ally  of  the  republic.  But  the 
hopes  which  his  proposed  measures  had  excited  in  the  minds  of 
the  Italians  could  not  be  at  once  forgotten  ;  and  some  among  them 
were  disposed  to  assert  their  claims  by  force,  without  depending 
on  their  friends  at  Rome.  The  people  of  Frcgellaj  arc  men- 
tioned as  having  revolted  from  the  Romans  ;  and  Cicero  goes  so  far 
as  to  speak  of  the  "war  with  Fregelkc."'^  But  the  war  which 
a  single  city  could  maintain  against  the  Roman  empire  could  not 
have  been  very  serious.  Fregellae  was  betrayed  by  one  of  its 
citizens,'^  and  the  praetor,  L.  Opimius,  who  was  employed  on  this 
occasion,  after  having  killed  so  many  of  the  inhabitants  as  to 
encourage  him  to  claim  a  triumph,"  received  the  submission  of 
the  survivors,*^"  and  razed  their  city  to  the  ground. 

It  was  late  in  the  succeeding  year,  when  C  Gracchus,  after 
u  c  5.3J  an  absence  of  about  two  years,  returned  from  Sar- 

cimralterTa'timc'?  diula  without  thc  permission  of  his  general,  intend- 
chus.  ing  at  the  ensuing  elections  to  offer  himself  as  a 

candidate  for  the  tribuneship.*^'  His  conduct  in  thus  leaving  his 
province  was  complained  of,  and  was  noticed  by  the  censors  ;  but 
he  defended  himself  successfully  both  on  this  and  on  other  occa- 
sions, when  he  was  accused  of  having  been  concerned  in  the  re- 
volt of  Fregclla).  He  obtained  also  the  office  of  tribune  which  he 
desired,  but  was  so  vigorously  opposed  by  the  senatorian  party, 
that  he  could  only  obtain  the  fourth  place  in  the  list.  He  was 
now  about  thirty  years  of  age,  and  possessed  all  the  qualifications 
requisite  in  a  popular  leader.  His  eloquence  was  of  a  very  high 
order,22  at  once  sensible  and  commanding ;  his  education^^  had 
begun  early  under  the  care  of  his  mother  Cornelia,  and  exceeded 
that  of  most  of  his  contemporaries  :  his  activity  and  diligence 
were  great,  and  the  fate  of  his  brother,  as  well  as  the  circumstan- 
ces of  his  early  political  life,  marked  him  out  as  a  determined 
enemy  of  the  senate  and  partisan  of  the  popular  cause. 
Accordingly  his  tribuneship  was  marked  by  a  succession  of  acts, 
all  prompted  evidently  by  party  views,  and  which  appear  to  have 
originated  far  less  in  honest  feelings  of  compassion  for  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  poor,  than  the  laws  of  his  brother  Tiberius.  The 
truth  is,  that  there  were  now  two  parties  in  the  state  more  dis- 
tinctly formed  ;  and  men  under  such  circumstances  are  too  apt 
to  believe  that  the  good  of  their  country  can  only  be  promoted 
through  the  medium  of  the  ascendency  of  their  party. 

In  the  accounts  which  we  are  now  to  give  of  the  measures 
pursued  by  C.  Gracchus,  the  want  of  a  good  contemporary  his- 

"  De  Lege  Agraria,  II.  33.  21  Plmarch,  in  C.  Graccho,  2. 

IS  Cicero,  de  Finibus,  V.  22.  22  Cicero,  de  Claris  Orator.  33.  58. 

19  Valerius  Maximus,  11.  8.  ^  Cicero,  de  Claris  Orator.  33.  58. 

20  Livy,  Epitom.  LX. 


FOR  THIS  PART  OF  R03IAN  HISTORY.  gg 

torian  whom  we  may  follow  with  confidence  will  sketch  of  the  authori 
be  severely  felt.     And  here  it  may  not  be  improper,  mlnhiZr'"^'"'- 
once  for  all,  to  acquaint  the  English  reader  with  the  nature  of 
those  materials  fjom  which  our  knowledge  of  this  pait  of  Roman 
history  is  derived  ;  for  this  is  not  made  sufficiently  clear  by  the 
generality  of  modern  compilers,  and  their  narrative  proceeds  with 
as  little  hesitation  as  if  they  were  copying  from  the  fullest  and 
most  respectable  authorities.     The  most  detailed  account  of  the 
times  with  which  we  are  now  engaged,  is  to  be  found  in  Plutarch's 
hfe  of  Caius  Gracchus.     Now  from  whom  Plutarch  chiefly  copied 
he  does  not  inform  us  ;  and  neither  his  knowledge  of  the  Roman 
laws  and  forms,  nor  his  general  accuracy,  nor  even  his  object  in 
writmg,  are  such  as  to  render  him  a  valuable  guide  in  statin f^  the 
provisions  of  particular  statutes  with  exactness,  or  the  order  in 
which  they  were  proposed.    Appian,  who  has  written  more  briefly 
IS  equally  silent  as  to  the  authorities  for  his  history,  and  quotes 
the  enactments  of  the  ditferent  laws  too  vaguely.     It  is  to  be  ob- 
served, that  he  relates  several  facts  in  a  different  order  from  that  • 
followed  by  Plutarch,      We  should  remember,  then,  that  the 
writers  whom  we  must  chiefly  consult  were  two  foreigners,  who 
lived  more  than  two  hundred  years  later  than  the  period  for  which 
we  refer  to  them,  in  whose  times  a  totally  new  order  of  things 
had  succeeded  to  the  old  government,  and  who  appear  to  have 
had  a  very  superficial  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  constitution  of 
the  republic.     In  addition  to  Plutarch  and  Appian,  we  have  the 
sketch  of  Roman  history  drawn  by  Yelleius  Paterculus,  in  which 
the  acts  of  Gracchus  are  enumerated  all  together  without  any 
detail  of  circumstances :  we  have  the  epitomes  of  the  lost  books 
of  Livy,  which  are  also  a  mere  sketch,  and  compiled  by  an  un- 
certain authoi;,  and  we  have  the  meagre  outlines  of  the  life  of 
Gracchus  given  by  Florus  and  Aurelius  Victor.     When  these 
writers  differ  from  one  another,  we  know  not  to  whose  statements 
we  ought  most  to  listen,  unless  the  point  be  determined  acciden- 
tally by  some  allusion  to  it  in  an  earlier  writer :  or  unless  we 
venture  to  decide  by  internal  probability.     The  voluminous  works 
of  Cicero  do  indeed  often  throw  light  on  the  affairs  of  the  times 
preceding  his  own  ;  and  his  legal  and  constitutional  knowledge 
make  his  authority  highly  valuable.     But  it  is  easy  to  understand 
how  very  insufficient  such  scattered  fragments  of  information 
must  be  towards  giving  a  full   and  connected  history  of  any 
transaction.     We  proceed  then,  but  with  hesitation  and  doubt, 
to  offer  the  best  account  in  our  power  of  a  period  which  well  ' 
deserves  to  have  been  commemorated  by  able  and  more  careful 
historians. 

According  to  Plutarch,  C.  Gracchus  commenced  his  career  as 
tribune  by  inflammatory  addresses  to  the  people,  in  u.c.eso. 
which  he  bewailed  continually  the  fate  of  his  brother,  KlTOTi!"' 


60  CORN  LAW. 

and  painted  the  iniquity  of  his  murder.  He  then  brought  forward 
two  laws,  the  one  to  disquahfy  any  magistrate  who  had  been  de- 
prived of  his  office  by  the  people  from  being  afterwards  appointed 
to  any  other  post  of  authority  ;  the  other  making  it  a  crime 
cognizable  by  the  popular  assembly,  if  any  magistrate  banished 
a  Roman  citizen  without  trial.  The  former  of  these  was  merely 
a  fresh  mark  of  the  hatred  of  the  popular  leaders  towards  M. 
Octavius,  who  had  been  degraded  from  the  tribuneship,  as  has 
been  already  mentioned,  for  his  opposition  to  the  agrarian  law 
when  first  proposed  by  Tiberius  Gracchus  ;  and  the  unworthy 
feelings  in  which  the  measure  originated  were  so  evident,  that  C. 
Gracchus  himself  was  persuaded  by  his  mother  to  procure  its 
rejection.  The  second  law  M'as  particularly  directed  against  P. 
Popilius,  who.  as  we  have  seen,  had  during  his  consulship  exer- 
cised the  vengeance  of  the  senate  against  several  of  the  partisans 
of  Tiberius  Gracchus.  Popilius,  fearful  of  being  brought  to  trial, 
withdrew  from  Rome  ;  and  Gracchus  then  carried  a  law,*^^  by 
which  he  Avas  forbidden  the  use  of  fire  and  water  in  Italy,  the 
usual  form  of  passing  a  sentence  of  banishment.  After  these 
preparatory  acts,  intended  perhaps  to  intimidate  the  friends  of  the 
aristocracy,  Gracchus  brought  forward  such  measures  as,  by 
gratifying  the  common  people,  were  likely  to  bind  them  to  support 
him  in  all  his  future  proceedings.  The  agrarian  law,  passed  during 
the  tribuneship  of  his  brother  Tiberius,  was  again  confirmed," 
and  some  provisions  were  probably  made  to  insure  its  execution. 
By  another  law  it  was  ordered^*  that  the  soldiers  should  be  pro- 
vided with  clothing  without  deducting  from  their  pay  the  money 
thus  expended ;  and  that  no  one  should  enlist  under  seventeen 
years  of  age.  A  third  enacted,  that  corn  should  be  distributed 
Corn  law.  Lexfru-  mouthly  to  the  people,'^''  at  the  prici  of  five-sixths 
mentaria.  Qf  ^yi  as  for  the  uiodius  or  peck  r  which  would 

make  the  value  of  the  quarter  nearly  one  shilling  and  eightpence 
of  our  money.  What  quantity  was  thus  to  be  given  to  every 
citizen,  we  have  not  been  able  to  find ;  but  whether  it  were  much  or 
Httle,  the  injustice  and  impracticability  of  this  Roman  poor-law 
are  equally  striking  ;  for  its  operation  would  in  the  end  have  fed 
the  Roman  people  at  the  expense  of  the  subject  provinces,  and  by 
discouraging  industry  and  encouraging  population  would  have 
filled  Rome  with  a  mere  multitude  of  idle  paupers,  incapable  of 
government,  and  so  completely  worthless,  that  the  rest  of  the 
world  would  not  long  have  endured  their  dominion  or  their  exist- 
ence. This  law  was  warmly  opposed  by  the  aristocratical  party, 
and  amongst  the  rest  by  L.  Calpurnius  Piso,^^  who  had  been 

21  Cicero  pro  Domosu^,  31.  27  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  21.    Livy, 

25  Livy,  Epitom.  LX.     Plutarch,  in  C.     Epitom.  LX. 

Graccho,  5.  23  Cicero,  Tusculan.  Disputat.  IIL  20. 

26  Plutarch,  in  C.  Graccho,'5. 


LAW  CONCERNING  THE  JUDICIAL  POWER.  gi 

consul  during  the  year  in  which  Tiberius  Gracchus  was  killed. 
It  passed,  however,  in  spite  of  their  opposition,  and  soon  after 
Piso  was  seen  amongst  the  crowd  of  poor  citizens,  who  came  to 
receive  their  portion  of  corn.  Gracchus  observing  him,  charged 
him  with  inconsistency  for  taking  the  benefit  of  a  law  which  he 
had  so  strongly  opposed  ;  to  which  Piso  replied,  "  I  should  very 
much  object  to  your  giving  away  my  property  amongst  the  people ; 
but  if  you  were  to  do  it,  I  should  certainly  try  to  get  my  share  of 
it."  In  addition  to  all  these  acts,  another  was  attempted  to  be 
passed  to  gratify  the  ItalianSj^"  by  granting  them  the  right  of 
voting  in  the  assemblies  at  Rome,  but  without  communicating 
to  them  the  other  privileges  of  Roman  citizenship.  But  the  most 
formidable  attack  upon  the  senate  still  remained  to  be  made :  the 
judges  who  sat  with  the  prastors  for  the  ordinary     r 

"L   •    \        r         --i  iii-i  v^ivAiiiuij^        Law  concerning  the 

trial  ot  crminial  causes,  had  hitherto  consisted  of  J^d'ciui power. 
senators  alone  f°  and  in  the  strong  party  feeling  which  bound 
the  members  of  the  different  orders  of  the  republic  to  the  support 
of  each  other,  a  senator  when  tried  by  senators  was  likely  to  meet 
with  more  favour  than  justice.  This  was  particularly  the  case 
when  officers  of  high  rank  were  tried  for  corruption  or  misconduct 
in  the  provinces  :  and  instances  of  partiality  had  lately  occurred 
in  the  acquittal  of  L.  Aurelius  Gotta  and  Marcius  Aquilius,  the 
former  of  whom  had  been  accused  by  P.  Scipio  iEmilianus,"''and 
had  been  brought  before  the  court  eight  successive  times  ;  and  the 
latter  may  be  well  judged  capable  of  any  crime,  since  he  has  been 
already  mentioned  as  guilty  of  poisoning  the  wells,  when  engaged 
in  the  war  against  Aristonicus  in  Asia.  The  odium  excited  by 
these  cases  favoured  the  wishes  of  Gracchus,  and  he  succeeded 
in  introducing  a  most  important  change  in  the  constitution,  by 
transferring  the  judicial  power  from  the  senate  to  the  equestrian 
order,  either  by  ordering  that  the  judges  should  henceforth  he  ap- 
pointed solely  from  the  latter,  or,  as  the  account  of  Livy's  Epito- 
mizer  leads  us  to  suppose,  by  providing,  that  for  every  senator 
among  the  judges  there  should  be  henceforth  named  in  addition 
two  equites  or  knights,  thus  giving  a  decided  majority  to  their 
order.  Plutarch  here  gives  us  an  instance  of  his  ignorance  re- 
specting the  simplest  facts  in  the  history  of  the  Roman  consti- 
tution. For  he  tells  us,  that  whereas  there  were  before  three 
hundred  judges,  all  senators,  by  the  law  of  Gracchus  three 
hundred  from  the  equestrian  orders  were  added  to  them,  so  that 
the  influence  of  the  two  orders  injudicial  proceedings  was  hence- 
forward equal.  He  confounds  the  Sempronian  law  with  the  laws 
of  Plotius  and  Lirius,  which  were  passed  on  purpose  to  alter  its  pro- 
as Plutarch,  in  C.  Graccho,  5.  Appian,  3i  Cicero,  Divinatio  in  Cajcil.  21.  Va- 
23.  lerius  Maiimus,  VIII.  1. 

3"  Appian,   22.      Velleius    Paterculus, 
IL  6. 


62  SECOND  TRIBUNESHIP  OF  GRACCHUS. 

visions.  Of  the  effects  of  this  alteration  it  is  difficult  to  judge  : 
Appian  asserts  that  the  judges  of  the  equestrian  order  soon  became 
as  corrupt  as  the  senators/^  and  were  as  unjustly  severe  towards 
all  senators  who  were  tried  before  them,  as  the  former  judges  had 
been  unduly  partial.  Whereas  Cicero  declares,"  that  during  the 
whole  period  of  nearly  fifty  years  in  which  the  law  of  Gracchus 
continued  in  force,  there  had  never  arisen  even  the  slightest  sus- 
picion of  any  of  the  judges  having  received  a  bribe.  It  should 
be  remembered,  however,  that  this  is  said  in  the  course  of  his 
pleadings  as  an  advocate,  and  on  such  occasions  the  greatest 
allowance  must  be  made  for  the  wide  deviations  from  truth  con- 
tinually practised  by  the  orators  of  both  Greece  and  Rome. 

These  popular  acts  raised  Gracchus  to  a  height  of  influence 
Gracchus  promotes  ^^^^  Consideration  among  the  people  such  as  ren- 
waiiy  public  works,  (jercd  liini  almost  absolute.  To  increase  the  num- 
ber of  his  dependents  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  throwing  lus- 
tre upon  his  administration,  he  brought  in  several  laws  for  making 
roads,^*  constructing  bridges,  erecting  storehouses  for  the  corn 
that  was  to  be  distributed  among  the  people,  and  executing  vari- 
ous other  works  of  ornament  and  utility.  As  Gracchus,  from  his 
present  popularity,  enjoyed  the  power,  of  appointing  the  persons 
who  were  to  be  employed  in  these  undertakings,  he  was  con- 
stantly surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  contractors,  artificers,  engineers, 
public  officers,  men  of  science,  and  workmen  of  various  descrip- 
tions, all  courting  his  patronage,  soliciting  his  judgment  on  their 
several  proposals,  and  ready  to  support  him  meanwhile  in  all  his 
enterprises.  The  activity  of  his  mind,  and  the  versatility  of  his 
talents,  enabled  him  to  enter  into  the  views  of  all ;  the  depth  of 
a  statesman's  knowledge  on  scientific  or  common  subjects  is  not 
very  strictly  scrutinized  by  those  who  are  flattered  with  his  atten- 
tion in  noticing  them  at  all ;  and  thus  Gracchus  obtained  the 
character  of  a  man  of  universal  information,  who  could  at  once 
understand  and  feel  interested  in  those  humbler  pursuits,  which 
persons  in  higher  power  and  station  are  generally  suspected  of 
despising. 

The  year  was  meanwhile  drawing  towards  its  close  ;  and  the 
Second  tribuneship  of  ^^^'^^:  ^^  it  uow  stood,  prevented  Gracchus  from  of- 
Gracchus.  feving  himself  a  second  time  as  a  candidate  for  the 

tribuneship.  But  it  appears  from  Appian, ^s  that  the  force  of  this 
law  was  partly  rendered  null,  by  the  people  possessing  the  power 

32  Appian,  I.  22.  We  have  no  doubt  that  Schweigheeuser  in 

33  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  actio  prima,  13.  his  note  on  this  passage  has  given  the  true 

34  Plutarch,  in  C.  Graccho,  6.    Appian,  interpretation  of  it,  which  we  have   ex- 
I.  23.  pressed  in  the  text;  but  at  the  same  time, 

35  Appian,  I.  21.     The  words  are  these,  we  are  ignorant  what  law  it  is  that  Appian 
Tij  i'jSn  viijios  KCKvpwro,  Ei  oij^^ao ^"5  h'oloi  ruTj  alludes  to,  or  at  what  period  it  was  enacted. 

-apayycMais,  tov  SiifW  Ik  zivToyv  iri\iycuQai. 


SECOND  TRIBUNESHIP  OF  GRACCHUS. 


63 


of  an  unlimited  choice,  in  case  fewer  than  ten  candidates  should 
ofler  themselves.  It  happened  on  the  present  occasion  that  the 
requisite  number  of  candidates  did  not  come  forward  ;  the  strong 
tide  of  popular  feeling  towards  Gracchus  deterring  perhaps  many 
from  attempting  to  exclude  him ;  and  thus  he  was  again  elected, 
although  his  own  mother,  in  a  letter  still  extantj^s  dissuaded  him 
most  forcibly  from  taking  the  office.     His   career  u.  c.est. 

continued  to  be  the  same  as  before  :  he  now  moved  that  colonies 
of  poor  Roman  citizens  should  be  planted  in  several  parts  of 
Italy,^''  and  that  the  Latins  should  be  admitted  to  all  the  civil 
rights  of  Roman  citizenship.  Finding  it  hopeless  to  oppose  him 
in  a  direct  manner,  the  senate  engaged  Livius  Drusus,  another  of 
the  tribunes,  to  bring  in  measures  still  more  popular  under  the 
sanction  of  the  aristocracy,  hoping  thus  to  rival  the  credit  of  Grac- 
chus, and  to  conciliate  the  aflections  of  the  multitude  to  them- 
selves. Drusus  proposed  to  send  out  no  fewer  than  twelve  colo- 
nics, a  number  much  exceeding  that  mentioned  by  Gracchus  ; 
and  the  colonists  were  to  be  exempted  from  the  rent  usually  paid 
by  them  to  the  treasury  for  the  lands  assigned  to  them.^^  This 
liberality,  which  Drusus  ascribed  entirely  to  the  concern  felt  by 
the  senate  for  the  welfare  of  the  common  people,  so  far  won  the 
gratitude  of  the  multitude,  that  he  ventured  boldly  to  interpose  his 
negative  on  the  other  measure  brought  forward  by  Gracchus,  re- 
specting the  grant  of  citizenship  to  the  Latins.^^  Besides,  Drusus 
carefally  avoided  assigning  to  himself  any  office  in  the  new  colo- 
nies, and  kept  himself  clear  from  any  suspicion  of  desiring  places 
of  patronage  or  emolument ;  thus  offering  his  own  conduct  as  a 
strong  contrast  to  that  of  Gracchus,  who  had  taken  so  large  a 
part  in  the  direction  of  all  the  public  works  executed  in  compli- 
ance with  his  laws.  Thus  the  credit  of  Gracchus  was  somewhat 
lessened  ;  and  to  prevent  hmi  from  regaining  his  influence  by 
popular  speeches,  or  by  any  new  popular  laws,  the  senate  con- 
trived to  procure  his  nomination  as  one  of  the  commissioners  for 
planting  a  colony  in  Africa,  near  the  site  of  Carthage  ;  for  in  the 
present  emulation  among  the  tribunes,  which  should  go  farthest 
in  gratifying  the  people,  one  of  them,  named  Rubrius,^"  had  car- 

36  Vid.  Epistolas  Corneliae,  apud  Frag-  "on  ordinary  occasions,"   because  other- 
raenta  Cornelii  Nepotis.  wise  the  statement  is  untrue  ;  for  it  ap- 

37  Appian,  I.  23.    Plutarch,  in  G.  Grac-  pears  from  Sallust,  that  Metellus  ordered 
cho,  8,  Paterculus,  II.  6.  one  of  his  officers  to  be  scourged   and  put 

3?  Plutarch,  in  C.  Graccho,  9.  to  death,  which  he  might  do,  "  because," 

39  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  23.     One  says  Sallust,  "  the  man  was  a  citizen  of 

concession,  however,  of  considerable  im-  Latium."     Vid.  Sallust,  Bell.  Jugurth.  69. 

portance  was  made  to  the  Latins  by  a  law  But  we  are  by  no  means  clear  that  Plu- 

of  Drusus,  to  which  the  senate  gave  their  tarch  has  not  again  mistaken  a  law  passed 

support ;  and  which  enacted  that  the  Lat-  by  another  Livius   Drusus,  u.  c.  662,  for 

ins,  when  serving  in   the    Roman  army,  o>e  passed  by  his  namesake,  the  opponent 

should  be   exempted  from  flogging  on  or-  of  Gracchus, 
dinary  occasions.     So  says  Plutarch,  in  C.         "•"  Plutarch,  in  C.  Graccho,  10. 
Graccho,  9.     We  have  added  the  words 


64      CABALS  OF  GRACCHUS  WITH  FULVIUS  FLACCUS. 

ried  a  law,  by  which  this  new  addition  was  made  to  the  number 
of  colonies  already  to  be  founded  under  the  acts  of  Gracchus  and 
Drusus.  During  the  absence  of  Gracchus,  his  opponents  were 
enabled,  as  they  had  hoped,  to  supersede  him  more  and  more  in 
the  affections  of  the  people  ;  and  they  found  also  a  way  to  attack 
his  measures,  by  representing  it  as  impious  to  build  again  the 
walls  of  Carthage,  which  Scipio  had  solemnly  devoted  to  per- 
petual desolation.  It  was  reported  also,  that  several  supernatural 
accidents  had  delayed  the  progress  of  the  work  ;  and  on  these 
grounds,  the  party  of  the  senate  having  gained  a  zealous  and  ac- 
u.  c.  632.  tive  leader  in  L.  Opimius,  the  new  consul,  deter- 

mined to  propose  to  the  people.  That  the  law  of  Rubrius  for 
planting  a  colony  on  the  site  of  Carthage  should  be  repealed.^' 
Gracchus  had  returned  to  Rome  some  little  time  before  ;  and  the 
year  of  his  tribuncship  having  expired,  he  was  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  a  private  citizen.  What  course  his  own  inclinations 
might  have  led  him  to  follow,  is  doubtful ;  but  unfortunately  for 
Cabals  of  Gracchus  himsclf,  hc  chosc  to  associatc  himself  to  the  coun- 
withFuiviusFiaccud.  ggls  of  M.  Fulvius  Flaccus,  one  of  the  commission- 
ers for  the  execution  of  the  agrarian  law,  and  a  man  whose 
character  was  respected  by  no  party  in  the  republic.  The  repu- 
tation of  Gracchus  had  already  suffered  from  his  connexion  with 
Fulvius ;  and  now  he  took  part  with  him  in  designs  which  can 
be  considered  as  nothing  less  than  treasonable.  Charging  the 
senate  with  spreading  false  reports  in  order  to  alarm  the  religious 
scruples  of  the  people,  the  two  popular  leaders  assembled  a  nume- 
rous body  of  their  partisans  armed  with  daggers  ;  and  being  thus 
prepared  for  violence,  they  proceeded  to  the  capitol,  where  the 
people  were  to  meet  in  order  to  decide  on  the  repeal  of  the  law  of 
Rubrius.  Here,*^  before  the  business  of  the  day  was  yet  begun,  a 
private  citizen,  who  happened  to  be  engaged  in  offering  a  sacri- 
fice, was  murdered  by  the  partisans  of  Fulvius  and  Gracchus,  for 
some  words  or  gestures  which  they  considered  as  insulting. 
This  outrage  excited  a  general  alarm  ;  the  assembly  broke  up  in 
consternation  ;  and  the  popular  leaders,  after  trying  in  vain  to  gain 
a  hearing  from  the  people,  while  they  disclaimed  the  violence 
committed  by  their  followers,  had  no  other  course  left  than  to 
withdraw  to  their  own  houses.  There  they  concerted  plans  of 
resistance,  which,  however  they  might  believe  them  to  be  justified 
on  the  plea  of  self-defence,  were  justly  considered  by  the  bulk  of 
They  openly  resist  ^^6  peoplc  as  au  opcn  rebellion  against  the  govern- 
gotemmeiKtare  ^leut  of  thclr  couutry.  The  consul,^  3  exagge- 
deam'byuieconViu  I'^tiug,  pcrhaps,  thc  alami  which  he  felt  from  the 
L.  Opimius.  latg  outrage,  hastily  summoned  the  senate  together  ; 

41  Appian,  1. 24.  «  43  Appian,  25.     Plutarch,  14. 

42  Appian,  25.     Plutarch,  in  C.  Grac- 
cho,  13. 


THEY  RESIST  THE  GOVERNMENT.  g5 

the  body  of  the  murdered  man  was  exposed  to  the  view  of  the 
people,  and  the  capitol  was  secured  by  break  of  day  with  an 
armed  force.     The    senate  being  informed  by  Opimius  of  the 
state  of  affairs,  proceeded  to  invest  him  with  absolute  power  to 
act  in  defence  of  the  commonwealth,  in  the  usual  form  of  a  reso- 
lution, "  That  the  consul  should  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  re- 
public."   At  the  same  time,  Gracchus  and  Fulvius  were  summoned 
to  appear  before  the  senate,  to  answer  for  the  murder  laid  to  their 
charge.     Instead  of  obeying,  they  occupied  the  Aventine  hill  with 
a  body  of  their  partisans  in  arms,  and  invited  the  slaves  to  join 
them,  promising    them    their    liberty.     They  sent    the    son    of 
Fulvius,  a  youth  under  eighteen  years  of  age,  to  the  consul  with 
proposals  of  negotiation  ;  but  were  answered,  that  they  must  first 
lay  down  their  arms  ;  and  till  they  did  so,  the  senate  would  hold 
no  intercourse  with  them.     The  son  of  Fulvius,  however,  was 
sent  back  once  more,  in  the  hope  of  better  success  ;  but  Opimius 
arrested  him,  as  having  come  in  defiance  of  the  declaration  of  the 
senate,  and  then  without  further  delay  proceeded  to  attack  the 
rebels.     He  was  followed  by  the  senators  and  the  members  of 
the  equestrian   order,  who,  with  their  dependents,  had   armed 
themselves  by  his  order ;  and  he  had  also  with  him  a  body  of 
regular  soldiers,  amongst  whom  some  Cretan  archers  are  particu- 
larly noticed.^^     In  the  mean  time,  the  behaviour  of  Gracchus  was 
that  of  a  man  irresolute  in  the  course  which  he  pursued,  and 
with  too  much  regard  for  his  country  to  engage  heartily  in  the 
criminal  attempt  into  which  he  had  suffered  himself  to  be  drawn. 
He  had  left  his  house,  it  is  said,^^  in  his  ordinary  dress  ;  he  had 
been  urgent  with  Fulvius  to  propose  terms  of  accommodation  to 
the  senate,  and  now  when  the  Aventine  was  attacked,  he  took 
personally  no  part  in  the  action.     The  contest,  indeed,  was  soon 
over  ;  the  rebels  were  presently  dispersed  ;  Fulvius  was  dragged 
from  the  place  to  which  he  had  fled  for  refuge,  and  was  put  to 
death  ;  while  Gracchus,  finding  himself  closely   pursued,   fled 
across  the  Tiber,  and  taking  shelter  in  a  grove  sacred  to  the 
Furies,  was  killed  at  his  own  desire,  by  a  single  servant  who  had 
accompanied  his  flight.     His  head,  together  with  that  of  Fulvius, 
was  cut  off  and  carried  to  the  consul,  in  order  to  obtain  the  price 
which  had   been  set  upon  both  by  a  proclamation  issued  at  the 
beginning  of  the  engagement ;  and  the  bodies,  as  well  as  those 
of  all  who  perished  on  the  same  side,  were  thrown  into  the  river. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  houses  of  Gracchus  and  Fulvius  were 
given  up  to  plunder,  their  property  was  confiscated,  and  even  the 
wife  of  Gracchus  was  deprived  of  her  own  jointure.     But  a  yet 
more    atrocious    cruelty    disgraced    the    victorious    party ;   for 
Opimius  ordered  the  son  of  Fulvius,^ «  whom  he  had  detained  in 

<*  Plutarch,  in  C.  Graccho,  16.  «  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  6.     Appian, 

«  Plutarch,  in  C.  Graccho,  15.  26.     Plutarch,  17. 


66  CONDUCT  OP  GRACCHUS  AND  FULVIUS. 

custody,  to  be  put  to  death  ;  an  act  of  party  vengeance  as  unjust 
as  it  was  inhuman.  It  is  said,  that  in  this  sedition  there  perished 
aUogether  of  the  partisans  of  the  popular  leaders  about  3000, 
partly  in  the  action,  and  partly  by  summary  executions  after- 
wards, under  the  consul's  orders. 

The  career  of  the  two  Gracchi  was  in  many  respects  so  simi- 
lar, and  the  circumstances  of  their  deaths  bore  so  much  resem- 
blance to  each  other,  that  it  is  not  wonderful  that  historians 
should  have  comprehended  both  the  brothers  under  one  common 
judgment,  and  have  pronounced  in  common  their  acquittal  or 
their  condemnation.  I3ut  the  conduct  of  Caius  admits  of  far  less 
excuse  than  that  of  Tiberius  ;  and  his  death  was  the  deserved 
punishment  of  rebellion,  while  that  of  his  brother  was  an  unjusti- 
fiable murder.  It  is  true,  the  aristocratical  party  were  likely  to 
overturn  all  the  measures  which  he  had  carried  in  his  two  tri- 
buneships  ;  but  the  ascendency  which  they  had  suddenly  gained, 
was  the  fruit  of  no  illegal  acts  or  violence  ;  it  arose  simply  out  of 
the  natural  revolutions  of  popular  feeling,  and  from  the  concilia- 
tory laws  which  the  senate  had  of  late  been  forward  to  encourage. 
If  the  popular  assembly  was  disposed  to  take  part  with  the  con- 
sul Opimius  ;  if  not  even  a  single  tribune  could  be  found  to  inter- 
pose his  negative  against  the  proposed  repeal  of  the  law  of 
Rubrius  ;  by  what  pretence  of  right  could  Gracchus  and  Fulvius 
appear  in  the  capitol  at  the  head  of  an  armed  body  of  partisans  ? 
and  still  more,  when  a  murder  had  been  committed  by  some  of 
their  friends,  and  they  were  called  before  the  supreme  council  of 
the  state  to  answer  for  their  violence,  by  what  right  could  two 
private  citizens  defy  the  authority  of  their  government,  and  take 
up  a  military  position  with  an  armed  force  in  the  heart  of  the 
capital  to  maintain  their  disobedience  ?  Under  such  circumstan- 
ces, although  there  is  much  in  the  character  of  Gracchus  to 
awaken  compassion  for  his  fate,  he  yet  only  paid  the  just  penalty 
for  conduct  which  was  treasonable  in  fact,  and  which  on  the 
most  favourable  construction  of  his  motives,  was  criminally  rash 
and  intemperate.  Still,  however,  the  triumph  of  the  senate  was 
more  that  of  an  enraged  party,  than  of  a  firm  and  impartial  gov- 
ernment: the  execution  of  the  son  of  Fulvius  was  an  act  of 
gratuitous  cruelty  ;  and  the  severities  exercised  after  the  sedition 
was  over,  were  conducted  without  any  forms  of  law,  and  had  no 
other  limit  than  the  inclination  of  the  aristocratical  leaders.  So 
bad,  indeed,  was  the  constitution  of  Rome,  that  the  laws  for  the 
punishment  of  state  criminals  were  uncertain  and  inadequate  ; 
and  necessity  was  thus  supposed  to  allow  the  correction  of  an 
evil  by  summary  and  illegal  means,  because  the  legal  means 
could  not  always  be  depended  upon.  It  may  be  safely  pro- 
nounced, that  there  is  no  surer  criterion  of  an  ill-framed  and  bar- 
barian government,  than  the  admission  of  irregular  acts  of  violence 
by  any  party  on  the  plea  of  the  public  safety. 


LAWS  OF  THE  GRACCHI  ELUDED  OR  REPEALED.      (J7 

It  is  an  important  inquiry,  to  find  what  effect  was  permanently 
produced  on  the  condition  of  the  poor  by  the  laws  TheiawsoftheGrac- 
of  the  two  Gracchi ;  or  how  long  any  of  their  mea-  orreptaTeT^'^'"'*^'^ 
sures  were  allowed  to  survive  their  authors.  The  agrarian  law 
of  Tiberius  Gracchus  was  indirectly  subverted  by  a  law  which 
permitted  the  poor  to  sell  the  shares  of  land  allotted  to  them;^'' 
and  which  thus  exposed  them  to  the  temptations  of  the  high 
prices  which  the  rich  could  afford  to  offer  them,  or  of  the  various 
vexations  by  which  a  powerful  neighbour  might  drive  them  to 
give  up  the  land  he  coveted.  But  who  was  the  proposer  of  this 
law,  or  at  what  precise  period  it  passed,  we  have  no  information ; 
we  can  only  suppose  that  it  was  carried  soon  after  the  death  of 
C.  Gracchus,  when  the  power  of  the  aristocracy  was  likely  to  be 
most  predominant.  By  two  subsequent  laws^^  the  state  of  pro- 
perty was  restored  nearly  to  what  it  was  before  Tiberius  Gracchus 
commenced  his  career ;  the  first,  forbidding  any  further  division 
of  lands,  and  securing  the  actual  possessors  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  estates  which  they  held,  but  transferring  the  rent  which  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  pay  to  the  treasury,  and  ordering  that  it 
should  henceforth  be  distributed  among  the  poorer  citizens  :  the 
second,  reversing  this  last  provision,  and  depriving  the  poor  of  all 
share  either  in  the  property  or  income  of  the  national  lands. 
There  is  great  difficulty  in  settling  the  precise  date  of  these  two 
laws  ;  but  we  may  suppose  them  to  have  been  carried  before  the 
year  of  Rome  649,  when  a  new  agrarian  law^*  was  proposed,  but 
soon  given  up,  by  L.  Marcius  Philippus,  at  which  time  he  asserted, 
in  one  of  his  speeches,  that  there  were  not  two  thousand  indi- 
viduals in  the  Commonwealth  who  were  worth  any  property. 
The  duration  of  the  act  of  C.  Gracchus  for  the  distribution  of  corn 
appears  to  have  been  much  longer,  though  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
conceive  that  it  was  always  fully  executed.  It  was  repealed  by 
M.  Octavius,^"  and,  as  far  as  can  be  made  out  from  the  scanty  in- 
formation remaining  to  us,  the  repeal  took  place  about  the  year  of 
Rome  678,^ '  the  new  law  still  providing  that  some  support  should 

47  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  L  27.  distinguished  as  orators  down    to  a  much 

45  Appian,  loco  citato.  later  period.     In  Plutarch's  "  Life  of  Ma- 

49  Cicero,  de  Officiis,  II.  21.  rius,"  it  is  said  that  Marius,  when  tribune, 

50  Cicero,  de  Claris  Oratoribus,  60.  u.  c.  G.34,  opposed  with  success  a  law  for 

51  Vide  Maori  Licinii  Oration,  apud  the  distribution  of  corn  among  the  people. 
Fragm.  Sallust.  However,  whether  the  But  Plutarch  is  so  little  to  be  trusted  for 
law  alluded  to  in  that  speech  be  the  Octa-  accuracy  in  such  matters,  that  nothing  can 
vian  law  or  not,  is  certainly  a  mere  matter  be  concluded  from  his  statement.  Possibly 
of  conjecture.  But  Ferguson  must  be  the  attempt  which  Marius  resisted  was  one 
wrong  in  fixing  the  Octavian  law  in  the  to  confirm  and  enforce  the  corn-law  of  C. 
year  immediately  following  the  death  of  Gracchus  ;  in  the  same  manner  as  Grae- 
Gracchus  ;  for  Cicero  expressly  ranks  Oc-  chus  had  brought  in  a  law  to  confirm  and 
tavius  with  Cotta,  Sulpicius,  Curio,  and  enforce  the  agrarian  law  of  his  brother  Ti- 
others,  who  flourished  after  the  sedition  of  berius,  although  it  had  never  been  repealed 
Saturnius,  u.  c.  653,  and  continued  to  be  since  its  enactment.  * 


gQ      LAWS  OF  THE  GRACCHI  ELUDED  OR  REPEALED. 

be  given  to  the  poor  at  the  pubhc  expense,  but  reducing  it  to  a 
much  smaller  amount.  But  it  is  probable  that  the  law  of  Grac- 
chus had  long  ere  this  become  obsolete,  and  that  the  act  of 
Octavius,  although  far  less  liberal  in  its  grants,  was  welcomed  as  a 
popular  measure,  inasmuch  as  it  substituted  an  actual  distribution 
of  corn  for  one  which  had  been  long  since  abandoned  as  imprac- 
ticable. In  short,  it  appears  that  the  reforms  proposed  by  the 
Gracchi  were  in  the  issue  most  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the 
common  people,  for  we  are  told  that^'^for  some  years  after  the 
death  of  C.  Gracchus,  the  oppression  and  corruption  of  the  aris- 
tocracy prevailed  to  a  greater  extent  than  ever,  insomuch  that  the 
liberties  of  the  people  were  well  nigh  extinguished  ;  and  allowing 
something  for  the  prejudices  of  the  writer  from  whom  this  state- 
ment is  taken,  it  is  yet  too  consonant  to  the  usual  revolutions  of 
parties  to  be  in  the  main  rejected. 

52  Oratio  C.  Memmii,  apud  Sallust,  Bell.  Jugurth.  31. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SKETCH  OF  THE  INTERNAL  STATE  OP  ROME  FROM  THE  DEATH  OF 
CAIUS  GRACCHUS  TO  THE  C0MMENCE3IENT  OF  THE  SOCIAL  WA^. 
-FROM  U.C.  633,  B.C.  121,  TO  U.C.  662,  B.C.  92. 

The  ascendency  acquired  by  the  party  of  the  senate  after  the 
death  of  C.  Gracchus,  is  marked  by  a  striking  fact.  From  u.  c.  ess.  b. 
C.  Papirius  Carbo,  one  of  the  commissioners  under  a  c^'92.'"  "'  ^'  ^^^' 
the  agrarian  law,  and  formerly  so  distinguished  as  compietea/cenXncy* 
a  popular  leader,  deserted  his  former  friends,  and  was  chosen 
one  of  the  consuls  for  the  ensuing  year.  During  his  consulship 
he  undertook  the  defence  of  his  predecessor  in  otTice,  L.  Opimius, 
who  was  impeached  by  one  of  the  tribunes'  for  punishing 
citizens  in  the  late  tumults  in  an  illegal  manner.  The  trial 
came  on  before  the  people,  and  Carbo,  in  the  defence  of  his  client, 
maintained  that  the  resolution  of  the  senate  by  which  the  consul 
had  been  charged  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  republic,^  fully 
justified  him  in  dispensing  with  all  the  usual  forms  of  law.  And 
this  dispensing  power  in  the  senate  was  so  far  recognized  by  the 
assembly,  either  from  conviction  or  fear,  that  Opimius  was  ac- 
quitted. Carbo,  however,^  was  accused  soon  afterwards  by  L. 
Crassus,  then  a  very  young  man,  and  was  charged  by  him  with 
insincerity  in  defending  Opimius,  Avhile  the  manner  in  which  he 
had  constantly  lamented  the  fate  of  Tiberius  Gracchus,  the  perni- 
cious laws  which  he  had  brought  forward  in  his  tribuneship,  and 
above  all  his  share  in  the  murder  of  Scipio,  sufficiently  demon- 
strated his  real  principles.  For  what  particular  crime  he  was 
accused  we  cannot  discover ;  but  he  was  condemned,  and  de- 
stroyed himself  in  order  to  escape  sentence.  It  is  remarkable  also 
that  Crassus  might  venture  to  charge  him  with  the  murder  of 
Scipio,  although  no  inquiry  had  ever  been  instituted  respecting 
that  event,  nor  was  it  ever  proved  that  Scipio  was  murdered 
at  all. 

During  the  few  years  which  elapsed  between  the  death  of  C. 
Gracchus  and  the  war  with  Jugurtha,  the  Roman  character  of  the  ro- 
nobility  appear  to  have  been  plunged  in  a  state  of  "eriod""''"'"  ^'  ""' 

1  Livy,  Epitome,  LXI.  3  Cicero,  de  Orafore,  II.  40. 

2  Cicero,  de  Oratore,  IL  30,31. 


70  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ROMAN  NOBILITY. 

extreme  corruption.  The  government  of  the  empire  was  in  their 
hands,  and  there  were  no  circumstances  of  pecnUar  difficulty  to 
render  great  public  virtues  necessary,  or  to  tempt  ambitious  men 
in  the  hope  of  distinguishing  themselves  to  relinquish  the  pursuit 
of  selfish  enjoyments.  Connnands  in  the  provinces  were  sought 
for  as  a  means  of  acquiring  wealth,  either  by  direct  extortion  and 
oppression,  or  by  provoking  a  war  with  some  neighbouring  tribe  of 
barbarians,  and  acquiring  plunder  and  spoil  together  with  some 
military  renown.  At  home  the  rich  nobles  stood  aloof  from  the 
bulk  of  their  countrymen,  being  separated  from  them  by  the  im- 
mense disparity  of  their  fortunes  ;  and  having  little  occasion  for 
their  services,  while  their  own  numerous  slaves  supplied  them 
with  labourers,  tradesmen,  stewards,  agents,  nay  even  with  in- 
structors for  their  children.  In  such  a  state  of  things  it  mattered 
little  that  the  people,  as  a  body,  could  exercise  the  most  absolute 
power,  and  sometimes  could  enact  laws  which  were  very  injuri- 
ous to  the  interests  of  the  rich.  Their  force  when  united  was 
but  a  poor  compensation  for  their  individual  weakness ;  and  many 
a  member  of  the  sovereign  assembly,  when  he  had  left  the  forum, 
and  became  no  more  than  a  single  poor  citizen,  was  treated  by  the 
rich  with  a  pride  and  oppression  from  which  the  humblest  labourer 
in  England  is  secure.  The  causes  of  this  are  to  be  foimd  in  the 
want  of  a  graduated  scale  of  society,  and  of  an  enlightened  pub- 
lic opinion.  The  different  parts  of  the  commonwealth  were  too 
distinct  and  too  dissimilar  to  blend  together  ;  and  too  many  of  the 
intermediate  links  in  ihe  chain  were  wanting.  And  there  being 
thus  nothing  to  answer  to  that  which  is  with  us  so  emphatically 
called  "  the  public,"  public  opinion  could  scarcely  exist ;  and  at  a 
distance  from  the  capital  it  had  no  means  of  making  itself  heard, 
nor  of  gaining  the  information  by  which  alone  it  can  itself  be 
formed.  This,  it  will  be  observed,  is  exactly  the  state  of  society 
fitted  to  breed  violent  revolutions.  A  people  smarting  under  in- 
dividual degradation,  ignorant  of  the  true  means  of  delivering 
themselves  from  it,  and  possessing  as  a  body  the  most  sovereign 
power,  were  likely,  when  roused  by  some  active  leader,  to  exert 
their  strength  in  blind  and  furious  acts  of  vengeance.  An  aris- 
tocracy, on  the  other  hand,  equally  ignorant  of  the  real  evils  of 
the  existing  order  of  things,  and  seeing  nothing  but  the  dangerous 
violence  of  the  tribunitian  seditions,  were  anxious  to  keep  the 
people  quiet,  sometimes  by  bribes,  sometimes  by  flattery,  and 
sometimes  by  coercion,  so  that  they  might  preserve  their  own  as- 
cendency, and  maintain  the  actual  constitution  of  the  repubhc. 
Selfishness  on  both  sides,  an  habitual  familiarity  with  bloodshed, 
and.  a  general  absence  of  a  pure  morality  with  sufficient  sanctions, 
easily  gave  to  the  civil  wars  that  ensued,  that  character  of  fero- 
city and  rapacity  which  marks  them  so  peculiarly. 

The  indifference  shown  by  the  nobility  towards  the  crimes  of 


MARIUS  CHANGES  THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  ARMY.  7  [ 

Jiigurtha,  an  indifference  ascribed  by  the  people  lo  The  popular  party  be- 
the  effect  of  his  bribes,  first  interrupted  that  asceu-  ff^ength."""""  '^"' 
dency  which  the  aristocratical  party  had  enjoyed  u.  c.  542.  u.  c.643. 
since  the  death  of  Gracchus.  An  active  tribune,^  C.  Memmius, 
availed  himself  of  the  favourable  opportunity  ;  the  people,  roused 
by  his  invectives  against  tlie  corruption  of  the  nobility,  began  to 
re-assume  their  share  in  the  management  of  affairs  ;  their  voice 
forced  the  senate  to  declare  war  against  Jugurtha ;  and  the  mis- 
conduct of  the  generals  employed  in  the  first  campaigns,  giving 
additional  strength  to  their  complaints  of  corruption,  a  formidable 
court  of  inquiry  consisting  of  three  members  was  instituted,^  with 
a  general  commission  to  investigate  all  cases  of  public  delinquen- 
cy. TJie  inquisitors  conducted  themselves  with  the  utmost  rigour  ; 
and  five  persons  of  the  highest  rank,^  amongst  whom  was  L. 
Opimius,  were  on  this  occasion  found  guilty  of  corrupt  practices, 
and  were  either  condemned  to  pay  heavy  fines  or  were  banished.'' 
Soon  after,  Q,.  Qjeciiius  Metellus,  a  man  of  spotless  reputation, 
was  appointed  to  take  the  command  in  Africa;  andbyliis  ability, 
and  that  of  his  successor,  C.  Marius,  the  war  with  Jugurtha,  as 
has  been  mentioned  in  a  former  part  of  this  work,  was  brought 
to  a  triumphant  end. 

But  we  must  not  omit  to  notice  here  a  memorable  change  in- 
troduced by  Marius,  when  consul,  in  the  constitu-  Marius  changes  the 
tion  of  the  Roman  army.  Hitherto  the  old  aristo-  character  of  the  army. 
cratical  principle,  so  universal  among  the  commonwealths  of 
Greece,  had  been  carefully  observed  ;  and  none  were  admitted  to 
serve  in  the  regular  infantry  of  the  legions,  except  they  possessed 
a  certain  amount  of  property  :**  the  poorest  citizens,  unless  under 
circumstances  of  urgent  necessity,  were  only  employed  in  the  na- 
val service.  But  Marius,®  when  raising  soldiers  to  accompany 
him  into  Africa,  disregarded  the  usual  practice  altogether,  and 
enlisted  into  the  legions  citizens  of  the  lowest  and  most  indigent 
classes  of  society.  His  motives  for  this  unprecedented  measure 
are  variously  stated;  but  it  may  be  most  probably  imputed  to  a 
mingled  feeling  of  personal  ambihon,  and  of  hatred  towards  all 
those  who  were  any  way  distinguished  for  birth  or  fortune. 
Himself  sprung  from  the  lowest  of  the  people,  and  having  forced 
his  way  to  the  high  station  which  he  filled,  aiuidst  the  scorn  and 
aversion  of  the  nobility,  it  was  his  delight  to  be  the  consul  of  the 
populace  ;  and  as  he  had  risen  by  their  favour,  to  show  that  he  cared 
for  the  support  of  no  order  in  the  state  besides.  He  knew,  moreover, 
that  an  army  formed  out  of  those  who  have  no  property  to  lose, 
becomes  the  ready  instrument  of  its  general's  ambition,  and  easily 

♦  Sallust,  Bell.  Jugurth.  27.  30,  31.  ''  Opimius  was  banished,  as  appears  from 

5  Sallust,  Bell,  .tugurth.  40.  Cicero,  in  Fisonem,  40. 

6  Cicero,  de  Claris  Oratoribu."?,  34.  «  Polybius,  VI.  19. 

9  Sallust,  Bell  Jugurth.  86. 

6 


72  CAREER  OF  L.  APPULEIUS  SATURNINUS. 

transfers  to  him  the  duty  and  affection  which  it  owes  to  its  coun- 
try and  its  government.  Marius  stands  conspicuous  among  those 
who  have  risen  to  greatness  by  favoming  the  envy  and  hatred  of 
the  dregs  of  the  community  towards  all  above  them,  and  who  have 
purchased  the  forgiveness  of  the  nnillitude  for  their  crimes  and 
their  tyranny,  because  every  thing  most  noble,  most  exalted, 
and  most  sacred,  has  been  especially  theobjectof  their  persecution. 
About  the  end  of  the  Jugurthino  war,  Q,.  Servilius  Capio, 
u.  c.  647.  being  then  consul,'"  procured  an  alteration  of  that 

laW  oT Grac'cifJscon^  law  of  C,  Graccluis,  which  had  committed  the 
cerni^ng  the  ju  icm  .^^^j^qJ^  judicial  powcr  to  tlic  cqucstrian  oider.  By 
the  new  law,  the  judges  were  to  be  chosen  jointly  from  the  sen- 
ate and  the  knights.  The  character  of  Ca^pio  seems  to  render 
it  probable,  that  the  tribunals,  as  at  that  time  constituted,  were 
very  strict  in  the  punishment  of  corrupt  and  oppressive  magis- 
trates ;  and  that  he  wished,  by  restoring  a  share  of  the  judicial 
authority  to  the  senate,  to  secine  a  gieater  chance  of  itr)punity 
for  such  offenders.  At  least,  it  is  remarkable,  that  during  his 
command  in  Gaul,"  where  he  was  stationed  to  oppose  the  expect- 
ed invasion  of  the  Cimbri,  he  committed  a  robbery  of  the  sacred 
treasure  belonging  to  a  temple  at  Thonlouse,  which  was  held 
by  the    inliabitants  in  particular  veneration.     Nor 

TT    C    648 

was  his  ability  as  a  general  greater  than  his  in- 
tegrity;  for  he  was  accounted  the  principal  cause  of  the  bloody 
defeat  sustained  by  the  Romans  in  the  following  year,  wlien  the 
united  armies  of  himself  and  his  succesor  in  the  consulship,  Cn. 
Mallius,  were  overthrown  by  the  Cimbri,  with  the  loss  of  80,000 
men.  The  popular  cry  was  loud  against  him,  and  he  was  ac- 
cused somjC  time  afterwards,  by  C.  Nortanus,  one  of  the  tri- 
bunes;'- but  the  aristocratical  party  made  a  stiong  effort  to  save 
him,  and  his  condemnation  was  only  piocurcd  by  actual  vio- 
lence. It  appears  that  his  trial  was  attended  by  a  furious  riot, 
in  which  M.  iEmilius  Scaurus,  the  first  on  the  roll  of  the  senate, 
was  wounded  by  a  stone ;  and  two  of  the  tribunes,  who  were 
preparing  to  interpose  their  negative  on  the  proceedings  of  the 
judges,  were  driven  by  the  populace  from  the  court.  In  this 
manner  Caspio  was  condemned  and  banished  ;  and  it  is  said,  that 
his  s-entence  was  accompanied  by  the  unusual  disgrace  of  hav- 
ing his  property  confiscated,  by  order  of  the  people.'^ 

The  war  with  the  Cimbri  and  the  other  northern  tribes  was 
careerofL.Appuieius  "o^  yct  finished,  whcu  the  most  profligate  of  dema- 
saturninus.  gogucs,  L.  Appulcius  Satumiuus,  made  him.self  for 

the  first  time  conspicuous.     His  animosity  to  the  senate  is  attrib- 
uted by  Cicero  to  a  personal  slight  which  he  rrceived  when  he 

1"  Cicero,  de  Claris  Oratoribus,  43.    De         '2  Cicero,  de  Oratore,  II.  49. 
Oratore,  It.  49.     Cassiodorus,  Chronicon.         '^  Livy,  Epitome,  67. 
"  Strabo,  IV.  204.  Edit.  Xyland. 


HIS  TRIBUNESHIP  AND  POLICY.  .  73 

was  quaestor,'*  for  at  a  period  of  scarcity,  the  charge  of  superin- 
tending the  supply  of  the  mariiets  was  taken  away  from  hun,  and 
given  to  M.  JiiniiUus  Scaurus,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of 
the  nobility.  He  iiad  been  one  of  the  tribunes  for  the  year  of 
Rome  650,  and  in  the  following  year,  Q,.  Metellus.'s  ^ho  was  then 
censof,  noticed  him  for  the  infamy  of  his  general  life,  and  would 
have  degraded  him  from  his  rank  by  viitue  of  his  censorial  power,  if 
his  colleague  in  the  censorship  had  not  refused  to  concnr  with 
him  in  the  sentence.  In  the  year  next  succeeding,  when  Maiius 
was  in  his  fifth  consulship,  Saturninus  declared  himself  a  second 
time  candidate  for  the  tribuneship;  but  finding  himself  rejected, 
he  waylaid  one  of  the  successful  candidates,  A.  Nonnius,  on  his 
Avay  home  from  the  place  of  election,  drove  him  into  an  adjoining 
tavern,  and  there  by  the  aid  of  an  armed  rabble,  murdered  him. 
His  partisans,  availing  themselves  of  the  general  consternation, 
assembled  early  the  following  morning,  and  elected  him  tribune 
without  opposition ;  and  such  was  the  state  of  things  at  Rome, 
that  this  mockery  of  all  law  was  submitted  to,  and  Saturninus 
was  recognized  in  tlie  character  which  he  had  usurped  by  murder. 
He  was  not,  however,  without  associates  ;  they  were  C.  Servilius 
Glaucia,  who  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  praetors,  and  C.  Marius, 
who,  still  unsatisfied  with  the  honours  he  had  gained,  was  now 
aspiring  to  a  sixth  consulslup,  and  was  glad  to  acquire  the  sup- 
port of  a  man  so  popular  with  the  mnUitude  as  Saturnimis.  It 
is  said,  that  Marius  gained  his  election  as  little  from  the  unbiassed 
choice  of  the  people  as  his  friend  Appuleius  had  done;'«  but  that 
bribery  was  unscrupulously  used,  and  that  his  old  soldiers  at  the 
same  time  were  introduced  into  the  city,  to  overawe  by  their  tu- 
mults the  decisions  of  the  comitia.  In  this  manner  the  cause  of 
the  factious  and  worthless  part  of  the  people  obtained  an  unusual 
triumph,  and  might  well  anticipate  the  gratification  of  its  wildest 
hopes,  when  Rome  beheld  at  the  same  moment  C.  Marius  a  con- 
sul, C.  Servilius  Glaucia  a  praetor,  and  L.  Appuleius  Saturninus 
a  tribinie  of  the  commons. 

The  proceedings  of  the  following  year  seem  hardly  consistent 
with  the  faintest  shadow  of  regular  government;     u.c  fs. 

"  <-'  ,         '        His  tribuneship  and 

for  both  parties  in  turn  had  recourse,  without  hes-  poUcy. 
itation,  to  measures  of  open  violence.  But  we  may  observe,  that 
Saturninus  did  not  tread  in  the  steps  of  the  Gracchi,  nor  was  it  the 
interest  of  the  poor  citizens  of  Rome  that  he  professed  to  espouse. 
He  seems  to  have  adopted  a  policy  yet  more  mischievous,  and 
to  have  framed  his  laws  for  the  enrichment  of  the  needy  soldiery 
who  had  served  under  Marius  in  his  successive  consulships,  and 
who  might  easily  be  induced  to  raise  their  favourite  general  to  the 

!■»  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  17.  '*  Plutarch,  in  Mario,  28. 

15  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  28. 


74  HIS  TRIBUNESHIP  AND  POLICY. 

Utmost  height  of  his  ambition.  He  proposed  an  agrarian  law,'^ 
for  the  division  of  certain  districts  in  Gaul,  which,  having  been 
overrun  by  the  Cimbri,  had  afier  their  defeat  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  the  Romans ;  and  he  added  to  the  law  a  clause,  by  which  the 
senators  were  bound  to  swear  obedience  to  it  within  five  days 
after  it  should  have  passed  the  assembly  of  the  people.  But  it  was 
apprehended  that  the  soldiers  of  Marius  were  likely  to  be  the  only 
gainers  from  the  projected  allotment  of  lands  ;  and  among  these 
there  was  a  large  proportion  of  citizens  of  the  allied  states  of  Italy, 
and  also  of  the  agricnltural  labourers,  a  class  of  men  which  offered 
an  excellent  supply  of  hardy  soldiers,  and  of  which  Marius  had 
largely  availed  himself,  enlisting,  we  are  told,'®  slaves  as  well  as 
freemen.  Many  of  these  men  had  received  from  their  general 
admission  to  the  rank  of  Roman  citizens,"  for  their  gallant  be- 
haviour in  the  late  war  :  for  example,  he  had  at  one  time  confer- 
red this  reward  on  a  thousand  soldiers^"  of  Camcrinum  and  its  dis- 
trict, and  had  defended  himself,  when  charged  with  having  acted 
illegally,  by  saying,  that  the  din  of  arms  had  prevented  him  from 
hearing  the  still  voice  of  the  laws.  So  that  the  party  of  Marius 
and  Satiuninus  consisted  not  so  much  of  the  citizens  of  the  cap- 
ital, as  of  a  country  and  provincial  interest  :  and  in  the  disturb- 
ances that  followed,  the  inhabitants  of  Rome  espoused  generally 
the  side  of  the  aristocracy,  as  feeling  that  the  projects  of  the  three 
associates  wore  as  little  iavonrable  to  them  as  to  the  senate  itself. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  multitude  of  citizens,*^'  or  of  men  who  hoped 
to  become  such,  flocked  in  from  the  country  to  support  the  proposed 
laws  of  Saturninus ;  and  as  force  seemed  likely  to  be  more  em- 
ployed than  any  legal  methods,  many  came  to  Rome  on  this  oc- 
casion, who,  although  they  coidd  not  vote  in  a  lawful  assembly, 
were  yet  able  to  give  their  party  a  powerful  support  by  clamour 
and  violence.  It  was  by  these  arms,  indeed,  that  Saturninus 
triumphed.  Baebius,'^'  one  of  his  colleagues,  who  interposed  his 
negative  on  the  agrarian  law,  was  driven  from  the  place  of  meet- 
ing by  showers  of  stones ;  and  when  some  of  the  aristocratical 
party  exclaimed,  "  that  they  heard  thunder,"  a  sound  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  the  Romans,  should  at  once  have  brok- 
en up  the  assembly,  Saturninus  replied,  "  that  it  would  hail  pre- 
sently, if  they  were  not  quiet."  The  people  of  the  city,  incensed 
at  this  open  violence,  endeavoured  to  maintain  their  ground  by 
force,  but  they  were  overpowered  by  the  armed  mob  at  the  dis- 
posal of  Saturninus ;  and  being  obliged  to  abandon  the  field, 
the  law  was  passed  amidst  the  shouts  of  the  victorious  party. 
Other  laws  in  the  same  spirit  were  carried  in  the  same  manner: 

"  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  29.  21  Appian,  I.  29. 

1*  Plutarch,  in  Mario,  9.  22  Auctor  de  Virisi]lustribus,in  VitaSa- 

'9  Cicero,  pro  Balbo,  20.  turnini. 

2"  Plutarch,  in  Mario,  28. 


HIS  TRIBUNESHIP  AND  POLICY. 


75 


one,  decreeing  a  division  of  lands  in  Africa  to  the  veteran  soldiers 
and  assigning  a  hundred  jugera  to  each  man;  another,  ordering 
that  colonies  should  be  planted  in  various  parts  of  Sicily  and 
Greece ;  and  a  third,  appropriating  the  treasure  plundered  at 
Thoulouse,  by  Q,.  Ca3pio,  for  the  purchase  of  lands  to  be  distrib- 
uted amongst  the  poor.  To  these  laws,  as  has  been  already  men- 
tioned, the  senate  was  ordered  to  swear  obedience  within  five 
days ;  a  step  concerted  by  Marius  and  his  associates,  to  procure 
the  destruction  of  Q,.  Metellus,  whose  undaunted  integrity  they 
knew  would  never  allow  him  to  consent  to  a  measure  which 
he  deemed  mischievous,  or  to  submit  to  an  usurped  and  un- 
lawful authority.  Saturninus  and  Glaucia  hated  him,  because  he 
had  noticed  them  both  when  he  was  censor,  for  the  infamy  of 
their  lives.  Marius  had  been  patronized  by  him  and  his  family 
in  early  youth, '^^  and  had  since  deprived  him  of  the  honour  of 
finishing  the  war  with  Jugurtha  by  his  intrigues  and  calumnies. 
A  vile  nature  hates  none  so  much  as  those  from  whom  it  has  re- 
ceived kindness,  and  whose  kindness  it  has  recompensed  with 
injury  ;  there  was  enough,  therefore,  besides  the  constant  antipa- 
thy which  evil  bears  to  good,  to  make  Marius  the  determined 
enemy  of  Metellus. 

As  soon  as  the  law  was  passed,  Marius,-^  in  his  quality  of 
consul,  expressed  his  indignation  against  it  in  the  sejiate,  and  de- 
clared that  he  would  never  submit  to  take  the  oath  recpiired. 
Metellus  made  a  similar  declaration,  and  the  senate  applauding 
their  firmness,  was  prepared  to  offer  an  unanimous  resistance  to 
the  oath.  But  on  the  evening  of  the  fifth  day,  Marius  hastily 
called  the  senate  together,  and  told  them  that  it  was  too  dangerous 
openly  to  oppose  the  will  of  the  people  ;  he  judged  it  expedient, 
therefore,  to  take  the  oath  with  a  qualification,  swearing  to  obey 
the  law  so  far  as  it  was  lawful.  They  would  thus  pacify  the 
people  for  the  moment,  and  when  the  multitude  of  citizens  from 
the  country  should  have  returned  to  their  homes,  it  would  be  easy 
to  show  that  the  law  had  not  passed  legally,  the  assembly  having 
continued  to  vote  after  thunder  had  been  heard,  and  thus  the 
obligation  of  the  oath  would  be  null  and  void.  Confounded  by 
this  display  of  the  consul's  treachery  at  a  moment  when  there 
was  no  time  left  to  concert  any  new  plan  of  proceeding,  the 
senators  listened  to  him  in  silence  ;  and  he,  without  giving  them 
leisure  to  recover  themselves,  led  them  out  instantly  to  the  temple 
of  Saturn,  and  there  was  himself  amongst  the  first  to  take  the 
oath.  The  rest  of  the  senate  followed  his  example,  no  man  being 
willing  to  expose  himself,  as  an  individual,  to  the  fury  of  the  mul- 
titude, with  the  single  exception  of  Metellus.  With  admirable 
firmness  that  excellent  citizen  resisted  all  the  aguments  and  en- 

23  Plutarch,  in  Mario,  4.  24  Appian,  I.  30. 


•yg  BANISHMENT  OF  Q.  METELLUS. 

treaties  of  his  friends,  and  persisted  in  his  refusal  to  swear,  saying 
to  those  around  him,'^*  "  that  a  good  man  was  distinguished  by  his 
adherence  to  what  was  right,  in  defiance  of  personal  danger." 
On  the  following  day  Saturninus  exhorted  his  followers,*^  who 
now  usurped  the  functions  of  the  Roman  people,  to  pass  an  act 
BanishmentofQivie-  ^f  bauishment  agaiust  Metellus,  and  to  order  that 
»«""«•  the  consuls,  by  a  public  proclamation,  should  in- 

terdict him  from  the  use  of  fne  and  water  within  the  limits  of 
Italy.  The  citizens  of  the  capital  wished  to  make  another 
attempt  on  this  occasion  to  shake  oif  the  tyranny  under  which 
they  were  labouring,  and  offered  Metellus  to  oppose  to  the  utmost 
the  sentence  that  was  to  be  proposed  against  him.  But  he, 
rightly  judging  it  the  duty  of  a  good  subject  to  submit  peaceably 
to  physical  force,  as  much  as  it  had  been  to  refuse  active  obedi- 
ence to  an  illegal  command,  declined  their  proffered  assistance, 
and  telling  them  "that  he  never  would  permit  the  safety  of  his 
country  to  be  endangered  on  his  account,"  withdrew  quietly  from 
Rome.  The  law  of  banishment  passed  without  opposition,  and 
Marius  had  the  gratification  to  proclaim  it,  and  to  utter  the  usual 
prohibition  of  the  use  of  fire  and  water. 

It  is  mentioned  that  Saturninus,  amongst  his  other  laws,"' 
proposed  also  to  confirm  the  corn  law  of  C.  Gracchus,  by  which 
corn  was  to  be  distributed  monthly  to  the  people  at  five-sixths  of 
an  as  for  the  modius  or  peck.  This  sufficiently  shows  that  the 
law  of  Gracchus  had  tacitly  become  obsolete.  Its  renewal  was 
resisted  strongly  by  the  aristocratical  party,  and  some  of  the  col- 
leagues of  Saturninus  interposed  their  negative  upon  it.  But  he 
disregarding  all  legal  impediments,  proceeded  to  put  it  to  the 
vote,  when  Q,.  Scrvilius  Ca^pio,  one  of  the  quaestors,  and  son  to 
the  consul  who  had  fallen  a  victim  to  the  indignatian  of  the 
people  on  account  of  his  ill  success  against  the  Cimbri,  made  an 
attack  upon  the  assembly  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  citizens 
attached  to  the  senate,  overthrew  the  balloting  urns,  dispersed  the 
multitude,  and  prevented  the  passing  of  the  law.  So  wretched 
was  the  condition  of  Rome,  that  those  who  called  themselves  the 
friends  of  order  were  driven  to  support  the  constitution  by  acts  of 
illegal  violence. 

Another  law,  as  is  probable,'^  Avas  proposed  and  carried  by  C. 

25  Plutarch,  in  Mario,  29.  by  Q.  Caepio  ;    because   it   appears   from 

26  Appian,  I.  31.  Cicero,  de  Oratore,  II.  48,  that  the  eques- 

27  Rhetoriea,ad  Herenniura,  I.  12.  trian  order  were  again  in  possession  of  the 
25  Cicero  says  in  his  treatise,  De  Claris  judicial  power  at  the  trial  of  C.  Norbanus, 

Oratoribus,  61,  that  Glaucia  had  attached  which  must  have  taken   place  within  four 

to  himself  the  equestrian  order  by  the  law  or  five  years  of  the  praetorship  of  Glaucia  ; 

which    he   had   carried   in    their  favour;  and   Livius  Drusus,  u.  c.  6G2,  attempted 

"  Equestrem  Ordinem  beneficio  Legis  de-  once  more  to  give  the  senate  a  place  among 

Tinxerat."     It  is  supposed  that  this  law  the  judges,  which  in  his  time  they  did  not 

was  a  repeal  of  that  lately  passed,  u.  c  647,  enjoy. 


REBELLION  OF  SATURNINUS. 


77 


Serviliiis  Glaucia,  to  repeal  the  late  act  of  the  consul  Q,.  Caepio, 
and  to  restore  the  judicial  power  entirely  to  the  equestrian  order, 
according  to  the  law  of  C.  Gracchus.  The  knights  were  thus 
won  over  to  favour  the  pretensions  which  Glaucia  was  now  mak- 
ing to  the  consulship,  and  their  support,  together  with  that  of  the 
popular  party,  was  hkely  to  decide  the  election  in  his  favour. 
Saturninus  also  intended  to  offer  himself  a  third  time  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  office  of  tribune  ;  and  together  with  himself  he 
brought  forward  a  man  of  the  lowest  rank,  named  Equitius," 
who  professed  to  be  a  younger  brother  of  Tiberius  and  C  Grac- 
chus ;  and  although  his  claim  had  been  utterly  rejected  by  the 
family,  it  yet  won  him  some  favour  with  the  people,  who  re- 
garded the  name  of  Gracchus  with  great  affection.  When  the 
elections  came  on,  Saturninus  and  Equitius  were  chosen  tribunes ; 
but  the  hopes  of  Glaucia  were  in  danger  of  being  disappointed,  for 
M.  Antonius,  so  famous  for  his  eloquence,  easily  obtained  his 
nomination  as  one  of  the  consuls,  and  C.  Memmius  was  a  formi- 
dable competitor  for  the  place  of  the  other.  But  Saturninus  had 
committed  so  many  outrages  with  impunity,  that  K,i,e„ion  of  satm- 
he  seemed  now  to  bid  defiance  to  the  laws ;  and  an  '"""' 
armed  party,  acting  under  his  orders,  assaulted  and  murdered 
Memmius  in  the  midst  of  the  election,  and  at  once  dispersed  the 
people  from  the  comitia  in  consternation  at  this  new  crime.  But 
this  last  violence  awakened  the  senate,  and  M.  iEmilius  Scau- 
rus,^"  the  first  on  the  roll  of  the  senators,  and  the  same  person 
who  twelve  years  before  had  moved  that  the  consul  Opimius 
should  defend  tVie  republic  against  the  party  of  Gracchus,  now 
again  persuaded  the  senate  to  commit  the  same  authority  to  the 
consuls  Marius  and  Valerius  Flaccus,  and  to  give  them  the  usual 
solemn  charge  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  commonwealth. 
Alarmed  at  this  resolution,  Saturninus,  Glaucia,  Equitius,  and  a 
body  of  their  followers  in  arms,  seized  the  capitol,  and  declared 
themselves  in  open  rebellion.  Marius,  their  old  associate,  and 
still  secretly  their  friend,  could  not  however  avoid  acting  upon  the 
orders  of  the  senate,  and  summoned  every  citizen  to  maintain  the 
cause  of  the  republic.  All  the  tribunes,^'  except  Saturninus;  all 
the  praetors,  except  Glaucia ;  all  the  senators,  all  the  equestrian 
order,  and  all  the  most  respectable  citizens  in  Rome,  assembled  at 
the  consul's  call,  and  formed  a  force  so  formidable,  that  Marius 
was  reduced  to  the  condition  of  an  unwilling  instrument  in  their 
hands,  employed  by  them  against  a  party  with  which  in  his 
heart  he  entirely  sympathized.  The  rebels,  however,  resisted  for 
some  time,  till  Marius  cut  off  the  pipes  by  which  the  capitol  was 

29  Valerius,  Maximus,  in.  8.     Appian,         30  Auctor  de  Viris  illustribus,  in  VitaM. 
I.  32.  iEmilii  Scauri. 

31  Cicero,  pro  Rabirio,  Perd.  7. 


78  "IS  MEMORY  HELD  LN  DETESTATION. 

supplied  with  waler,^'  and  thus  obliged  them  to  surrender.  They 
submitted  themselves  to  him  with  no  great  reluctance,  relying  on 
his  known  dispositions  in  their  favour;  and  he,  anxious  to  save 
their  lives,  promised  them  their  safety^^  without  the  authority  of 
the  senate,  and  restraining  the  indignation  of  his  followers,  shut 
them  up  in  the  Curia  llostiiia,^'  the  building  originally  appropriated 
for  the  meetings  of  the  senate,  under  pretence  of  reserving  them 
for  an  impartial  trial  hereafter.  JJut  the  armed  citizens  under  his 
He  and  his  partisans  couimaud  mlstrustiug  the  lenity  of  the  consul,  as- 
are  put  to  death.  saultcd  thc  placc  of  their  confinement,  and  mount- 
ing upon  the  roof  of  the  building,  they  took  olf  the  tiling,"  and 
destroyed  with  missile  weapons  the  whole  of  the  defenceless  pris- 
oners below.  It  is  almost  peculiar  to  Roman  history,  that  the 
vengeance  finally  inllictcd  even  on  so  great  a  criminal  as  Satur- 
ninus,  should  more  resemble  a  murder  than  a  legal  execution. 

The  late  popular  leaders  were  by  no  means  regretted  by  the  peo- 
ple as  the  Gracchi  had  been,  for  not  only  was  their  conduct  so  des- 
perate a?  to  have  disgusted  all  but  the  most  profligate,  but  their  mea- 
sures, as  has  been  observed,  had  been  less  immediately  directed  to 
the  advantages  of  the  citizens  of  Rome.  It  appears  rather  that  Sa- 
Hi,  memory  u  held  in  tumiiius  was  generally  regarded  as  an  enemy  to  his 
detestation.  couutfy  ;  aud  two  remarkable  instances  of  this  feel- 

ing are  recorded,  which  deserve  to  be  noticed  as  illustrative  of 
the  arbitrary  and  violent  spirit  by  which  the  administration  of 
justice  at  Rome  was  characterized.  C.  Declaims,^''  a  man,  it  is 
said,  of  the  utmost  respectability,  was  accusing  P.  Furius,  of  wliom 
more  will  be  added  presently,  before  the  peojjle.  In  the  course  of 
he  speech  he  happened  to  complain  of  the  manner  in  which  Sa- 
turninus  had  been  put  to  death  ;  and  for  this  offence  he  not  only 
lost  his  cause,  although  Furius  was  notoriously  a  man  of  most 
infamous  life,  but  was  himself  brought  to  trial  and  condemned  to 
banishment.  Sex.  Titus  also  was  tried  and  condemned'''  for  hav- 
ing a  statue  of  Saturninus  iti  his  house.  Now  it  is  obvious  that 
there  could  have  Ix^en  no  law  by  which  either  of  these  acts  was 
made  a  crime,  and  they  were  })unished  merely  on  the  principle 
that  a  man  might  be  found  guilty  for  any  thing  which  his  judges 
chose  to  consider  as  criminal,  whether  it  were  an  offence  defined 
by  law  or  not.  The  fate  of  Furius,  who  escaped,  owing  to  the 
imprudent  speech  of  his  accuser,  was,  according  to  Appian,^^  in 
itself  sufficiently  extraordinary.  He  was  one  of  the  tribunes  for 
the  year  which  followed  the  sixth  consulship  of  Marius ;  and 
when,  after  the  death  of  Saturninus,  attempts  were  made  to  pro- 

32  Cicero,  pro  Rabirio,  Perd.  11.  ^  Cicero,  pro  Rabirio,  Perd.  9.     Vale- 

33  Cicero,  pro  Rabirio,  Perd.  10.  rius  Maxiinus,  VIII.  1. 

3^  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  12.  37  Cicero   and  Valerius   Maximus,  ubi 

35  Appian,  I.  32.  supra. 

33  De  Bell.  Civil.  I.  33. 


REVOLT  OF  THE  SLAVES  IN  SICILY.  79 

cure  the  recall  of  Metellus  from  banishment,  he  interposed  his  ne- 
gative upon  them  all.  The  son  of  Metellus  threw  himself  at  his 
feet  in  vain  before  the  assembled  people,  and  with  tears  entreated 
him  to  relent.     But  the  people  felt  so  much  indiar- 

■        .   T^  ,1       ^         x  1  1     Recall  of Q. Metellus. 

nation  aganisl  h  urms,  that  when  he  was  accused 
before  them  for  his  resistance  to  their  will,  the  multitude,  without 
waiting  to  hear  his  defence,  fell  upon  him  and  tore  him  to  pieces. 
This  story,  however,  is  only  related  by  Appian,  and  does  not 
seem  altogether  probable.  So  unusual  a  burst  of  popular  fury  is 
not  likely  to  have  been  excited  by  such  a  cause,  when  the  lapse 
of  some  months  must  have  effaced  the  impression  at  first  pro- 
duced by  the  sight  of  the  treatment  shown  to  the  prayers  of  a 
son  in  behalf  of  his  father.  Bnt  here,  as  in  so  many  other  in- 
stances in  Roman  history,  the  want  of  good  authority,  and  the 
imperfection  of  all  existing  reports  of  the  times,  render  it  impos- 
sible to  attain  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

About  this  time  Marcus  Aquiiins,  who  commanded  in  Sicily  as 
proconsul,  concluded  a  bloody  war  which  had  long  devastated  that 
island.  We  speak  of  the  insurrection  of  the  slaves,  to  which 
we  have  before  briefly  alluded,  and  which  may  here  deserve  to 
be  noticed  somewhat  more  particularly. 

The  termination  of  the  second  Punic  war  had  left  the  whole 
of  Sicily  in  the  quiet  possession  of  the  Romans.  The  ,^p,.„|,  j,f  the  slaves 
inhabitants,  when  the  immediate  evils  of  the  con-  '" **"=''> • 
test  were  over,  were  on  the  whole  mildly  treated.  Some  of  them 
had  indeed  adhered  throughout  to  the  cause  of  the  Romans ; 
and  even  in  those  states  which  had  most  vigorously  opposed 
them,  there  were  several  considerations  which  might  move  the 
conquerors  to  forbearance.  They  had  long  been  the  zealous  al- 
lies of  Rome  during  the  reign  of  Hiero  ;  their  revolt  had  been  of 
short  duration,  and  the  bulk  of  the  people  had  been  either  deceiv- 
ed or  forced  into  taking  a  part  in  it ;  besides  that  the  importance 
of  the  island  to  Rome,  and  its  neighbourhood  to  Carthage,  ren- 
dered it  expedient  to  conciliate  the  inhabitants  as  much  as  possi- 
ble to  the  Roman  government.  Accordingly,  whilst  some  of  the 
Sicilian  states  were  exempt  from  all  taxes  whatsoever,^'  the  great 
majority  were  subject  only  to  the  same  burlhen  which  they  had 
supported  under  their  native  princes,  the  payment  namely  of  a 
tenth  part  of  the  produce  of  the  soil;  and  the  collection  of  this 
tax  was  so  well  regulated  by  law,  that  the  farmer  was  fully  pro- 
tected from  paying  more  than  a  just  tenth,  or  from  suffering  any 
thing  vexatious  in  the  manner  of  payment.  Land,  thus  compara- 
tively unencumbered,  and  enjoying  the  highest  reputation  for  fertil- 
ity, became  a  desirable  object  of  purchase  to  the  wealthy  citizeis  of 
Rome  and  Latium :  large  estates  were  accordingly  bought  up  by 

39  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  III.  6. 


80  FIRST  REVOLT  HEADED  BY  EUNUS. 

them,*"  and  were  stockcil  with  vast  numbers  of  slaves,  the  use  of 
whom  at  this  time,  as  we  liavc  already  noticed,  b<^gau  almost 
entirely  to  supersede  that  of  free  labourers.  In  order  to  derive 
from  them  the  greatest  possible  profit,^'  tliey  were  miserably  fed 
and  clothed,  and  were  thus  driven  to  support  themselves  by  rob- 
bery;  their  maimer  of  life  as  shepherds,  in  which  service  a  large 
proportion  of  thom  was  employed,  atlbrdiiig  them  great  facilities 
in  the  practice  of  plunder.  It  is  said,  moreover,  that  the  govern- 
ors of  the  island  were  deterred  from  punishing  these  otlbnders  by 
the  wealth  and  influence  of  their  masters,  who  were  well  pleased 
that  their  slaves  should  provide  for  their  own  wants  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  public. 

In  this  state  of  things*'  the  slaves  began  to  entertain  projects 
First  revolt  headed  by  o^  ^  gcucral  iusurrectiou,  and  a  leader  was  not  long 
^'""'*'  wanting  to  call  them  forth  into  action.     Eurius,  a 

Syrian  by  birth,  was  the  slave  of  a  citizen  of  Eima,  named  Antig- 
enes,  and  had  acquired  great  influence  amongst  his  companions 
in  bondage  by  pretending  to  divine  inspiration,  and  particularly 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  future.  Amongst  many  guesses  into  futu- 
rity, some  were  likely  to  be  verified  by  the  event ;  and  these 
established  his  reputation,  so  that  at  last  he  professed  himself  to 
be  favoured  with  constant  communication  from  heaven  ;  and  it 
is  said  that  he  used  to  secrete  in  his  mouth  some  lighted  com- 
bustible substance,  and  thus  amazed  the  vulgar  by  seeming  to 
breathe  forth  smoke  and  fire,  as  if  under  the  immediate  impulse 
of  the  god  who  spoke  from  within  him.  The  belief  in  his  mi- 
raculous endowments  was  so  general,  that  the  slaves  of  another 
citizen  of  Enna,  named  Damophilus,  unable  to  bear  the  cruelty 
with  which  they  were  treated  both  by  their  master  and  his  wife, 
and  bent  on  revenging  themselves,  applied  first  to  Eunus,  and 
inquired  of  him  if  the  gods  would  grant  success  to  their  attempts. 
He  eagerly  caught  at  the  opportunity  thus  offered  him;  assured 
them  of  the  favour  of  heaven,  and  exhorted  them  to  execute  their 
purpose  without  delay.* ^  The  slaves  employed  on  the  several 
estates  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Enna  were  excited  by  the  call  of 
the  slaves  of  Damophilus ;  a  body  of  four  hundred  men  was  col- 
lected, and  they  entered  the  town  under  the  command  of  Emuis 
himself,  whose  trick  of  breathing  fire  is  said  to  have  produced  a 
great  impression  on  the  minds  of  his  followers.  The  insurgents 
were  instantly  joined  by  the  slaves  in  the  town,  and  an  indiscrim- 
inate massacre  of  the  free  inhabitants  followed,  in  which  men, 
women,  and  children,  were  treated'with  equal  cruelty.  Damophi- 
lus and  his  wife  were  seized  at  their  country  house,  dragged 

«  Florus,  III.  19.  Diodorus  Siculus,  4»  Diodorus  Siculus,  XXXIV.  Ed.  2. 
XXXIV.  Ecloga  secunda,  edit.  Rhodo-  «  Diodorus  Siculus,  XXXIV.  Eel.  2. 
man.  "  Diodorus  Siculus,  XXXIV.     Eel.  2. 


THE  REVOLT  QUELLED  BY  P.  RUPILIUS.  Ql 

in  triumph  to  Enna,  and  there  murdered  ;  but  their  daughter  was 
saved  by  the  slaves,  in  gratitude  for  the  kindnesses  which  they  had 
always  met  with  at  her  hands.  Meantime  Eunus  spared  out  of 
the  general  slaughter  such  of  the  citizens  of  Enna  as  understood 
the  manufacture  of  arms,  and  compelled  them  to  labour  in  order 
to  supply  his  followers  with  weapons.  He  also  took  to  himself 
the  title  and  the  ensigns  of  a  king,  while  he  bestowed  those  of 
queen  on  the  female  slave  who  lived  with  him :  and  he  formed  a 
council,  consisting  of  those  of  his  associates  most  eminent  for 
their  conrage  or  ability.  In  three  days  he  was  at  the  head  of 
six  thousand  men  tolerably  armed,  besides  a  great  multitude  pro- 
vided only  with  hatchets,  spits,  or  any  other  weapons  which 
they  could  find  ;  and  the  number  of  the  insurgents  daily  increas- 
ing, he  was  enabled  to  overrun  the  country,  and  several  times  to 
encounter  with  success  the  Roman  forces  which  attempted  to  op- 
pose him.  The  example  presently  became  contagious:  a  Cili- 
cian  slave,  named  Cleon,  took  up  arms  in  another  part  of  the 
island  ;  and  far  from  attempting  to  rival  Eunus,  he  immediately 
acknowledged  him  as  king,  and  acted  in  every  thing  by  his 
orders.  L.  Hyp5a3us,  one  of  the  prastors,  who  arrived  from  Rome 
about  a  month  after  the  commencement  of  the  revolt,  brought  a 
regular  army  of  eight  thousand  men  against  the  insurgents,  but 
was  outnumbered  by  them  and  defeated.  Several  other  Roman 
officers  met  with  the  same  bad  fortune,  and  the  slaves  made 
themselves  masters  of  many  of  the  towns  of  that  island.  Their 
career  was  first  checked  by  M.  Perpena,  one  of  the  prretors/^  and 
afterwards  was  finally  stopped  by  the  consul,  P.  Rupilius,*^  who 
has  been  already  noticed  as  the  author  of  mea.sures  The  revolt  queiied  br 
of  extreme  severity  against  the  partisans  of  Tibe-  p  R"pi>'"« 
rius  Gracchus.  This  officer  first  recovered  the  town  of  Tamo- 
mininm,  after  a  long  blockade,  in  which  the  slaves  were  reduced 
to  the  utmost  extremities  of  famine  ;  and  having  put  to  death  all 
those  who  fell  into  his  hands,  he  proceeded  to  besiege  Eni:a.  the 
first  scene  of  the  revolt,  and  the  principal  stronghold  of  the  insur- 
gents. The  sure  process  of  blockade  rendered  the  condition  of 
the  besieged  desperate  ;  Cleon  was  killed  in  a  sally,  and  the 
place  was  in  a  short  time  betrayed  to  the  Romans.  Eunus  es- 
caped from  the  town,  but  was  soon  afterwards  taken,  and  died, 
it  is  said,  in  prison  of  a  loathsome  disease  ;  after  which  Rnpilius 
proceeded  to  regulate  the  state  of  the  island,  and  ten  commis- 
sioners were  sent  from  Rome  to  assist  in  the  settlement,^®  exact- 
ly in  the  manner  which  we  have  seen  regularly  practised  by  the 
senate  after  the  conclusion  of  its  wars  with  Antiochus,  Perseus, 
Achaia,  and  Carthage. 

«  Florus,  IIL  in.  «  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  II.  13.  16. 

45  Diodorus,   XXXIV.     Eel.  2.     Livy, 
Epilom.  LIX. 


82  SECOND  REVOLT  HEADED  BY  ATHENIO. 

The  revolt  was  thus  apparently  suppressed  ;  but  the  cause  of 
the  insurgents  found  every  where  so  many  who  sympathized  with 
it,  that  similar  attempts  were  made  witliin  a  few  years,  in  several 
other  parts  of  the  empire.  One  of  these  deserves  notice  from  its 
singularity.  A  Roman  knight,  of  the  name  of  T.  Minucius,^'' 
having  incurred  a  debt  beyond  his  means,  and  being  pressed  for 
the  payment  of  it,  purchased  five  hundred  suits  of  armour,  and 
having  conveyed  them  secretly  into  the  country,  employed  them 
in  arming  his  slaves;  and  then  usurping  the  style  and  dignity  of 
a  king,  invited  the  slaves  in  general  to  join  him,  and  murdered  his 
creditors,  whom  he  contrived  to  get  into  his  power.  Ridiculous 
as  this  leader  was,  he  assembled  round  him  above  3000  followers, 
and  was  not  reduced  by  the  prajtor  who  was  sent  against  him, 
Second  revolt  headed  witliout  maintaining  an  obstinate  struggle.  But  a 
by  Athenio.  fy^^.   jhqj-q  scrious  disturbance  soon   broke  out  for 

the  second  time  in  Sicily.  When  C.  Marins  was  looking  for  troops 
in  every  quarter  to  oppose  the  invasion  of  the  Cimbri,^^  a  decree 
of  the  senate  empowered  him  to  demand  assistance  from  the  more 
distant  allies  of  the  republic ;  and  he  sent  accordingly  to  Nico- 
medes,  king  of  Bithynia,  requiring  of  him  a  certain  contingent  of 
soldiers.  Nicomedes  excused  himself,  by  saying,  that  so  large  a 
portion  of  his  subjects  had  been  carried  off  and  sold  for  slaves  in 
ditferent  parts  of  the  empire,  that  he  was  unable  to  raise  tiie  force 
demanded  of  him.  Upon  this,  the  senate  issued  an  order,  that  no 
freeborn  native  of  any  state  in  alliance  with  Rome,  should  be  kept 
as  a  slave  in  any  of  the  Roman  provinces;  and  the  provincial 
magistrates  were  desired  to  institute  inquiries,  and  to  liberate 
within  their  several  jurisdictions  all  those  who  came  within  the 
terms  of  the  senate's  decree  Licinius  Nerva,  the  pra3tor  of  Sicily, 
began  accordingly  to  set  at  liberty  above  800  slaves  within  a  few 
days ;  but  he  was  soon  persuaded  by  the  rich  slave-owners  in  the 
island  to  suspend  his  proceedings,  and  he  in  future  referred  all 
those  who  applied  to  him  for  their  liberty  to  the  decision  of  their 
own  masters.  The  slaves  thus  suddenly  disappointed  of  the 
hopes  which  they  had  felt  themselves  encouraged  by  tiie  senate 
itself  to  entertain,"  resolved  to  obtain  their  freedom  for  them- 
selves;  insurrections  broke  out  in  several  parts  of  the  island,  and 
although  at  first  partially  suppressed,  revived  again  with  redoubled 
fury.  Sabrius  and  Athenio  were  two  of  the  chief  insurgents  ;  and 
the  latter  displayed  considerable  military  talents,  paying  more  re- 
gard to  the  quality  than  to  the  numbers  of  his  arm)'',  and  accus- 
toming his  men  to  regular  discipline.     He  also,  hke  Eunus,  ap- 

*''  Diodorus  Siculus,  XXXVI.     Eel.  1.  his  account  of  these  transactions,  from  his 

*'  Diodorus  Siculus,  XXXVI.     Eel.  1.  being  himself  a  Sicilian,  and  always  show- 

*9  Diodorus  Siculus,  XXXVI.     Eel   1.  ing  a  lively  intereit  in  events  that  hap- 

It  may  be  observed,  that  the  testimony  of  pened  in  his  own  country. 

Diodorus  is  more  than  usually  valuable  in 


TRIAL  AND  ACQUITTAL  OF  AQUILIUS. 


83 


pealed  to  the  superstition  of  his  followers,  and  declared  that  the 
stars  had  foretold  that  he  should  be  king  over  all  Sicily.  Several 
Roman  pra3tors  were  defeated  with  loss  in  successive  attempts  to 
reduce  the  revolters  ;  and  the  whole  of  Sicily  became  a  scene  of 
plunder  and  destruction :  many  free  inhabitants  of  the  poorer 
class  availing  themselves  of  the  general  confusion,  and  carrying 
on  an  organized  system  of  devastation  throughout  the  country. 
At  length,  Marcus  Aquilius,  the  colleague  of  Marius  in  his  fifth 
consulship,  was  sent  against  this  obstinate  enemy.  lie  followed 
the  example  of  Rnpilius,  by  shutting  the  insurgents  up  in  their 
strongholds,  and  surrounding  them  with  lines  of  circumvallation, 
till  famine  obliged  them  to  surrender.     Many,  how-     „   „  , ,   „ 

iiriii  1  !•  "^  Quclleil  by  Marcus 

ever,  had  (alien  by  the  sword  m  several  previous  Acmiims. 
engagements  ;  and  those  who  at  last  submitted  were  sent  to 
Rome,  and  destined  there  to  afford  sport  for  the  populace,  by  be- 
ing exposed  to  fight  with  beasts  in  the  amphitheatre.  But  it  is 
said  that  they  preserved  their  fierceness  to  the  last,  and  instead  of 
combating  with  the  beasts,  turned  their  swords  against  one 
another,  and  shed  their  blood  upon  the  altars  appointed  for  the 
sacrifices  usually  performed  at  the  games,  the  last  survivor  com- 
pleting the  slaughter  by  killing  himself  The  peace  of  the  island 
thus  with  difficulty  restored,  was  maintained  for  the  future  by 
regulations  of  extreme  severity.  No  slave  was  allowed  to  carry 
a  weapon  ;'"  and  on  one  occasion,  when  a  boar  of  remarkable 
size  had  been  sent  as  a  present  to  L.  Domitius,  at  that  time  praetor 
of  the  island,  he  inquired  who  had  killed  it,  and  finding  (hat  it 
was  a  slave  employed  as  a  shepherd,  he  summoned  the  man  be- 
fore him,  and  asked  him  how  he  had  contrived  to  destroy  so  large 
an  animal.  The  shepherd  replied,  that  he  had  killed  it  with  a 
boar  spear ;  upon  which  Domitius  ordered  him  immediately  to  be 
crucified,  for  having  used  a  weapon  in  defiance  of  the  law.  In 
consequence  of  this  arbitrary  system,  we  read  of  no  more  revolts 
of  the  slaves  in  Sicily  for  a  very  long  period. 

But  whatever  were  the  military  services  of  Manius  Aquilius, 
in  subduing  the  insurgent  slaves,  his  conduct  as  a  Tnai  und  acquitai  of 
man  too  much  resembled  that  of  his  father  whom  v'^c^.Tm. 
we  have  seen  poisoning  the  wells  in  Asia,  and  afterwards  tried 
for  his  corruption  and  oppression.  His  son  was  in  like  manner 
brought  to  trial  on  a  similar  charge ;  and  it  appears  that  his  guilt 
could  not  be  denied  ;  for  M.  Antonius,  the  orator,  who  acted  as 
his  advocate,  could  only  save  him  by  a  violent  appeal  to  the  feel- 
ings of  the  judges.^'  He  contrasted  the  former  honours  of  the 
accused  with  his  present  condition ;  and  at  last  he  tore  open  the 
dress  of  his  client,  and  exposed  the  wounds  which  he  had  received 

50  Cicero,  in  Verreni,  V.  3.  si  Cicero,  de  Oratore,  II.  47.     In  Ver- 

rem,  V.  1. 


84      ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OF  SUMPTUARY  LAWS. 

in  the  course  of  his  services  as  a  soldier.  So  little  were  the  du- 
ties of  a  court  of  justice  observed  at  Rome,  that  this  most  irrelevant 
mode  of  defence  was  completely  successful ;  and  Aquilius  escaped 
condcuuiatiou.  How  hard  is  it  for  good  goverumcnt  aud  eijual 
justice  to  exist  among  a  people  who  allow  their  feelings  to  influ- 
ence them  against  their  reason  in  the  discharge  of  a  solemn  duty  ! 

In  the  following  year,  an  attempt  was  made  to  check  the  vio- 
lent measures  sometimes  proposed  by  the  tribunes, 
and  which  the  p3ople  were  used  to  approve  without 
due  consideration.  A  law  was  passed,  which  bears  the  names 
The  ca>ciiian  and  of  both  the  coiisuls,  Q,.  Ca3cilius  Metellus  Nepos,  a 
Didianiaw.  cousiu  of  Q.  MctclUis  Nunudicus,  and  T.  Uidius, 

and  by  which  it  was  enacted,  that  every  law  should  be  pnblished 
on  three  successive  marivet  days,^^  before  it  could  be  submitted  to 
the  voles  of  the  j)eople ;  it  was  also  provided,  that  the  people 
should  not  be  obliged  to  accept  or  reject  any  clause  of  a  law  con- 
trary to  their  wishes,  as  was  often  the  case  at  present,  when 
several  enactments  being  contained  in  one  law,  and  proposed  to 
the  votes  of  the  assembly  all  together,  it  was  necessary  either  to 
approve  or  to  negative  the  whole  without  discrimination. 

The  year  of  Rome  65(3,  is  marked  by  some  discussions  which 
origin  and  progress  of  ^''^SG  ou  thc  subjoct  of  suuiptuary  laws.  lu  a  con- 
sumptuary  laws.  stitutlou  whicli  permitted  the  magistrates  to  inter- 
fere with  the  private  life  of  every  citizen,  to  the  extent  practised 
by  the  censors,  the  expenses  of  the  table  were  not  likely  to  escape 
the  control  of  the  law.  We  read  of  various  statutes  passed  from 
time  to  time,  with  a  view  to  restrain  what  was  called  luxury  :  in 
the  year  538,  only  a  year  after  the  battle  of  Canna?,  C  Oppius, 
one  of  the  tribunes,^^  brought  forward  a  law  to  regulate  the  de- 
gree of  ornament  which  might  be  allowed  in  female  dress,  and 
forbidding  the  ladies  of  Rome  to  use  a  carriage  within  the  city, 
except  in  their  attendance  on  the  public  sacrifices.  But  after  the 
end  of  the  second  Punic  war,  it  was  contended  that  such  provi- 
sions were  fitted  only  for  a  season  of  national  distress,  and  the 
Oppian  law  was  repealed.  Of  the  laws  directed  particularly 
against  the  expenses  of  the  table,  the  first  in  order  of  time  is  fixed 
about  the  year  571,^^  and  was  proposed  by  Orchius,  one  of  the 
tribunes,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  senate.  It  limited  the 
number  of  guests  at  any  entertainment ;  and  ordered,  as  we  are 
told,  that  the  doors  of  the  house  should  be  left  open  during  the 
meal,  to  guard  against  any  violation  of  its  enactments.  A  little 
more  than  twenty  years  afterwards,  in  the  interval  between  the 
overthrow  of  Perseus  and  the  third  Punic  war,  the  attention  of 
the  senate  was  again  directed  to  the  same  subject.     By  a  decree 

62  Cicero,  Philipp.  V.  3.   ProDomo,20.        54  Macrobius,  Saturn.  II.   13.      Apud 
53  Livy,  XXXIV.  1.  Facciolati  Lexicon,  in  Voce  "  Orchia." 


ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OP  SUMPTUARY  LAWS.       85 

of  that  assernbly,^^  the  principal  citizens  who  were  in  the  habit 
of  giving  entertainments  to  one  another,  during  the  celebration  of 
the  games  in  honour  of  Cybele,  were  obhged  to  make  oath  before 
the  consuls  that  they  would  not  expend  on  any  meal  moie  than  a 
hundred  and  twenty  ases,  or  75.  9rf.  sterling,  exclusive  of  the 
sum  paid  for  bread,  vegetables,  and  wine ;  that  they  would  use 
no  other  wine  than  that  made  in  Italy,  and  that  they  would  not 
have  more  than  a  hundred  pounds  weight  of  silver  displayed  at 
their  table.  Afterwards,  in  the  same  year,  a  law  was  passed  bear- 
ing the  name  of  C.  Fannius,*^  one  of  the  consuls,  which  restrained 
the  expense  of  meals  still  more.  On  the  greatest  festivals  no 
man  was  allowed  to  exceed  an  hundred  ases,  ijs.  bhd. ;  on  ten 
other  days  in  every  month  he  might  go  as  high  as  thirty  ases,  or 
1*.  ll^ri. ;  and  at  all  other  times  he  was  limited  to  no  more  than 
ten,  about  7^d.  of  English  money.  By  the  same  law,^^  also,  the 
consiUTiption  of  poultry,  and  all  kinds  of  birds,  was  expressly  for- 
bidden, with  the  exception  of  a  single  hen  at  each  table,  and  this, 
it  was  added,  must  not  have  been  regularly  fatted.  This  was 
repealed  as  a  favourite  clause  in  all  future  laws  on  the  same  sub- 
ject ;  and  other  aiticles  of  food  were  prohibited  by  successive 
enactiuents  ;  as  for  example,  M.  iEmilius  Scaurus,  one  of  the  con- 
suls in  the  year  638,  excluded  dormice  from  the  table,^^  which 
little  animals  the  Romans,  it  appears,  were  accustomed  to  catch 
in  great  numbers,  and  regarded  them  when  fatted  as  a  peculiar 
delicacy.  It  is  natural  enough  that  men  of  small  or  moderate 
fortune,  who  could  not  indulge  in  the  magnificence  of  splendid 
villas,  niunerous  slaves,  or  costly  furniture,  should  bear  with 
great  impatience  these  restrictions  upon  that  peculiar  gratification 
which  was  to  them  most  accessible  ;  besides  that,  they  looked 
upon  any  interference  in  such  matters  as  an  encroachment  on 
their  just  liberty  of  doing  what  they  chose  with  their  own  money. 
We  find,  accordingly,  that  M.  Duronius,  one  of  the  tribunes,^' 
procured  the  rejection  of  a  new  sumptuary  law  bi ought  forward 
about  the  year  of  Rome  656,  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  the  law 
of  Fannius.  For  this  action  Duronius  was  shortly  after  expelled 
from  the  senate  by  the  censors  M.  Antonius  and  L.  Flaccus ;  and 
a  sumptuary  law  was  in  fact  carried  by  the  consul  P.  Licinius 
Crassus,®"  limiting  the  quantity  of  meat  which  might  be  brought 
to  table  on  ordinary  occasions,  but  still  permitting  an  unrestricted 
consumption  of  vegetables.  There  is,  in  one  of  Cicero's  letters,*' 
testimony  to  show  that  these  regulations  remained  in  force  for 
many  years,  and  that  their  intention  was  completely  evaded  by 

55  Gellius,  II.  apud  Sigoniuni,Commen-  5?  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  VIII.  57. 
tar.  in  Fast,  et  Triumph.  59  V^alerius  Maximus,  II.  9. 

56  Macrobius,  Saturnal.  II.   13.     Apud  *"  Aul.  Gellius,  II.  24.     Apud  Facciola- 
Facciolati  Lexicon,  in  Voce  "  Fannia."  ti  in  Voce  "  Licinius." 

s''  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  X.  50.  «'   Epistol.  ad  Familiares,  VII.  ep.  26. 


Q(J  JUST  ADMINISTRATION  OF  MUCIUS  IN  ASIA. 

the  arts  of  cookery,  which  found  means  to  provide  a  hixiirious 
and  expensive  meal  out  of  the  common  productionsof  the  garden. 

In  the  consulship  of  P.  Licinius  Crassus,  and  Cn.  Lentuhis, 
is  also  dated  a  decree  of  the  senate  for  the  abolition  of  human 
sacrifices.*'^  When  the  republic  was  engaged  in  any  dangerous 
war,  the  superstition  of  the  Romans  believed  that  to  bury  alive  in 
the  midst  of  Rome  an  individual  of  the  adverse  nation,  was  a 
powerful  charm  to  secure  victory.  This  had  been  put  in  practice 
in  the  second  Punic  war;  and  although  now  forbidden,  was  re- 
peated afterwards  on  more  than  one  occasion  till  long  after  the 
first  preaching  of  Christianity." 

It  is  with  pleasure  that  we  are  now  called  to  contemplate  two 
ju8ta.imin,strationof  >aic  iiistauces  of  integrity  and  humanity  :  Q.  Mu- 
u.  Mucus  in  Asm.  (.[y^g  Sca3vola,  aud  p.  Rutilius  Rufus.  Q.  Sca3vola 
filled  the  office  of  consul  in  the  year  of  Rome  658,  together  with 
L.  Licinius  Crassus,  so  celebrated  as  an  orator.  On  the  expiration 
of  the  year  he  was  appointed  as  proconsul  to  the  government  of 
the  province  of  Asia,*^  by  which  name  the  Romans  meant  to  ex- 
press those  countries  on  the  western  side  of  Asia  Minor,  which 
liad  formerly  composed  the  kingdom  of  Pergamus.  P.  Rutilius 
attended  him  as  his  lieutenant,*^  and  cordially  co-operated  with 
him  in  all  his  proceedings.  He  only  held  his  command  for  nine 
months,**  but  during  that  short  period  he  so  endeared  himself  to 
the  people  whom  he  governed  by  the  equity  of  his  administration, 
and  by  the  firnmess  with  which  he  protected  them  against  the 
oppressions  of  the  farmers  of  the  revenue,  that  a  festival  was 
instituted  in  commemoration  of  his  goodness.*^  and  continued  to 
be  observed  for  many  years  afterwards  in  Asia  ;  while  at  Rome 
his  name  became  identified  with  that  of  an  upright  and  merciful 
magistrate,*^  and  his  conduct  was  long  held  up  by  the  senate  as 
a  model  which  officers  appointed  to  similar  stations  should  dili- 
gently endeavour  to  copy.  Q,.  Mucins  was  happy,  moreover,  in 
never  being  exposed  to  the  malice  of  those  whose  interests  had 
suftered  from  his  pure  and  incorrupt  government.  But  his  lieu- 
tenant, P.  Rutilius,  was  less  fortunate.  The  judicial  power, 
according  to  the  law  of  C.  Gracchus  (which  after  a  short  inter- 
ruption had  been  lately  put  in  force  again  by  C.  Servilius  Glaucia), 
was,  as  we  have  stated,  vested  entirely  in  the  equestrian  order. 
This  class  of  men  was  closely  connected  with  the  farmers  of  the 
revenue,  and  entered  warmly  into  their  complaints  of  the  treat- 
ment which  they  had  received  from  Mucins  and  Rutilius.      Ru- 

62  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  XXX.  65  Livy,  Epitom.  LXX. 

63  Pliny,  XXVIII.  2.  66  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  V.  ep.  17. 

64  Livy,  Epitom.  LXX.     Others  place         67  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  II.  21. 

his  government  of  Asia  about  four  years         ^^  Cicero,  in  Ceecilium,  17.      Valerius 
earlier,  and  say  that  he  obtained  the  prov-     Maximus,  VIII.  15. 
ince  as  proprsetor. 


CENSORSHIP  OF  DOMITIUS  AND  CRASSUS.  Q7 

tilius  was  accused  of  corruption  in  his  province, 
perhaps  by  some  of  those  very  individuals  whose  "^^'^^p  i^""""^ 
own  corruption  he  had  repressed,  and  was  brought  to  trial  before 
a  court  consisting  enlireiy  of  citizens  of  the  equestrian  order. 
His  conduct  on  his  trial  was  consistent  with  the  high  principles 
of  his  general  life.  He  refused  to  employ  any  celebrated  orator 
in  his  defence,^'  nor  would  he  suffer  any  attempts  to  be  made  to 
work  upon  the  feelings  of  his  judges.  His  friend,  Q,.  Mucins, 
spoke  in  his  behalf,  confining  himself  only  to  a  clear  and  simple 
statement  of  the  truth.  But  the  tribunal  which  had  so  lately 
acquitted  the  guilty  Aquilius,  when  defended  by  an  appeal  to  his 
passions,  now  condemned  a  man  of  the  most  spotless  innocence, 
who  disdained  any  support  but  that  of  reason  and  justice.  Rutilius 
was  banished,  and  retired  to  Smyrna,""  in  the  country  which  was 
the  scene  of  his  alleged  corruption,  but  which  was  in  truth  the 
best  witness  of  his  virtue.  The  people  whom  he  was  accused 
of  misgoverning,  sent  deputies  from  all  their  several  towns  to 
welcome  his  arrival  once  more  amongst  them  ;  nor  did  they  show 
less  respect  to  him  in  his  exile  than  when  invested  with  the«au 
thority  of  a  Roman  officer.^'  The  citizens  of  Smyrna  gladly 
gave  him  the  freedom  of  their  city,"  and  in  this  adopted  home 
Rutilius  spent  in  peace  the  remainder  of  his  life  ;  nur  could  the 
solicitations  of  Sylla,  when  dictator,  ever  prevail  with  him  to 
return  to  Italy. 

In  the  year  of  Rome  661  some  curious  parliculais  are  recorded 
of  the  censorship  of  Cn.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus  cenBorshipof  Domi 
and  L.  Licinius  Crassus.  The  study  of  eloquence  .t'"^''"^  crassus. 
daily  becoming  more  popular  at  Rome,  there  arose  a  number  of 
persons  who  professed  to  teach  it,  and  who  opened  schools  for  the 
instruction  of  young  men  in  this  accomplishment.  Of  these 
teachers  some  were  Greeks,  and  if  they  ordy  interpreted  and  ex- 
pounded the  works  of  some  of  their  distinguished  countrymen, 
they  must  have  communicated  to  their  hearers  much  new  and 
valuable  knowledge.  An  acquaintance  with  the  rhetoric  of  Aris- 
totle must  have  opened  an  unknown  world  to  the  mind  of  a  young 
Roman,  and  have  furnished  him  with  innumerable  subjects  of 
thought,  while  it  lead  him  to  examine  the  motives  of  actions,  and 
the  causes  of  feelings  ;  while  it  embraced,  with  wonderful  con- 
ciseness, the  principles  of  almost  every  argument  that  could  be 
used  in  all  questions,  judicial  and  political;  and  while  with  in- 
tuitive good  sense  it  displayed  the  excellences  to  be  aimed  at,  and 
the  faults  to  be  avoided,  in  the  language  and  arrangement  of  a 
writer  or  an  orator.  But  besides  these  Greek  instructors,  some  of 
the  Romans  themselves  professed  to  open  schools  of  rhetoric ;  and 

«9  Cicero,  de  Oratore,  I.  53.  'i  Valerius  Maximus,  II.  10. 

">  Cicero,  de  Republica,  I.  8.  "  Tacitus,  Annal.  IV.  43. 


58         CENSORSHIP  OF  DOMITIUS  AND  CRASSUS. 

being  for  the  most  part  men  of  little  education,  and  deliv'^ering 
their  lessons  {)robably  on  cheaper  terms  than  the  ( Jreck  teachers, 
their  scholars  consisted  chiefly  of  the  poorer  class  of  citizens,  and 
particularly,  we  may  suppose,  of  those  individuals  who  wished  to 
(jualify  themselves  for  the  part  of  noisy  and  factious  leaders  of 
the  populace.  It  was  on  these  grounds,  as  Cicero  makes  Crassus 
himself  affirm,  in  the  "  Dialogue  de  Oratore,""  that  the  censors, 
in  the  exercise  of  their  arbitrary  power,  thought  proper  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Latin  teachers  of  eloquence  ;  be- 
cause, in  the  language  of  Cicero,  "they  could  teach  their  pupils 
nothing  but  impudence."  In  the  course  of  the  year  the  two  cen- 
sors are  said  to  have  had  a  very  unbecoming  quarrel  with  each 
other:  the  expensive  habits  in  which  Cias.'^us  indulged  in  his 
manner  of  living,  appearing  to  his  colleague  to  be  unworthy  of 
his  censorian  dignity.  It  appears,  that  Crassus  had  six  date  trees 
in  his  garden,'^  of  remarkable  size  and  beauty,  which  he  valued 
very  highly ;  and  four  pillars  of  the  marble  of  Mount  Hymettus 
in  his  house,"  a  material  which  had  not  hitherto  been  used  in 
any. public  building  at  Rome,  and  which,  in  a  private  house,  was 
thought  to  argue  excessive  luxury.  Another  ridiculous  charge 
was  brought  by  Cn.  Domitius  against  his  colleague ;  ^^  that  he 
had  gone  into  mourning  on  the  death  of  a  favourite  fish,  which 
was  kept  in  one  of  his  fish-ponds.  Crassus,  we  are  told,  confessed 
the  truth  of  the  story,  saying,  "  that  he  had  indeed  wept  at  the 
loss  of  a  fish  ;  but  that  Domitius  had  borne  the  loss  of  three  wives 
without  shedding  a  tear."  The  history  of  Rome  presents  us  at 
once  with  instances  of  the  strangest  extravagance  of  conduct  in 
some  characters,  combined  with  a  most  complete  intolerance  of 
every  thing  eccentric,  in  the  general  feelings  of  the  magistrates  and 
the  spirit  of  the  laws. 

The  succeeding  year,  in  which  Sextus  Julius  Caesar  and  L. 
Marcius   Philippus    were   consuls,    witnessed    the 

A.  U.  C.662.    AC.  91.  •      •  r     i         t        i  •  t-.  i  ■  r  i 

origm  01  the  Italian  war.  But  as  the  parties  formed 
on  this  occasion  were  not  without  their  effect  in  the  civil  war  that 
followed,  and  as  Sylla  took  a  distinguished  part  in  the  contest 
maintained  by  Rome  against  her  revolted  allies,  we  shall  include 
our  account  of  these  transactions  in  the  narrative  of  that  indi- 
vidual's life,  which  we  are  now  preparing  to  lay  before  our  readers. 

"  III.  24.  75  piinv,  Histor.  Natural.  XVII.  1. 

'<  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  XVH.  1.  ''^  Macrobius,  Saturnal.  II.  II. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TART  I. 
LUCIUS  CORNELIUS  SVLLA.— FROM  U.C.  616  .A.C.  138,  TO  U.C.  666,  AC.  88. 

The  Coriieliau  family  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  hon- 
ourable in  Rome;    and  two  of  its  branches,  the  From  u.  c.  eie,  a.  c. 

hr   o     •     ■  IT  i     1  /•  •    1        1    ^1         '  13S,  toU.  C.  666,  A.C. 

ouses  01  fecipio  and  Lentnlus,  im'nished  the  com-  ss. 

mon wealth  with  a  long  listof  distingnishcd  officers,  in  the  several 
departments  of  state.  A  third  branch  bore  the  surname  of  Ru- 
finus  ;  but  although  its  members  occasionally  appear  on  the  lists 
of  magistrates,  none  of  them,  till  a  much  later  period,  rose  to  any 
high  personal  eminence.  In  the  second  Punic  war,  in  the  year 
of  Rome  540,  P.  Cornelius  Rufinus,  being  then  praetor,  celebrated 
for  the  first  time,'  the  Ludi  Apollinares,  or  games  in  honour  of 
Apollo,  which  the  Sibylline  books  had  directed  the  senate  to 
institute  ;  and  from  this  circmnstance  he  is  said  to  have  changed 
his  name  of  Rufinus,  for  that  of  Sibylla  ;•  which  was  afterwards 
corrupted  into  the  shorter  appellation  of  Sylla.  His  great  grand- 
son was  li.  Cornelius  Sylla,  the  subject  of  our  present  narrative, 
who  was  born  about  the  year  of  Rome  610,  in  the  consulship  of 
M.  iEmilius  TiCpidns,  and  C.  Hostilius  Mancinus,  four  years  before 
the  death  of  Tiberius  Gracchus. 

The  father  of  Sylla  did  nothing  to  promote  either  the  honour 
or  the  wealth  of  his  familj^,  and  his  son  was  born  with  no  very 
rtattering  prospects,  either  of  rank  or  fortune.  "We  know  not  by 
whom  his  education  was  superintended;  but  he  acquired,  either 
from  his  instructors,  or  by  his  own  exertion  in  afterlife,  an  un- 
usual portion  of  knowledge,  and  had  the  character  of  being  very 
profoundly  versed  in  the  literature^  of  the  Greeks.  But  intellec- 
tual superiority  aftbrds  no  security  for  the  moral  principles  of  its 
possessor  ;  and  Sylla,  from  his  earliest  youth,^  was  notorious  for 
gross  sensuality,  and  for  his  keen  enjoyment  of  low  and  profligate 
society.     He  is  said  to  have  lived  in  lodgings  at  Rome,'  and  to 

1  Livy,  XXV.  12.  3  Sallust,  Bell.  Jugurth.  9.5. 

2  Macrobius,  apud.  Facciolati  Lexicon,         ^  Plutarch,  in  Sylld,  2. 
in  Voce  "  Sulla."  5  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  \. 


90  BIOGRAPHY— L.  CORNELIUS  SYLLA, 

have  rented  one  floor  of  a  house,  for  which  he  paid  3000  niimmi, 
or  about  24/.  As.  A^d.  a  year :  a  style  of  living  which  seems  to 
have  been  reckoned  disgraceful  to  a  man  of  patrician  family,  and 
to  have  inferred  great  indigence.  For  his  first  advancement  in  life, 
he  was  indebted  for  the  fondness  of  a  prostitute,  who  had  acquired 
a  large  sum  of  money,  and  left  it  all  to  him  by  her  will ;  and  he 
also  inherited  the  property  of  his  mother-in-law,  who  regarded 
him  as  her  own  son.  He  was  chosen  one  of  the  qua3stors  in  the 
year  of  Rome  646,  and  accompanied  Marius,  then  in  his  first 
consulship,  into  Africa  ;  where,  as  has  been  mentioned  elsewhere, 
his  services  were  very  remarkable ;  and  it  was  to  him  that  Ju- 
gurtha  was  at  last  surrendered  by  Bocchus,  king  of  Mauritania, 
This  circumstance  excited,  as  it  is  said,  the  jealousy  of  Marius  ; 
but  Sylla^  nevertheless  acted  mrder  him  as  one  of  his  lieutenants 
in  the  war  with  the  Cimbri,  where  he  again  greatly  distinguished 
himself.  But  finding  the  ill-will  of  his  general  daily  increasing, 
he  left  him,  and  served  in  the  army  of  Lutatius  Catulus,  the  col- 
league'' of  Marius  ;  and  in  this  situation,  being  charged  with  the 
duty  of  supplying  the  soldiers  with  provisions,  he  performed  it  so 
well,  that  the  army  of  Catulus  was  in  the  midst  of  abundance, 
while  that  of  Marius  was  labouring  under  severe  privations.  This 
still  further  inflamed  the  animosity  with  which  Marius  already 
regarded  him. 

For  some  years  after  this  period,  Sylla  seems  to  have  lived  in 
the  mere  enjoyment  of  his  favourite  pleasures  of  intellectual  and 
sensual  excitement.  At  length,  in  the  year  of  Rome  657,  he  be- 
came a  candidate  for  the  oflice  of  proetoi-,  but  without  success. 
He  attributed  his  failure,  according  to  Plutarch,^  to  the  disappoint- 
ment of  the  people  at  his  not  first  suing  for  the  sedileship  ;  it  be- 
ing a  long-established  custom  that  the  sediles  should  exhibit 
shows  of  some  kind  or  other  for  the  amusement  of  the  multitude  : 
and  Sylla's  friendship  with  the  king  of  Mauritania,  seemed  to 
promise  that  he  would  procure  from  Africa  an  unusual  num- 
ber of  lions  and  other  wild  beasts,  to  be  hunted  in  the  amphithea- 
tre. However,  in  the  following  year,  Sylla  was  elected  praetor, 
sylla obtams  the  pra..  without  the  prcvious  stcp  of  going  through  the 
^o^'^'p-  office  of  sedile  ;  and  not  to  deprive   the  people  of 

the  gratification  they  expected,  he  exhibited  no  fewer  than  a  hun- 
dred lions  ;  the  first  time,  it  is  said,  that  the  male  lion^  was  ever 
brought  forward  in  the  sports  of  the  circus.  On  the  expiration 
of  his  prsetorship,  he  obtained  the  province  of  Cilicia;'"  and 
was  commissioned  to  replace  on  his  throne  Ariobarzanes,  king  of 
Cappadocia,  who  had  been  lately  expelled  by  Mithridates.     This 

'  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  17.  '"  Auctor  de  Viris  illustribus,  in  Vita 

7  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  4.  Syllse.     Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  5.    Livy,Epit. 

8  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  5.  LXX. 

9  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  VIII.  16 


TRIBUNESHIP  OF  M.  LIVIUS  DRUSUS.  9£ 

he  easily  effected  ;  for  Mithridates  was  not  yet  prepared  to  en- 
counter the  power  of  Rome;  and  it  is  further  men-  His  proceedings  mhis 
tioned,  as  a  memorable  circumstance  in  the  life  of  province. 
Sylla,  that  while  he  was  in  Cappadocia,  he  received  the  first 
communication  ever  made  to  any  Roman  officer  by  the  sovereign 
of  Parthia.  Arsaces,  king  of  that  country,  perceiving  that  the 
Romans  extended  their  influence  into  his  neighbourhood,  sent  an 
embassy  to  Sylla  to  solicit  their  alliance.  In  the  interview  be- 
tween the  Roman  praetor  and  the  Parthian  ambassador,  Sylla" 
claimed  the  precedence  in  rank,  with  the  usual  arrogance  of  his 
countrymen  ;  and  by  this  behaviour,  in  all  probability,  left  no  very 
friendly  feeling  in  the  mind  of  Arsaces  ;  and  rather  encouraged 
than  lessened  that  jealousy  of  the  Roman  power,  which  the  Par- 
thians,  in  the  sequel,  were  often  enabled  to  manifest  with  more 
success  than  any  other  nation  since  the  time  of  Hannibal. 

On  Sylla's  return  to  Rome,  he  was  threatened  with  a  prosecu- 
tion for  corrupt  proceedings  in  his  province  ;'^  but  the  matter  was 
never  brought  to  a  trial.  It  is  said  also,  that  Bocchus,  king  of 
Mauritania,  presented  to  the  Romans  about  this  time,  a  group  of 
figures  in  gold,  representing  himself  betraying  Jugurtha  into  the 
hands  of  Sylla.  This  excited  anew  the  jealousy  of  Marius, 
who  is  represented  to  have  attempted  in  vain  to  hinder  the  figures 
from  being  received  and  dedicated  in  the  capitol. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  the  memorable  consulship  of  L.  Mar- 
cius  Philippus  and  Sextus  Julius  Caesar.  Since  consulship  of  l.  pw- 
the  death  of  Saturninus,  the  state  of  affairs  at  Rome  l^^^^^  ^""^  ^^''-  •^»'- 
had  been  generally  tranquil;  and  the  accounts  a.u.  c.  662. 
given  of  this  period  in  ancient  writers,  are  proportionably  scanty. 
But  to  this  calm  a  terrible  storm  was  now  to  succeed  ;  and  Rome, 
for  the  first  time  since  the  second  Punic  war,  was  to  be  engaged 
in  a  desperate  contest  in  the  very  heart  of  Italy.  It  appears  that 
the  senate  bore'^  with  impatience  the  great  power  enjoyed  by  the 
equestrian  order,  in  possessing  the  whole  judicial  authority  in  the 
commonwealth.  To  attack  this  formidable  body,  it  was  neces- 
sary that  the  senate  should  effect  a  coalition  with  the  popular 
party,  and  court  it  by  a  series  of  popular  enactments.  M.  Livius 
Drusus  was  at  this  time  one  of  the  tribunes;  the  Tribuneship of m 
son  of  that  M.  Drusus,  who  had  been  one  of  the  ^'^'"'  '''■"^"«- 
colleagues  of  C.  Gracchus  in  his  tribuneship,  and  who  had  greatly 
undermined  the  popularity  of  Gracchus,  by  proposing,  with  the 
authority  of  the  senate,  laws  even  more  grateful  to  the  multitude 
than  his.  His  son  was  now  prevailed  upon  to  act  a  similar  part, 
and  to  bribe  the  people  at  almost  any  price  to  assist  in  the  medi- 
tated attack  upon  the  equestrian  order.     But  Drusus  was  not  of 

51  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  5.  '3  Livy,  Epitoni.   LXX.     Velleius.  Pa- 

52  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  5,  6.  lerculus,  II.  1.3. 


92  LAWS  OF  M.  DRUSUS. 

a  temper  to  be  the  mere  instrument  of  the  designs  of  others.  He 
is  described  as  a  man  of  great  talents  and  great  pride  ;  insomuch, 
that  during  his  gedileship,'^  when  one  of  his  colleagues  suggested 
something  as  beneficial  to  the  state,  Drusus  scornfully  replied, 
"  What  business  have  you  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  our  com- 
monwealth ?"  and  when  he  acted  as  quaestor  in  Asia,  he  disdain- 
ed the  usual  insignia  of  the  office,  as  if  his  own  personal  dignity 
needed  not  any  external  marks  of  honour.  In  his  tribuneship, 
he  Avas  willing  to  promote  the  popularity  of  the  senate,  but  not 
so  as  to  resign  to  it  all  the  credit  that  his  measures  might  acquire  : 
he  rather  aspired  to  be,  as  it  were,  the  moderator  of  the  republic, 
to  balance  the  claims  of  contending  factions,  and  to  secure  to 
himself  the  respect  and  gratitude  of  all.  The  imperfect  accounts 
of  these  times  which  remain  to  us,  do  not  allow  us  to  arrange 
the  order  of  his  proceedings  with  exactness  ;  but 
it  appears  that  he  at  first  attempted  merely  to  re- 
strain any  abuse  of  power  in  those  who  filled  the  stations  of 
judges,'^  by  making  them  responsible  for  their  verdicts,  and  liable 
to  be  tried,  if  there  were  any  grounds  for  accusing  them  of  cor- 
ruption. Three  of  the  most  eminent  individuals  of  the  eques- 
trian order,  amongst  whom  we  find  the  name  of  C.  Maecenas,  an 
ancestor  of  the  famous  minister  of  Augustus,  opposed  the  law 
of  Drusus  in  behalf  of  the  whole  body  to  which  they  belonged  ; 
and  their  arguments,  as  recorded  by  Cicero,'^  are  too  remarkable 
to  be  omitted.  They  insisted  that  the  Roman  knights,  in  declin- 
ing to  sue  for  those  offices  which  might  have  raised  them  to  the 
rank  of  senators,  had  deliberately  sacrificed  their  ambition  to 
their  love  of  security  ;  that  the  high  dignities  which  a  senator 
enjoyed,  were  fairly  compensated  by  his  greater  liability  to  have 
his  conduct  called  in  question ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
equestrian  order,  which  was  obliged  by  law  to  undertake  the 
office  of  judges,  ought  not  to  be  exposed  to  prosecution  for  the 
manner  in  which  they  discharged  it.  Strange  as  this  reasoning 
appears  to  us,  it  was  admitted  as  just  at  Rome  :  the  plebeians 
fully  sympathized  with  the  knights,  and  they  succeeded  in  rejecting 
the  proposed  law,  and  in  repelling  all  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of 
the  judges,  however  great  might  be  the  iniquity  of  their  decisions. 
Thus  baffled,  Drusus  had  recourse  to  a  stronger  measure,  and 
proposed  to  restore  the  law  of  Q,.  Servilius  Caepio,  by  which  the 
judicial  power  had  been  divided  between  the  senate  and  the 
equestrian  order.  By  a  curious  coincidence,  one  of  his  warmest 
opponents  was  a  son  of  the  very  man  in  whose  steps  he  was 
treading,  Q,.  Ca^pio.'"       Common  report  assigned  a  ridiculous 

'^  Auctor   de  Viris   illustribus,   in  M.         ^^  Pro  Cluentio,  .56. 
Druso.  '^  Cicero,  pro   Dome,  46.     Florus,  HL 

IS  Cicero,  pro  Rabir.  Posturao,  7  ;  pro     17. 
Cluentio,  56. 


OPPOSED  BY  Q.  C.EPIO  AND  L.  PHILIPPUS.  93 

cause  to  their  mutual  opposition,  by  traciuff  it  back,  opposed  by  a.  caepio 

,         r-  •  T  II-  1'    ^'"i  L.  Philippus,  but 

iti  the  first  uistance,  to  a  dispute  at  a  public  sale  are  mostly  carried. 
about  a  vahiable  gold  ring,  which  each  of  them  was  eager  to 
purchase.  Personal  motives  may  very  possibly  have  added  vir- 
ulence to  their  political  differences  ;  but  Q,.  Caspio,  as  a  member 
of  the  equestrian  order,  was  naturally  disposed  to  resist  the  mea- 
sures of  Drusus ;  and  the  same  vehemence  of  temper,  which  in- 
duced him,  on  a  former  occasion,  to  defy  the  power  of  the  tribune 
Saturninus,  would  lead  him  to  take  an  equally  prominent  part  on 
the  side  that  he  now  espoused.  The  proposed  law  met  with 
another  powerful  antagonist  in  the  consul  L.  Philippus.  He 
seems  to  have  been  actuated  by  a  settled  feeling  of  opposition  to 
the  aristocracy  ;  as  we  have  seen  him,  when  tribune,  eager  to 
bring  forward  an  agrarian  law  ;  and  now,  as  consul,  he  continu- 
ally, in  his  speeches  to  the  people,  inveighed  against  the  senate'* 
with  the  utmost  severity.  On  the  other  hand;  Drusus  pursued 
his  schemes  with  the  overbearing  violence  to  which  the  pride  of 
his  nature  prompted  him  ;  on  one  occasion,  he  threatened  Caepio,"^ 
that  he  would  order  him  to  be  thrown  from  the  Tarpeian  rock  ; 
at  another  time,  when  Philippus  was  speaking  against  him  in  the 
Forum,  he  caused  him  to  be  seized  and  dragged  to  prison  ;  and 
when,  from  the  tightness  with  which  the  officer  grappled  him,  the 
blood  burst  forth  from  his  nostrils,  Drusus  exclaimed,  in  allusion 
to  the  supposed  luxuriousness  of  his  manner  of  living,  "  that  it  was 
the  pickle  of  his  favourite  fish."  In  order  to  further  his  views,  he 
proposed  a  new  corn  law,  and  a  law  for  the  estal)lishment  of  sev- 
eral new  colonies,  to  conciliate  the  common  people  ;  and  to  win 
the  favour  of  the  Italian  allies,  he  renewed  the  hopes  formerly 
held  out  to  them  by  C.  Gracchus  and  M.  Fulvius  Flaccus,  of  ob- 
taining the  privileges  of  Roman  citizens.  The  senate  for  a  long 
time  cordially  supported  him  ;  and  this  circumstance  gave  occa- 
sion to  the  violent  speech  of  the  consul,  L.  Philippus,'^"  "  That  it 
was  impossible  for  the  republic  to  go  on  with  such  a  senate." 
But  at  length  their  zeal  in  his  cause  began  to  cool :  while  he 
professed  to  defend  their  dignity,  he  almost  pretended  to  act  as 
their  patron  ;  and  on  one  occasion,'^'  when  they  sent  for  him  into 
the  senate  house,  he  replied,  "  That  the  senate  should  rather  adjourn 
to  the  Curia  Hostilia,"  anciently  used  as  the  place  of  their  meet- 
ings, "  that  so  they  might  be  near  him  while  he  was  addressing 
the  people,  if  they  wanted  him."  It  is  said  that  the  senate  actu- 
ally complied  with  his  proposal;  but  such  an  instance  of  his 
pride  must  have  taught  it,  that  it  was  possible  to  buy  too  dearly 
its  deliverance  from  the  arbitrary  power  of  the  equestrian  order. 
Meanwhile  the  laws  of  Drusus  were  successively  carried  :  the 

■18  Cicero,  De  Oratore,  I.  7.  "^^  Cicero,  de  Oratore,  III.  1. 

*9  Auctor   de    Viris   illustribus,  in    M.         21  Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  .5. 
Dfuso. 


94  DRUSUS  IS  MURDERED,  AND  HIS  LAWS  REPEALED. 

judicial  power  was  to  be  divided  between  the  senate  and  the 
equestrian  order  ;  new  colonies  were  to  be  planted  ;  corn  was  to 
be  sold  at  the  rate  fixed  by  the  Sempronian  law ;  all  the  several 
parties  whom  Drusus  had  courted  had  received  the  benefits  which 
he  had  promised  them,  excepting  only  the  Italian  allies.  To  ad- 
mitting them  to  the  rights  of  citizenship,  all  orders  in  Rome  were 
equally  averse  ;  and  they  seemed  likely  to  meet  the  usual  fate  of 
strangers  who  interfere  in  domestic  quarrels,  and  whose  interests 
are  sacrificed  to  promote  the  reconciliation  of  the  contending 
parties.  But  finding  that  Drusns  was  unable  to  satisfy  their  ex- 
pectations, and  that  nothing  was  to  be  looked  for  from  the  freewill 
of  the  Romans,  they  prepared  to  apply  themselves  to  other  mea- 
sures. A  conspiracy  is  said  to  have  been  formed  by  the  Latins^'' 
to  assassinate  the  consul,  L.  Philippns,  whom  they  considered  as 
one  of  their  greatest  enemies,  while  he  was  performing  a  sacrifice 
on  the  Alban  Mount.  Drusus,  aware  of  their  design,  warned 
Phiiippus  to  provide  for  his  own  safety,  and  the  plan  was  thus 
frustrated ;  but  the  public  mind  throughout  Italy  was  in  the 
highest  state  of  agitation,  and  every  thing  seemed  to  presage  an 
impending  contest. 

It  was  attiws  time,  when  all  parties  were  united  in  their  in- 
vectives against  Drusus  as  the  author  of  these  dis- 

Drusus  is  murdered.        .       -,  ii      ^  j  i  i_  ^  • 

turbances,  that  one  day,  when  he  was  returnmg 
home  from  the  forum, ^^^  encircled  by  an  immense  crowd  of  his 
followers,  he  was  murdered  at  the  door  of  his  own  house  by  some 
unknown  assassin,  vvho  stabbed  him,  and  left  the  knife  sticking 
in  his  side.  He  was  carried  in  immediately,  and  soon  after  ex- 
pired ;  and  such  was  the  state  of  the  times,  that  no  inquiry  was 
made  to  find  out  the  murderer.  But  it  was  commonl)^  asserted 
that  Q,.  Varius  Hybrida,*^^  a  vehement  enemy  of  the  senate,  was 
the  perpetrator  of  the  crime. 

After  the  death  of  Drusus,  the  general  feeling  ran  so  strongly 
And  his  laws  against  his  measures,  from  the  sense  entertained  of 

repealed.  }jjg  criminal  rashness  in  encouraging  the  claims  of 

the  Italian  allies,  that  the  senate  nov/  concurred  with  the  consul 
Phiiippus  in  declaring  all  his  laws  invalid  ;^^  grounding  this  de- 
cision on  the  authority  of  the  consul,  who  v\^as  also  one  of  the 
augurs,  and  who  alleged  that  they  had  been  passed  without  due 
attention  to  the  forms  of  religion  in  observing  the  auspices.  It  is 
remarkable,  that  the  law  for  the  regulation  of  the  judicial  power, 
which  the  senate  had  so  strong  an  interest  in  maintaining,  was 
notwithstanding  annulled,  together  with  the  rest ;  as  if  the  aris- 
tocracy had  not  dared  to  retain  any  benefit  from  the  support  of  a 

22  Auctor   de   Viris   illustribu^,   in    M.         24  Cirero,  de  Natura  Deorum,  III.  33. 
Druso.  ^^  Cicero,  de  Legihus,  11.  6.  19. 

23  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  14.     Cicero, 
pro  Milone,  7. 


CONFEDERACY  AND  REVOLT  OF  THE  ITALIAN  ALLIES.  95 

man  who  was  now  considered  as  an  enemy  to  his  country  by  all 
parties  equally. 

The  allies,  however,  had  not  yet  broken  out  into  open  hostili- 
ties when  the  new  consuls,  L.  Julius  Caesar  and  P. 
Rutilius  Rufus,  entered  upon  their  office.  In  the 
mean  time  the  equestrian  order  having  thus  successfully  repelled 
the  attack  made  against  it,  resolved  to  follow  up  its  victory,  and 
to  terrify  its  enemies  by  an  unsparing  exercise  of  that  judicial 
power  of  which  it  had  been  vainly  attempted  to  deprive  it.  A 
law  was  proposed  and  carried  by  Q,.  Varius  Hybrida,*^^  the  reputed 
assassin  of  Drusus,  and  now  one  of  the  tribunes  of  the  people, 
that  an  inquiry  should  be  set  on  foot  in  order  to  discover  what 
persons  had  given  encouragement  to  the  pretensions  of  the  Ital- 
ians, and  that  all  who  had  done  so  should  be  held  guilty  of  a 
treasonable  offence.  This  was  a  favourite  method  of  annoying 
the  nobility  ;  and  we  have  seen  it  practised  already  with  success 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war  with  Jugurtha.  The  knights  prom- 
ised themselves  the  same  results  from  it  on  the  present  occasion. 
Accusations  were  brought  against  M.  iEmilius  Scaurus,^'  the 
first  on  the  roll  of  the  senate  ;  against  M.  Antonius,^^  the  famous 
orator  ;  against  C.  Cotta,^^  Q,.  Pompeius,  L.  Memmius,  and  seve- 
ral others  of  the  senators.  But  the  majority  of  those  whom  we 
have  named  obtained  their  acquittal  ;  and  the  whole  proceeding 
had  little  other  elfect  than  that  of  exasperating  the  Italians  still 
further,  when  they  saw  that  to  have  shown  any  encouragement 
to  their  petitions,  was  considered  at  Rome  as  a  crime.  Accord- 
ingly, the  different  cities  of  Italy^"  entered  into  a  secret  league 
with  each  other,  and  began  to  make  an  interchange  confederacy  among 
of  hostages.  Their  intrigues  were  first  discovered  the  uaiian  states. 
at  Asculum,  a  town  of  Picenum  ;  and  Q.  Servilius,  with  procon- 
sular authority,  was  sent  thither  to  punish  the  offenders.  But  not 
being  supported  by  a  sufficient  military  force,  he  provoked  the 
inhabitants  to  proceed  at  once  to  open  violence  ;  and  they  accord- 
ingly massacred  him  and  his  lieutenant  Fonteius,^'  together 
with  all  the  other  Roman  citizens  who  happened  to  be  found  in 
Asculum.  Immediately  after  the  perpetration  of  pg^^it^jfthe  uaiian 
this  outrage,  the  Italians  with  one  consent  flew  to  ^"''^^■ 
arms:  the  Marsi,^^  the  Peligni,  the  Samnites,  the  Lucani,  the 
Vestini,  the  Marrucini,  the  Picentes,  the  Hirpini.  and  the  Japy- 
gians  ;  almost  every  nation  in  Italy,  except  the  Latins,  Tuscans, 
and  Unibrians,  took  part  in  the  confederacy.  They  fixed  upon 
Corfinium  as  their  seat  of  government,^'  giving  it   the  name  of 

28  Valerius  Maximus,  VIII.  6.    Appian,  3"  Appiati,  de  Bell.  Civili,  I.  38. 

de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  37.  ^'  Cicero,  pro  Fonteio,  14. 

2T  Cicero,  Fragm.  Orat.  pro  M.  Soauro.  ^2  Appian,  I.  39.     Livy,  Epit.  LXXII. 

28  Cicero,  Tuscul.  Dispui.  II.  24.  ^  Diodorus  Siculus,  Eclog.  XXXVIl. 

29  Cicero,  de  Claris  Orator.  56.  89. 


96  ANCIENT  SYSTEM  OF  ALLIANCE  BETWEEN 

Italicum  ;  and  there  a  senate  was  formed  ont  of  the  principal  in- 
dividuals in  the  several  states  ;  and  two  officers  were  elected  with 
the  title  of  consuls,  to  conduct  the  operations  of  the  war;  each, 
in  imitation  of  the  practice  of  the  Romans,  having  one-half  of 
Italy  assigned  him  as  his  province,  and  six  generals,  with  the 
title  of  lieutenants,  to  act  under  his  command.  A  deputation 
was  sent  to  the  Roman  senate,  representing  the  reasonable  claims 
of  the  Italians  to  enjoy  their  share  of  the  privileges  of  a  city, 
whose  greatness  was  in  so  large  a  proportion  the  work  of  their 
own  courage  and  fidelity ;  but  an  answer  was  returned  with  the 
usual  spirit  of  the  Romans,  that  no  proposals  would  be  received 
until  the  Italians  should  express  contrition  for  their  rebellion,  and 
return  to  their  obedience.  Thus  an  end  was  put  to  all  negotia- 
tion, and  the  war  was  commenced  on  both  sides  with  the  utmost 
vigour  and  animosity. 

That  the  reader  may  more  fully  understand  the  nature  of  this 
Of  the  nature  of  quarrcl,  aud  of  the  connexion  which  subsisted  be- 
ofliiianIfe"betw'e'e™  twccu  Rouic  and  tlic  ditfcrcut  nations  of  Italy,  it 
tvefker"fowe'J"''  °'  will  bc  propcr  to  refer  to  the  history  of  an  earlier 
period,  and  to  notice  that  system  of  alliances  between  the  stronger 
and  weaker  powers  which  is  one  of  the  most  peculiar  points  in 
the  political  relations  of  antiquity. 

Nothing  can  be  imagined  more  miserable  than  the  condition 
of  the  weaker  states,  in  those  ages  of  barbarism  which  subsisted 
both  in  Greece  and  Italy  long  after  the  establishment  of  political 
societies  or  commonwealths.  That  superior  power  conferred  a 
right  of  dominion,  and  that  foreigners  might  be  freely  plundered, 
unless  protected  by  some  particular  treaty,  were  two  principles 
generally  acted  upon,  and  which  exposed  all  small  communities 
to  the  double  evils  of  oppression  from  their  neighbours,  and  of 
kidnapping  and  robbery  from  any  one  who  had  the  means  of  oc- 
casionally reaching  them.  Their  only  resource  was  to  form  a 
connexion  with  some  nation  strong  enough  to  defend  them,  and 
the  protection  of  which  they  purchased  by  binding  themselves  to 
serve  it  faithfully  in  all  its  wars  ;  or,  in  other  words,  by  surren- 
dering their  national  independence.  Unhappily  the  system  of 
Reasons  why  alliance  govemmeut  wluch  prcvailcd  in  those  times  led 
^mpiete'i^n^on. '"  "  thcm  to  prcscrvc  their  municipal  independence, 
and  substituted  the  connexion  of  alliance  for  that  of  union  under 
the  same  executive  and  legislative  power.  The  origin  of  most  of 
the  cities  of  Greece  and  Italy  resemibled  that  of  the  European 
settlements  in  America  ;  they  were  the  colonies  of  a  more  civil- 
ized people  seating  themselves  in  the  country  of  barbarians  ;  and 
thus  instead  of  freely  naturalizing  themselves  and  spreading  over 
the  face  of  the  land,  they  advanced  timidly  and  slowly  beyond 
the  walls  of  their  first  fortified  habitation,  and  were  accustomed 
to  contract  their  feelings  of  patriotism  within  the  limits  of  a  single 


A  STRONGER  AND  A  WEAKER  POWER. 


97 


city.  The  spirit  of  a  town  is  naturally  somewhat  republican  ; 
men  are  thrown  more  completely  together,  they  live  in  sight  of 
one  another,  and  all  are  readily  summoned  together  to  consider 
on  any  thing  that  may  affect  the  common  interest.  Thus  the 
principle  of  representation  does  not  suggest  itself  to  their  minds  ; 
where  all  can  meet  to  consult  for  themselves,  they  are  not  likely 
to  intrust  others  with  thepower  of  acting  for  them.  In  this  man- 
ner it  came  to  be  considered  as  an  axiom  amongst  the  political 
writers  of  antiquity,  that  where  any  portion  of  liberty  was  en- 
joyed, there  some  points  at  least  must  be  subject  to  the  decision 
of  the  collective  body  of  the  people  ;  and  even  where  property  was 
made  a  qualification,  and  the  poorest  citizens  were  excluded  from 
the  public  assemblies,  still  those  who  had  a  voice  in  the  common- 
wealth always  exercised  it  in  their  own  persons  collectively,  and 
not  through  the  medium  of  representatives  ;  and  thus  the  national 
council,  if  so  it  might  be  called,  was  always  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  whole  population,  and  formed  too  large  a  body  to  be 
contained  within  the  walls  of  a  single  building.  This  circum- 
stance rendered  it  impossible  for  the  dependent  allies  of  a  state  to 
become  incorporated  with  it ;  the  inhabitants  of  many  towns 
could  not  habitually  meet  together  in  one  common  assembly  ;  and 
the  citizens  of  the  capital,  or  seat  of  government,  would  then  in 
effect  hold  in  their  hands  an  absolute  sovereignty  over  all  the  rest 
of  the  nation.  Whereas,  by  retaining  a  municipal  independence, 
the  allied  cities  still  enjoyed  an  entire  freedom  in  their  internal 
government,  lived  under  iheir  own  laws,  held  in  their  own  hands 
the  administration  of  justice,  and  confined  to  themselves  all  offices 
of  civil  honour  and  emolument.  But  at  the  same  time  their  in- 
terests were  thus  kept  distinct  from  those  of  their  protecting  ally, 
they  were  regarded  always  as  subjects  and  not  as  fellow-citizens, 
and  were  liable  to  have  their  property  taxed,  their  trade  shackled, 
and  their  people  called  to  serve  as  soldiers,  whenever  it  suited  the 
policy  or  pleasure  of  the  sovereign  state. 

The  invaluable  histories  of  Thucydides  and  Xenophon  afford 
a  complete  picture  of  these  alliances  among  the    causes  which  placed 

^^         ,  1    -i   •       ^  J.^  ii      1  i    1       •  the   Romans  at   the 

Greeks;  and  it  is  from  these  that  we  must  derive  )iead  of  an  alliance. 
our  knowledge  of  the  same  system,  as  it  was  practised  in  Italy. 
We  find  that  Rome,^^  so  early  as  the  first  year  of  the  common- 
wealth, was  strong  enough  to  act  as  the  protecting  ally  of  several 
small  adjacent  cities,  among  which  Ardea,  Antium,  Laurentum, 
Circeii,  and  Tarracina,  are  particularly  mentioned.  They  were 
thus  secured  against  the  descents  which  the  Carthaginians  often 
made  on  the  coasts  of  Italy,  for  the  purposes  of  plunder,  and  espe- 
cially of  carrying  off  the  inhabitants  as  slaves;  for  Rome  being 
of  importance  enough  to  treat  with  Carthage,  stipulated  that  all 

3-1  Polybius,  III.  23. 


98  THE  ALLIES  WISH  TO  OBTAIN  ROMAN  CITIZENSHIP. 

her  own  dependent  allies  should  le  secured  from  molestation: 
but  with  regard  to  all  the  other  cities  of  Latium,  it  was  provided, 
that  if  the  Carthaginians  took  any  of  them,  they  might  carry  off 
the  people  and  the  moveable  property,  but  might  not  convert  the 
towns  into  establishments  or  garrisons  for  themselves.  Thus 
they  were  allowed  to  plunder  all  who  did  not  put  themselves 
under  the  protection  of  Rome  :  and  this  permission  was  doubtless 
intended  to  exalt  the  benefits  of  the  Roman  alliance  in  the  estima- 
Their  authority  over  tioH  of  the  neighbouring  states.  In  process  of  lime 
theiraiiiesji.inwar.  ^j^g  Romaus  fouud  mcaus  to  includc  all  the  nations 
of  Italy  in  the  number  of  their  allies,  and  thus  to  place  all  the 
military  force  of  the  peninsula  at  their  own  disposal.  They  ac- 
tually were  preparing  to  call  it  into  action  when  the  Gauls  invad- 
ed Italy  between  the  first  and  second  Punic  wars,  and  caused 
returns  to  be  made  to  them  of  the  whole  number  of  citizens  able 
to  bear  arms  in  the  several  states  of  their  confederacy.^^  j,^  every 
war,  the  troops  of  the  Italian  allies  formed  one-half  of  the  Roman 
army  :  they  were  levied  by  orders  from  the  consuls,^^  who  named 
the  states  from  which  the  contingents  were  to  be  drawn,  the 
number  of  them  to  be  raised,  and  the  time  and  place  at  which 
they  were  to  be  ready  to  put  themselves  under  the  command  of 
the  Roman  generals.  They  had  oflicers  of  their  own,^'  and  their 
own  paymasters,  but  these  were  entirely  subordinate  to  generals 
appointed  by  the  Romans  to  command  them,  with  the  title  of 
prefects  of  the  allies.  The  prefects  had  the  power  of  punishing 
by  fine  or  by  flogging ;  and  the  consuls,  as  appears  from  a  pas- 
sage in  Sallust,  to  which  we  referred  on  a  former  occasion,  might 
even  condemn  any  of  the  soldiers  of  the  allies  to  death. ^^  It  is 
2.  In  peace.  morc  difficult  to  State  exactly  what  was  the  power 

of  Rome  over  the  Italian  nations  in  time  of  peace.  Generally 
speaking,  the  Roman  laws  were  not  binding  on  the  allies,  unless 
they  themselves  chose  to  adopt  them  ]^^  but  a  large  reservation 
was  made  of  all  such  things  as  the  Romans  held  to  concern  their 
dignity  or  prerogative,  and  in  all  these  their  decisions  were  of 
paramount  authority  to  any  municipal  laws  of  their  allies.  For  ex- 
ample, it  was  held  that  the  senate  or  people  of  Rome,  or  that  any 
of  their  generals,  might  confer  the  freedom  of  Rome  on  any  meri- 
torious individuals  in  the  allied  states,^"  although  it  seems  that 
the  Italians  viewed  the  exercise  of  this  power  with  some  jealousy, 
probably  because  they  thought  that  it  gave  the  Romans  too  great 
The  allies  are  anxious  ^1^  influeuce  amoug  tlicm.  But  with  whatever 
i?-efof'Roman''ciu-  rcluctauce  they  might  see  the  rights  of  Roman 
^^"=*'''p-  citizenship  conferred  on  individuals  amongst  them 

by  the  patronage  of  Roman  magistrates,  the  allies  had  long  en- 

35  Polybius,  II.  23,24.  ^  Sallust,  Bell.  Jugurth.  69. 

36  Polybius,  VL  21.  39  Cicero,  pro  Cornelio  Balbo,  8. 

37  Polybius,  VI.  21.  26.  34.  ■»"  Cicero,  pro  Cornelio  Balbo,  9. 


THE  ALLIES  WISH  TO  OBTAIN  ROMAN  CITIZENSHIP.  99 

tertained  a  wish  to  share  universally  in  these  rights,  and  to  find 
the  road  open  before  thenri  to  the  command  of  armies,  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  provinces,  to  a  participation,  in  short,  in  all  the 
dignities  and  emoluments  so  largely  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  of 
Rome.  The  Latins,  or  at  least  some  states  among  them,  possessed 
indeed  the  right  of  voting  in  the  Roman  assemblies  ;  but  it  ap- 
pears that  they  were  all  comprehended  in  one  of  the  Roman 
tribes,^'  and  could  influence  consequently  no  more  than  a  thirty- 
fifth  part  of  the  whole  number  of  voters  ;  so  that  there  was  little 
inducement  for  them  as  a  body  to  interest  themselves  in  the  busi- 
ness of  the  forum.  The  rest  of  the  Italians  did  not  enjoy  even 
so  much  political  consequence  as  this  ;  and  both  were  alike  inca- 
pable of  being  elected  to  any  magistracy  at  Rome,  or  to  any  mili- 
tary command  in  the  provinces.  It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that 
they  bore  with  impatience  such  a  state  of  exclusion :  and  a 
modern  reader  may  be  surprised  that  their  efforts  were  directed 
towards  obtaining  a  closer  union  with  Rome,  rather  than  towards 
asserting  their  complete  independence  ;  and  he  may  think  it 
strange  also,  that  the  Romans  should  have  risked  the  very  exist- 
ence of  their  commonwealth,  rather  than  adopt  a  measure  which 
promised  to  strengthen  it  by  the  accession  of  so  large  a  number 
of  citizens,  whose  interests  would  from  henceforth  have  been 
identified  with  that  of  Rome.  But  the  allies  on  their  part  consid- 
ered, that  if  they  became  independent,  they  v/ould  lose  the  fruits 
of  all  those  conquests  which  they  had  so  largely  helped  the  Ro- 
mans to  acquire.  Instead  of  being  a  sovereign  nation,  exempted 
from  taxes,  and  deriving  a  large  accession  of  wealth  every  year 
from  its  subject  provinces,  they  would  have  relapsed  into  the  con- 
dition of  poor  and  petty  republics,  none  of  v/hich  had  any  claim 
to  become  a  centre  of  union  to  the  rest,  while  their  separate 
strength  would  have  been  utterly  incompetent  to  withstand  the 
power  of  Rome,  by  which,  long  before  it  had  reached  its  present 
eminence,  they  had  already  been  successively  overwhelmed.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  pride  of  the  Romans  induced  them  to  revolt  at 
the  notion  of  raising  their  inferiors  to  the  rank  of  their  equals. 
The  senate  besides,  by  admitting  so  many  new  competitors,  di- 
minished each  individual  senator's  prospects  of  obtaining  honours 
and  emoluments  :  the  equestrian  order  dreaded,  lest  their  exclu- 
sive possession  of  the  judicial  power  should  be  invaded,  or  their 
profits,  as  farmers  of  the  taxes,  wrested  from  them  by  the  competi- 
tion of  some  of  the  wealthy  Italians  ;  whilst  the  bulk  of  the  people 
were  unwilling  to  lessen  the  value  of  their  votes  in  the  public  as- 
sembly by  extending  the  right  of  suffrage  so  largely.  All  parties 
in  the  commonwealth,  trusting  to  the  well-known  discipline  of 
the  Roman  armies,  to  the  superior  experience  of  their  generals, 

"  Livy.  XXV.  3. 


1  00  ITALIAN  WAR— FIRST  CAMPAIGN. 

and  to  the  usual  dissensions  and  weaknesses  of  confederacies,  re- 
solved to  hazard  the  issue  of  a  war,  not  without  the  hope,  perliaps, 
of  establishing  their  power  over  their  allies  on  a  firmer  basis,  and 
silencing  for  ever  all  their  claims  to  a  participation  in  tbe  rights 
of  Roman  citizenship. 

Accordingly,  the  two  consuls,  L.  Julius  Caesar  and  P.  RutiHus 
The  Italian  war.  First  Rufus,  took  the  field,  having  under  them  as  their 
campaign.  lieutcnants,  all  the  officers  of  the  highest  reputation 

m  the  commonwealth.^*^  Under  Rutihus  were  employed  C. 
Marius,  who  seems  to  have  rested  in  inactivity  since  the  sedition 
of  Saturninus ;  Cn.  Pompeius,  the  father  of  Pompey  the  Great ; 
Q,.  Servilius  Capio,  who  had  made  himself  conspicuous  by  his 
opposition  to  M.  Drusus,  during  his  late  tribuneship  ;  C.  Perpenna 
and  Valerius  Messala.  Under  L.  Caesar,  were  Licinius  Crassus, 
P.  Lentulus,  Titus  Didius,  and  L.  Sylla.  These  several  officers 
acted  in  their  different  quarters  against  the  generals  of  the  con- 
federate Italians  ;  but  as  we  have  no  account  of  the  war  written 
by  a  contemporary,  or  by  a  military  historian,  we  know  not  what 
were  the  plans  for  the  compaign  on  either  side  ;  and  the  reports 
which  we  possess,  contain  little  more  than  an  unconnected  list  of 
battles  and  sieges,  devoid  alike  of  information  and  of  interest.  It 
is  mentioned  that  the  consul,  L.  Ca3sar,^^  was  joined  by  an  aux- 
iliary force  of  Gauls  and  Numidians  ;  but  that  the  latter  were  ren- 
dered useless  to  him,  by  an  able  expedient  of  the  Italian 
commander,  C.  Papius.  Oxyntas,  a  son  of  the  famous  Jugurtha, 
had  been  detained  a  prisoner  in  Italy  since  the  death  of  his  father, 
and  now  falling  into  the  hands  of  Papius,  was  by  him  invested 
with  the  ensigns  of  royalty,  and  studiously  presented  to  the  sight 
of  his  countrymen  in  the  consul's  army.  Numbers  of  them  im- 
mediately deserted  to  him,  looking  upon  him  as  their  king  ;  and 
L.  Caesar,  suspicious  of  those  who  remained,  was  obliged  to  send 
them  back  into  Africa. 

In  the  first  year  of  the  war,  the  Romans"  met  with  some  se- 
vere losses  :  the  consul,  P.  Rutilius,  and  Q,.  Caepio,  one  of  his 
lieutenants,  were,  on  separate  occasions,  defeated  and  slain.  L. 
Postumius,  one  of  the  praetors,  was  killed  at  Nola  ;  and  that  town, 
which  had  been  so  faithful  to  Rome  in  the  second  Punic  war, 
now  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Samnites.  Several  other  cities 
were  either  taken  by  the  Italians,  or  were  encouraged  to  join  their 
cause  of  their  own  accord  ;  and  towards  the  close  of  the  year,  the 
Umbri  and  the  Tuscans  showed  evident  signs  of  their  intention 
to  follow  the  general  example.  This  last  danger  seemed  so 
alarming,  that  the  Romans  were  driven  to  avert  it  by  concession ; 
and  they  passed  a  law,  admitting  all  the  Italians  who  had  continued 

<2  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  40.  "  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  43,44.    Livy, 

"  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  42.  Epitom.  LXXIII. 


SECOND  CAMPAIGN.  j'()v 

faithful  to  Rome,  to  the  rights  of  citizenship.^^  This  fixed  the 
Latins  to  their  cause,  and  stopped  the  Tuscans  from  revolting  as 
they  had  meditated;  the  Umbri,  however,  probably  not  being 
aware  of  it  in  time,  actually  joined  the  confederates.  Yet,  al- 
though Rome  had  thus  been  obliged%o  concede  in  some  measure, 
her  strength  in  the  field  had  been  too  resolutely  and  successfully 
exerted,  to  allow  the  enemy  to  calculate  on  the  speedy  attainment 
of  his  object  by  force  of  arms.  Sylla  and  Marius  had  obtained  a 
great  victory  over  the  Marsi  ;^^  L.  Caesar  had  defeated  the  Sam- 
nites  ;  and  Cn.  Pompeius,  having  obtained  some  advantage  over 
the  Picentes,  was  enabled  to  lay  siege  to  Asculum.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Romans  were  so  pressed  for  want  of  soldiers,  that  they 
enlisted  even  freed  men  into  the  legions  ;^^  and  as  their  victories 
had  been  fully  counterbalanced  by  defeats,  it  became  evident  that 
concessions  must  be  made  ;  and  the  difficulty  consisted  in  disarm- 
ing the  resentment  of  the  enemy  without  seeming  to  be  actuated 
by  fear,  to  yield  the  point  in  dispute  without  sacrificing  the  na- 
tional honour. 

The  military  events  of  the  next  campaign  tended,  however, 
in  a  great  degree,  to  preserve  the  reputation  of  the  second  campaign 
Romans,  and  enabled  them  to  extricate  themselves  ^  ^  "^  ^" 
without  degradation  from  this  alarming  war.  L.  Porcius  Cato, 
and  Cn.  Pompeius  Strabo,  were  chosen  consuls  ;  and  the  latter 
brought  the  siege  of  Asculum  to  a  triumphant  issue,''^  an  event 
which  was  peculiarly  welcome  to  the  Romans,  as  that  town  had 
set  the  first  example  of  revolt,  and  had  accompanied  it  with  the 
massacre  of  two  Roman  officers,  and  a  number  of  Roman  citizens. 
Cn.  Pompeius  gained  also  a  victory  over  the  Marsi,  and  reduced 
that  people,  together  with  the  Vestini,  Peligni,  and  Marrucini,  to 
make  a  separate  peace.  Possibly,  some  intimation  was  given 
them,  that  the  object  for  which  they  were  contending  would  be 
granted  them  on  their  submission ;  for  we  find  that  the  states 
which  first  withdrew  from  the  confederacy,  were  rewarded  by  re- 
ceiving the  right  of  citizenship  immediately.  The  seat  of  gov- 
ernment of  the  Itahans  was  now  removed  from  Corfinium  to 
^sernia,^'  in  the  country  of  the  Samnites ;  that  bold  people  re- 
solving to  continue  the  struggle  as  obstinately  as  their  ancestors 
had  done  in  the  days  of  Pontius  and  Papirius  Cursor.  But  they 
had  to  contend  with  one  of  the  most  formidable  of  the  Roman 
generals,  in  the  person  of  Sylla,  whose  exploits  in  this  second 
campaign  had  raised  him  to  the  highest  distinction.  The 
forces  under  his  command  were  increased  early  in  the  season,^" 

«  Appian,  49.  is  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXV.  LXXVI. 

«  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil  I.  46.  Livy,         «  Diodorus  Siculus,  Eclog.  XXXVII. 
Epitome,  LXXIII.  LXXIV.  so  Livy,   Epitome,  LXXV.      Plutarch. 

"  Appian,  de   Bell.    Civil.  49.  Livy,     in  Sylla,  6. 
Epitome,  LXXIV. 


j(jl2  ..      E:iD  OF  THE  ITALIAN  WAR. 

by  a  mutiny  whicli  took  place  among  the  troops  of  A.  Postumius 
Albiims,  another  of  the  consul's  lieutenants.  That  officer,  being 
suspected  of  treason,  was  murdered  by  his  own  soldiers,  who  then 
joined  themselves  to  the  army  of  Sylla ;  nor  did  he  scruple  to 
receive  them,  but  observed*  "  that  they  would  only  fight  the 
better,  in  order  to  atone  for  their  crime."  Thus  strengthened,  he 
took  and  destroyed  the  town  of  Stabise,'''  in  Campania,  defeated 
a  large  army  with  immense  loss  near  Nola,  reduced  the  Hirpini  to 
subjection,  and  then,  invading  Samnium,  defeated  the  Samnite  gea- 
eral,  Papius  Mutilius,  with  severe  loss  in  the  field,  drove  him  into 
iEsconia,  and  attacked  and  took  the  town  of  Bovianum.  These 
successes  encouraged  him  to  offer  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the 
consulship  ;  for  wtiich  purpose,  towards  the  end  of  the  campaign, 
he  returned  to  Rome. 

A  circumstance,  which  is  mentioned  by  Diodorus  Siculus,^^ 
Mithridate.  refuses  to  scrvcd,  iu  all  probability,  as  a  powerful  inducement 
assist  the  Italians.  ^q  ^j^g  Romaus,  to  16  Ward  the  submission  of  the 
Italians  as  early  as  possible  with  the  privileges  which  they  so 
earnestly  desired.  It  appears  that  the  confederates  had  applied 
for  aid  to  Mithridates,  king  of  Pontus,  whose  power  and  ambition 
were  now  disposing  him  to  enter  into  a  contest  with  the  Romans. 
Either  his  pride,  or  his  want  of  sufficient  information,  dictated  to 
him  his  most  ill-judged  answer,  and  led  him  to  commit  a  fault  in 
policy,  which  the  ability  and  vigour  of  all  his  afterlife  could  never 
repair.  He  told  the  Italians,  that  he  would  lead  his  armies  into 
Italy  as  soon  as  he  had  secured  the  dominion  of  Asia  Minor,  But 
the  fortune  of  his  intended  allies  could  brook  no  delay ;  and  a 
bare  suspicion  of  so  formidable  an  accession  to  their  enemy's 
force,  would  dispose  the  Romans  to  hasten  their  measures  of  con- 
EndoftheitaUan  clUation,  Accordiugly,  the  Italian  war  vanishes 
«"*'•  almost  instantaneously  from  our  notice  ;  one  state 

after  another  submitted,  and  received  in  return  the  gift  of  Roman 
citizenship  ;  and  after  the  close  of  the  second  year  of  the  contest, 
we  only  find  some  faint  sparks  remaining  of  the  vast  conllagration 
which  had  so  lately  involved  all  Italy.  Nola  still  refused  to  yield  f^ 
and  the  relics  of  the  Samnites  and  Lucanians  were  yet  in  arms, 
either  in  their  own  country,  or  in  the  extremity  of  Bruttium,  al- 
most in  the  same  quarter  where  Hannibal  had  so  long  maintained 
himself  under  circumstances  nearly  similar. 

The  war  which  we  now  have  been  recording,  was  undertaken 
Its  connexion  with  for  a  definite  and  intelligible  object,  and  naturally 
shouTbTobserved^  cudcd  wlicu  that  objcct  was  attained.  But  as  it 
had  sprung  out  of  the  internal  dissensions  of  Rome,  so  it  was  lost 
in  them  again ;  and  the  different  interests  which  had  been  en- 

5>  Pliny,  Historia  Natural.  III.  5.     Ap-        ^3  Velleius  Paterculua,  II.  17.     Diodo- 
pian,  I  50,  51.  ru3  Siculus,  Eclog.  XXXVII. 

«  Eclog.  XXXVII. 


CONSULSHIP  OF  SYLLA  AND  POMPEIUS.  103 

gaged  in  it,  although  no  longer  the  leading  points  in  the  civil 
wars  that  followed,  yet  became  easily  connected  with  the  respec- 
tive parties,  and  served  to  prolong  and  exasperate  their  quarrel. 
It  is  here  that  we  again  deeply  feel  the  want  of  a  contemporary, 
or  a  sensible  historian,  to  guide  our  researches.  Reduced  to  con- 
nect, as  well  as  we  can,  the  facts  incidentally  mentioned  by  the 
writers  whom  we  are  obliged  to  follow,  and  forced  to  supply,  often 
by  conjectures,  the  chasms  in  their  most  unsatisfactory  narratives, 
we  can  only  hope  at  best  to  present  our  readers  with  an  imperfect 
picture,  and  may  be  forgiven  if  it  be  in  some  respects  even  an 
erroneous  one.  The  name  of  Marius  has  scarcely  occurred  to 
our  notice  in  the  second  campaign  of  the  Italian  war  ;  whereas 
the  services  of  Sylla  were  most  eminent.  We  have  seen  that 
Sylla  went  to  Rome  to  stand  for  the  consulship,  and  sy„j,  ^  candidate  for 
the  prospect  of  his  attaining  that  dignity  was  most  "le  consulship. 
galling  to  the  jealousy  of  Marius;  especially  as  a  war  with 
Mithridates  now  appeared  certain,  and  if  a  general  of  Sylla's 
reputation  filled  the  office  of  consul,  his  claims  to  the  command 
of  the  army  employed  in  the  contest  would  prevail  over  all  others. 
C  Julius  Caesar,  and  Q,.  Pompeius,  were  the  two  consulship  of  L.syiia 
other  candidates;  the  former  of  whom  could  not  a" u. a eS!"''"^' 
legally  offer  himself,'^  as  he  had  never  gone  through  the  previous 
office  of  praetor,  and  on  this  account  his  election  was  vigorously 
opposed  by  P.  Antistius  and  P.  Sulpicius,  tribunes  of  the  people. 
Sulpicius  was  one  of  the  ablest  orators  of  his  time,^^  and  had 
lived  in  habits  of  familiarity  with  L.  Crassus,  with  M.  Antonius, 
and  particularly  with  the  late  tribune,  M.  Drusus.  He  is  intro- 
duced by  Cicero  as  one  of  the  speakers  in  the  dialogue  "  de  Ora- 
tore,"  and  is  said  to  have  been  regarded  by  the  elder  part  of  the 
nobility,  as  a  man  likely  to  be  one  of  the  best  supporters  of  the 
aristocratical  cause.  One  of  his  first  public  acts  was  the  accusa- 
tion of  C.  Norbanus,5s  fQp  ^  riot  and  sedition  in  his  tribuneship, 
and  this  was  considered  as  a  favourable  omen  of  his  future  at- 
tachment to  the  laws  and  to  good  order.  His  opposition  to  the  illegal 
pretensions  of  C.  Caesar  gained  him  great  popularity,^^  without 
any  prejudice  to  his  character  in  the  opinions  of  the  nobility ;  but 
it  appears  that  the  favour  with  the  multitude,  which  he  had  thus 
honourably  gained,  accompanied,  perhaps,  with  an  excessive  con- 
fidence in  his  own  talents  as  a  speaker,  excited  in  his  mind  a 
fatal  ambition,  and  led  him  to  tread  in  the  steps  of  the  Gracchi,  of 
Saturninus,  and  of  his  friend  Drusus,  in  assuming  Rise,  character,  and 
the  character  of  a  popular  tribune.  Other  circum-  tab^e  sifipidua.  ^ 
stances  may  have  contributed  also  to  the  same  effect :  he  had  a 
violent  personal  quarrel  with  Q,.  Pompeius,^^  who,  together  with 

54  Cicero,  de  Claris  Oratoribus,  62.  56  Cicero,  de  Oratore,  II.  21.  48. 

55  Cicero,  de   Claris  Oratoribus,  49.  55.         57  Cicero,  de  Hauruspic.  Respons.  19- 
De  Oratore,  I.  7.  21.  53  Cicero,  de  Amicitia,  1. 


104  PROCEEDINGS  OP  THE  TRIBUNE  SULPICIUS. 

Sylla,  proved  the  successful  candidate  in  the  consular  election  ; 
and  he  had,  perhaps,  already  formed  that  connexion  with  Marius, 
which  his  subsequent  conduct  so  clearly  discovered.  The  measure 
which  he  principally  endeavoured  to  carry,  seems  to  have  been 
a  favourite  one  with  all  the  popular  leaders  since  the  days  of 
Tiberius  Gracchus  ;  and  Sulpicius,  in  the  course  of  his  intimacy 
with  Drusus,  probably  learned  to  regard  it  with  peculiar  attach- 
ment. This  was  an  unlimited  communication  of  the  right  of 
citizenship  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  Italy ;  a  project  essentially 
popular  in  its  principle,  as  it  tended  to  render  the  government  less 
exclusive  ;  and  which,  though  abhorred  by  the  aristocracy,  and 
viewed  with  jealousy  by  a  large  portion  of  the  people  at  large, 
possessed  notwithstanding  great  attractions  for  the  very  lowest 
class  of  citizens,^^  as  well  as  for  the  turbulent  and  enthusiastic 
of  all  classes  ;  for  not  only  was  it  recommended  by  being  of  a 
spirit  entirely  democratical,  but  it  was  obvious  that  the  indiscrim- 
inate admission  of  all  the  Italians  to  the  privilege  of  voting  at 
Rome,  would  greatly  lessen  the  influence  of  the  richer  class  of 
RoiTGfan  citizens,  and  by  rendering  the  assembly  of  the  people  so 
immoderately  numerous,  would  in  fact  reduce  it  to  little  better 
than  a  mere  mob,  the  ready  tool  of  an  eloquent  and  an  ambitious 
leader.  Nor  had  the  late  grant  of  citizenship  to  the  allies  entirely 
satisfied  their  wishes  ;  for  in  order  to  prevent  them  from  exercis- 
ing a  power  in  the  comitia  proportionate  to  their  numbers,  they 
had  been  all  admitted  into  eight  only  of  the  thirty-five  tribes  j^" 
and  as  all  questions  were  decided  by  a  majority  of  tribes,  and  not 
of  individual  votes,  their  weight  in  the  assembly  was  still  much 
less  than  they  thought  themselves  entitled  to  claim.  Accordingly, 
Sulpicius  now  professed  himself  the  advocate  of  their  complete 
equality  with  the  natives  of  Rome,  and  proposed  that  they  should 
be  admitted  into  all  the  tribes  without  distinction.  Finding  his 
project  resisted  by  the  aristocratical  party,  he  became  only  more 
violent  in  his  proceedings ;  he  knew  that  if  it  became  a  question 
of  physical  force,  his  partisans  were  likely  to  prevail,  provided 
only  that  he  could  give  them  organization  as  well  as  numbers,  to 
prevent  them  from  being  seized  with  a  panic  in  the  time  of  danger, 

59  The  history  of  the  Catholic  question  ferment  was  over,  they  have  not  liked  their 
in  our  own  times  will  greatly  illustrate  the  leaders  the  less  for  continuing  to  be  its  ad- 
account  given  in  the  text.  The  cause  of  vocates.  Thus  Drusus  may  be  said  to  have 
the  Catholics  has  been  espoused  by  the  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  something  like  the  out- 
popular  party,  because  the  principle  of  cry  of  "  No  Popery  ;"  yet  Sulpicius,  only 
abolishing  laws  of  exclusion,  and  render-  two  years  afterwards,  could  tread  in  his 
ing  all  men  equally  eligible  to  a  share  in  steps,  not  only  without  forfeiting  the  affec- 
the  government,  is  in  itself  a  popular  one.  tions  of  the  people,  but  as  if  the  side  of 
Yet  considerations  of  danger  or  loss  to  the  question  which  he  espoused  were  the 
themselves  from  the  consequences  of  the  one  which  a  popular  leader  would  naturally 
measure,   have  often  strongly  influenced  adopt. 

the  multitude  to  oppose  it,  and  to  inveigh  6"  Velleius  Faterculus,  II.  20. 
against  its  supporters  ;  although,  after  the 


THE  COMMAND  OF  THE  ARMY  TRANSFERRED.  JQS 

and  leaving  him  personally  exposed  to  the  fate  of  the  Gracchi 
and  of  Satnrniniis.  He  prepared,  therefore,  a  body  of  three  thou- 
sand gladiators,^ '  whom  he  kept  always  about  him  ;  and  he  is  said, 
besides,  to  have  been  attended  by  six  hundred  young  men  of  the 
equestrian  order,  whom  he  called  his  anti-senate.  While  we  start 
at  such  a  systematic  defiance  of  the  forms  of  a  regular  govern- 
ment, we  should  remember  that  acts  of  outrage  and  violence  were 
not  confined  to  the  popular  party  ;  for  only  two  years  before  this 
time,  a  riot  had  been  excited  by  a  class  of  men  necessarily  re- 
moved far  above  the  mere  rabble,^ ^  those  who  had  large  debts  due 
to  them  ;  who  had  assaulted  and  murdered  A.  Sempronius  Asellio, 
one  of  the  prastors,  in  open  day,  because,  in  his  judicial  capacity, 
he  had  issued  some  decrees  for  the  protection  of  insolvent  debtors. 
In  the  meantime,  news  arrived  that  Mithridates  had  actually 
attacked  and  overrun  the  Roman  dominions  in  Asia  Minor.  War 
was,  therefore,  declared  against  him  at  Rome  ;  and  Asia  and  Italy 
being  named  as  the  provinces  of  the  consuls,  the  latter  fell  to  the 
lot  of  Q.  Pompeius,''^  and  the  former  to  that  of  Sylla.  The  army 
which  Sylla  was  to  command,  was  at  this  time  employed  near 
Nola,  as  that  city  still  refused  to  submit  to  the  Romans ;  but  he 
himself  remained  in  the  city  with  his  colleague,  endeavouring  to 
baffle  the  projects  of  Sulpicius,  by  proclaiming  frequent  holy-days, 
and  ordering  consequently  a  suspension  of  public  business.  But 
Sulpicius,*^  on  one  of  these  occasions,  attacked  the  consuls  with 
his  armed  force,  calling  upon  them  to  repeal  their  proclamation 
for  the  festival ;  and  on  their  refusal  a  riot  ensued,  in  wliich  Q,. 
Pompeius  escaped  with  difficulty  to  a  place  of  concealment,  his 
son  was  killed,  and  Sylla,  finding  himself  in  the  power  of  his 
enemies,  complied  with  their  demands,  and  annulled  his  late  edict. 
Then,  unwillin.g  to  expose  himself  to  similar  insults,  he  instantly 
left  Rome  to  join  the  army.  Sulpicius  carried  h'm  favourite  measure, 
and  the  Italian  allies  were  placed  by  law  on  a  footing  of  perfect 
equality  with  the  Romans  in  the  right  of  voting. 

Sylla  had  already  shown  that  he  possessed  none  of  the  vir- 
tuous courage  of  Metellus,  who  had  preferred  ban-  s„,p,eius  procures  the 
ishment  to  compliance  with  the  illegal  demands  of  TeTSloacugSt 
the  popular  party  in  the  time  of  Saturninus.  It  uinsferredftomsyiia 
was  soon  to  appear  that  he  resembled  that  excellent  '"Marius. 
citizen  as  little  in  the  readiness  with  which  he  had  sacrificed  his 
own  interests  and  dignity,  rather  than  endanger  the  peace  of  his 
country.  Marius  was  now  to  reap  the  advantage  which  he  had 
proposed  to  himself  from  his  connexion  with  Sulpicius,  and  from 
the  late  triumph  of  the  Italian  allies.  It  should  be  recollected, 
that  he  had  supported  the  interests  of  the  Italians  in  the  tribune- 
s' Plutarch,  in  Mario,  35  ;  in  Sylla,  8.  «3  Appian,  55. 

62  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXIV.     Appian,!.         «4  Appian,  de  Bello  Civiii,  I.  56.     Plu- 
54.  tarch,  in  Sylla,  8, 


105  SYLLA  MARCHES  TOWARDS  ROME. 

ship  of  Saliirniiius,  and  that  he  in  return  rehed  upon  their  devotion 
to  him  in  promoting  his  views  of  ambition.  His  own  low  birth, 
his  want  of  education,  and  the  inherent  coarseness  of  his  char- 
acter, had  prevented  him  from  ever  blending  cordially  with  the 
aristocracy  ;  he  was  besides  himself  a  native  of  a  country  town, 
Arpinum,  and  could  have  no  invincible  prejudices  in  favom'of  the 
exclusive  possession  of  power  by  the  inhabitants  of  Rome.  Ac- 
cordingly, soon  after  the  admission  of  the  Italians  into  all  the 
tribes,  a  law  was  passed  in  the  comitia,  by  which  the  people 
transferred  the  command  of  the  army,  destined  to  act  against 
Mithridates,  from  Sylla  to  Marius  ;^5  and  two  military  tribunes 
were  sent  to  notify  this  change  to  Sylla.  His  soldiers  are  said  to 
have  been  as  indignant  as  himself  at  this  decree :  they  had  been 
fighting  for  two  campaigns  against  the  revolted  Italians  ;  and 
now  the  enemy  whom  they  had  vanquished  in  the  field,  had  ac- 
quired an  jscendency  in  the  councils  of  the  state,  and  would 
probably  deprive  them,  as  well  as  their  general,  of  the  spoils  and 
honours  which  all  anticipated  from  an  Asiatic  war.  The  violence 
of  the  comitia  was  imitated  in  the  camp  ;  the  two  military  tri- 
bunes were  murdered,^*  and  the  army,  consisting  of  six  legions, 
Sylla  marches  immediately  broke  up  from  its  quarters,  and  began 

towards  Rome.  ^q   jjiove   towards   Romc.      But  it  is  said,®^  that 

almost  all  the  superior  officers,  unwilling  to  fight  against  their 
country,  resigned  their  commands,  and  hastened  to  escape  into 
the  city. 

In  retaliation  for  the  murder  of  the  two  military  tribunes, 
several  of  Sylla's  friends  were  murdered  by  the  popular  party  at 
Rome.  The  senate  was  completely  overawed  ;  and  none  of  the 
many  illustrious  persons  whom  it  contained,  are  recorded  as 
making  any  attempt  to  mediate  between  the  parties,  or  to  prevent 
the  violence  that  was  impending.  Sylla  was  joined,  meantime, 
by  his  colleague,  Q,.  Pompeius,  and  the  two  consuls  continued  to 
advance,  disregarding  the  repeated  deputations  that  were  sent  to 
stay  their  march.  At  last;  when  they  were  already  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Rome,  they  received  a  final  address,  entreating  them, 
in  the  name  of  the  senate,  not  to  approach  within  four  miles  of 
the  capital.^'  Sylla  pretended  to  comply,  and  gave  the  usual 
orders  to  measure  out  the  ground  for  his  camp,  on  the  spot  on 
which  the  deputation  had  met  him.  But  while  his  antagonists 
were  thus  thrown  oft'  their  guard,  he  sent  ofl"  a  detachment  to  fol- 
low close  after  the  returning  deputies,^'  and  to  occupy  one  of  the 
gates  of  the  city.  This  was  effected  ;  and  he  and  his  colleague, 
putting  themselves  instantly  in  motion  witli  the  main  army,  and 
stationing  troops  on   several  quarters  of  the  town,  proceeded  to 

65  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  18.     Appian,        ^^  Appian,  57. 
5€.  ^^  Appian,  57.     Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  9. 

6«  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  9.  *^  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  9.     Appian,  58. 


MARIUS  AND  SULPICIUS  DECLARED  TRAITORS. 


107 


force  their  way  into  the  streets.  Marius  and  Siilpiciiis,  having  in 
vain  tried  to  strengthen  their  cause,  by  inviting  the  slaves  to  join 
them  with  a  promise  of  freedom,  attempted  for  a  time  to  resist 
with  such  a  force  as  they  had  been  able  to  raise  and  arm,  and 
with  the  aid  of  many  of  the  inhabitants,  who  annoyed  the  assail- 
ants with  stones  and  arrows,  from  their  houses.  But  Sylla,  without 
scruple,  ordered  his  men  to  set  fire  to  the  quarters  from  whence 
they  were  thus  annoyed,  and  at  the  same  time  prepared  to  assail 
the  city  in  an  opposite  direction,  at  once  to  distract  the  plans  of 
the  defenders,  and  to  menace  them  with  cutting  ofl'  their  retreat. 
Then  it  was  that  Marius,  Sulpicius,  and  their  prin-  Assaults  and  takes 
cipal  friends,  gave  up  the  contest,  and  consulted  for  'hec.ty. 
their  safety  by  flight ;  whilst  the  conquerors,  halting  in  the  Sacred 
Way,  took  instant  measures  for  securing  their  victory,  punished 
severely  some  of  their  soldiers,^"  who  were  beginning  to  plunder, 
stationed  guards  in  the  most  important  positions,  and  were  on  the 
alert  the  whole  night  to  prevent  any  new  disorders,  or  any  further 
hostile  attempts  on  either  side. 

On  the  following  morning  the  Romans,  for  the  first  time  since 
the  invasion  of  the  Gauls,  awoke  to  the  sight  of  a  victorious  ene- 
my in  possession  of  their  city.  Sylla  proceeded  to  assemble  the 
senate,  and  proposed  that  Marius,^'  Sulpicius,  and  their  adherents 
should  be  declared  public  enemies,  and  a  price  set  ,^^,i„3  ^^^  suipidu* 
on  their  heads.  A  decree  was  passed  accordingly  are  declared  traitors. 
to  that  effect,  and  Sulpicius  being  betrayed  by  one  of  his  slaves, 
was  put  to  death  by  the  consul's  orders,  and  his  head  exposed 
upon  the  Rostra.  Marius,  after  a  series  of  romantic  adventures, 
succeeded  in  escaping  from  his  pursuers,  and  sought  a  refuge  for 
the  present  in  Africa,  so  that  the  popular  party,  deprived  of  its 
leaders,  and  controlled  by  the  presence  of  a  military  force,  sub- 
mitted without  resistance  to  the  storm.  What  measures  were 
taken  by  Sylla  to  secure  the  power  of  the  aristocracy  for  the  future, 
it  is  difficult  to  decide  ;^^  nor  is  it  material,  for  they  were  all  reversed 
in  the  counter-revolution  that  immediately  followed.  The  laws 
of  Sulpicius  were,  as  might  be  expected,  declared  invalid ;  and 
the  Italians  were  thus  again  debarred  admission  into  more  than 
eight  of  the  tribes.  But  the  Epitomizer  of  Livy  tells  us,'^  that 
Sylla  at  this  time  planted  several  colonies,  in  order,  as  we  may 
suppose,  to  recoiicile  some  of  the  poorer  citizens  to  his  party  ;  and 

"">  Appian,  I.  59.  the  senate ;  and  that  the  senate  itself  was 

'1  Appian,  60.     Cicero,  de  Claris  Ora-  swelled  by  the  nomination  of  three   hun- 

toribus,  45.  dred  new  members  from  the  different  orders 

T2  Appian  says,  that  he  restored  the  old  of  the  state  to  be  placed  on  its  rolls.     But 

custom  of  voting   by  centuries   instead   of  the  reality  of  such  important  changes  must 

tribes ;  that  he   revived  the  practice  that  not  be  admitted  on  the   sole  authority  of 

nothing  should  be  submitted  to  the  deci-  such  a  writer  as  Appian. 
sion  of  the  people,  unless  it  had  first  passed         ^s  Epitome,  LXXVII. 


108  POMPEIUS  IS  MURDERED  BV  HIS  SOLDIERS. 

Election  of  cinna  and  he  SO  abstained  from  interfering  in  the  elections,  that 

Octavius  to  the  con-    t       r^  <•  r-i-  ^       •  i         i  /    i 

suiship.  L.  Cornehus  Onma,  a  man  notorionsly  devoted  to 

the  popular  interest,  was  chosen  consul  for  the  following  year, 
together  with  Cn.  Octavius,  a  partisan  of  the  aristocracy.  It  is 
said  that  he  bound  Cinna^^  by  the  most  solemn  oaths  not  to  dis- 
turb the  order  of  things  which  he  had  established ;  a  precaution 
so  little  likely  to  be  of  any  avail,  that  we  may  almost  wonder  that 
Sylla  should  have  adopted  it.  In  fact,  no  sooner  did  Cinna  come 
into  office,  than  he  began  to  declare  his  real  sentiments,  and  in- 
duced one  of  the  tribunes  to  threaten  Sylla  with  a  prosecution  for 
his  late  violent  assault  on  the  city  and  usurpation  of  the  govern- 
syiia  sails  with  his  mcut.''^  It  is  probablc  that  Sylla  now  saw  too  late 
army  to  Greece.  j^Q^y  incomplete  aud  shortlivcd  was  the  victory  that 
he  had  gained  ;  still,  secure  of  the  attachment  of  his  army,  he 
trusted  that  the  senate  might  be  able  to  maintain  their  own  cause 
till  he  should  return  in  triumph  from  Asia  ;  and  to  prevent  all 
chance  of  again  being  deprived  of  his  command,  he  at  once  left 
Rome,  rejoined  his  soldiers,  whom  he  had  some  time  before  sent 
back  to  Campania,  and  then  proceeded  without  delay  to  sail  with 
them  into  Greece,  there  to  check,  if  possible,  the  alarming  career 
of  Mithridates. 

His  colleague  in  the  consulship,  Q,.  Pompeius,^"  had  been  also 
confirmed  by  the  senate  in  his  appointment  to  the  command  of 
the  army  which  was  still  kept  on  foot  to  oppose  the  remnants  of 
the  Italian  confederacy.  He  accordingly  set  out  for  the  quarters 
of  the  troops,  which  were  at  this  time  in  the  country  of  the  Marsi. 
But  Cn.  Pompeius,  the  general  whom  he  was  going  to  supersede, 
considered  the  possession  of  an  army  too  valuable  to  be  easily 
relinquished  ;  and  the  soldiers,  at  his  mstigation,  as  is  stated  in 
Q.  Pompeius  is  mur-  ^^l'  ^ur  accouuts  of  thcsc  tiuies,  murdered  their  in- 
dered  by  his  soldiers,  tcudcd  commaudcr  as  soon  as  he  arrived  among 
them.  Cn.  Pompeius  thus  retaining  his  station,  aspired  perhaps 
to  act  the  part  of  Sylla,  and  to  become  like  him  the  defender  of 
the  senate  against  the  enemies  who  were  preparing  to  assault  it ; 
but  it  was  not  decreed  that  his  crime  should  be  so  successful ; 
and  the  author  of  an  act,  unexampled  till  now  in  the  Roman 
history,  Avas  not  permitted  even  to  reap  that  poor  renown  which 
attends  on  prosperous  wickedness. 

74  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  10.  "6  Appian,  63.     Velleius  Paterculus,  II. 

75  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  10.      Cicero,  de     20.     Livy,  Epitome,  LXXVII. 
Claris  Oratoribus,  48. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PART  II. 

LUCIUS  CORNELIUS  SYLLA.— FilOM  U.C.  666,  A.C.  88,  TO  U.C.  677,  A.C.  77. 

The  former  triumphs  of  tlie  aristocratical  party  over  the  Gracchi, 
and  over  Satm-ninus,  had  been  followed  by  some  From  u.c.  666.  a.c. 
years  of  comparative  cahii.  But  the  popular  cause  ss,  to  u.c.  677.  a.c. 
had  now  gained  an  accession  of  strength,  more  renrwir'J)f''d?s'til?b* 
fatally,  indeed,  to  its  adversaries  than  beneficially  ''""^• 
to  itself,  in  the  support  of  ambitious  and  powerful  men,  who  hoped 
to  turn  its  successes  to  the  advancement  of  their  own  greatness.  Be- 
sides this,  the  Italian  war,  while  it  had  filled  Italy  with  armies,  had 
degraded  the  quality  of  the  soldiery :  for,  in  the  distress  of  the 
state,  the  Romans  had  enlisted  freedmen  into  the  legions ;  and 
this,  combining  with  the  example  already  set  by  Marius  of  ad- 
mitting men  to  serve  without  any  qualification  of  property,  had 
rendered  the  troops  readier  instruments  of  the  personal  schemes 
of  their  generals.  The  Italians  also,  by  coalescing  with  one  of 
the  great  divisions  of  the  Roman  commonwealth,  might  hope  for 
more  complete  success  than  when  they  had  struggled  against  the 
united  force  of  the  senate  and  the  people.  Added  to  all  this,  the 
late  violence  of  Sylla,  although  professing  to  be  no  more  than  a 
necessary  retaliation  of  preceding  outrages,  yet  furnished  those 
who  had  suffered  from  it  with  abundant  excuses  for  a  new  reaction 
on  their  part ;  while  the  proscription  of  Marius,  after  the  signal 
services  he  had  rendered  to  his  countiy,  exasperated  not  only  his 
own  numerous  friends,  but  a  large  body  of  independent  citizens, 
who  forgot  the  associate  of  Sulpicius,  and  remembered  only  the 
conqueror  of  the  Cimbri. 

Immediately,  therefore,  on  the  departure  of  Sylla  from  Italy, 
L.  Cinna  again  brought  forward  the  law  of  Sulpi-  cinna  proposes  to  re- 
cius,'  which  admitted  the  Italians  into  all  the  thir-  picrus!''a'dmiTtu°g1he 
ty-five  tribes  without  distinction.  Those  whom  InUeT  "'°  '''^  '**' 
this  law  was  intended  to  benefit  crowded  to  Rome  in  great  num- 
bers, to  support  its  author  by  their  swords  rather  than  by  their 

1  Velleius  Paterculus,  IL  20. 


110  CINNA  IS  ASSISTED  BY  THE  ITALIANS. 

votes.  If  we  may  believe  Appian,*^  hardly  a  shadow  of  any  con- 
stitutional form  of  proceeding  was  observed  ;  and  no  sooner  had 
some  of  the  tribunes  of  the  aristocratical  party  interposed  their 
negative  to  stop  the  passing  of  the  law,  than  a  violent  riot  broke 
out,  and  the  lives  of  the  tribunes  were  threatened.  Upon  this, 
Cn.  Octavius,  the  other  consul,  broke  into  the  forum  with  an 
armed  force,  and  drove  out  the  rioters,  great  numbers  of  whom 
were  killed  by  his  followers  in  their  flight,  but,  as  we  are  told, 
without  his  orders.  Thus  far  the  scene  resembles  the  seditions 
of  the  Gracchi ;  but  Octavius  was  of  a  mild  and  scrupulous  tem- 
per, and  had  left  the  principal  offender  untouched  ;  and  Cinna, 
being  fully  prepared  for  the  last  extremities  of  civil  discord,  be- 
gan to  summon  the  slaves  to  his  standard,  in  the  hope  of  main- 
taining his  ground  in  the  capital.  But  finding  himself  disap- 
Heis  driven  from  poiutcd,  hc  flcd  ftom  thc  clty  with  his  chief  parti- 
of°the  consuiXip.'^  saus,  aud  the  senate,  by  an  act  of  authority,  hith- 
erto unprecedented,  declared  that  he  had  forfeited  the  consulship  ;^ 
and  the  people  being  called  on  to  proceed  to  a  new  election,  L. 
Cornelius  Merula,  the  Flamen  of  Jupiter,  was  appointed  consul 
in  his  room. 

The   Italian  towns,  regarding  the  cause  of  Cinna   as   their 
Is  assisted  by  the  itai-  owu,  reccivcd  him  with  the  utmost  cordiality,^  and 

ians,  and  gains   over  ji_ii-  ^  j  •^ii.i- 

a  Roman  army.  cncouragcd  by  theu"  support,  and  assisted  by  their 
supplies  of  money,  he  presented  himself  at  the  camp  of  the  army, 
which  still,  it  seems,  was  employed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Nola. 
Here,  by  bribes  and  promises,  he  persuaded  the  soldiers  to  ac- 
knowledge him  as  their  lawful  consul,  and  to  take  the  military 
oath  of  obedience  to  him ;  and  having  thus  secured  a  rallying 
point  for  his  partisans,  he  was  soon  joined  by  many  individuals 
of  the  popular  party  from  Rome.  But  his  most  powerful  auxilia- 
ries were  the  different  cities  of  Italy,^  who,  thinking  that  now 
they  had  a  fair  opportunity  of  resuming  the  contest  with  Rome 
under  happier  auspices,  exerted  every  nerve  in  the  cause,  and  not 
only  furnished  Cinna  with  money,  but  took  up  arms  with  such 
spirit  and  unanimity  to  join  him,  that  he  was  able  in  a  very  short 
time  to  form  an  army  of  thirty  legions,  amounting  at  the  least  to 
a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men.  Already,  too,  Cinna  had  in- 
vited Marius  and  the  other  exiles  of  the  popular  party  to  return 
to  their  country,^  and  Q,.  Sertorius  and  Cn.  Carbo  were  actually 
holding  commands  in  his  army.  Hoping,  therefore,  to  imitate  the 
example  of  Sylla,  he  moved  immediately  with  his  forces  towards 
Rome. 

The  senate  had  no  hopes  of  withstanding  this  assault  by  the 

2  De  Bellis  Civilibus,  I.  64.  5  Appian,  67.     Paterculus,  20. 

3  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  20,  ^  Plutarch,  in  Sertorio,  5. 
*  Appian,  66. 


PROGRESS  OP  THE  CIVIL  WAR.  HI 

mere  efforts  of  the  citizens  of  the  capital.  They  ^he  senate;  apply  to 
required  the  support  of  a  regular  army/ and  im-  cn.pompeius forbid. 
plored  Cn.  Pompeius,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  still  retained  his 
command  in  Umbria,  to  employ  his  soldiers  in  their  defence. 
But  he,  more  anxious  to  make  the  troubles  of  his  country  an  oc- 
casion of  his  own  advancement,  remained  for  some  time  in  sus- 
pense, as  if  waiting  to  see  which  party  would  purchase  his  ser- 
vices at  the  highest  price,  and  thus  allowed  Cinna  and  his  faction 
to  consolidate  their  force  beyond  the  possibility  of  successful  re- 
sistance. Marius  in  the  meanwhile  landed  in  Tuscany  with  a 
small  body  of  adherents,^  and  studiously  retaining  ^^^^^^^  ,^,,^3  ,„  i^,y 
all  the  outward  marks  of  wretchedness  and  poverty  and  joins  cinna. 
in  his  person  and  dress,  he  appealed  to  the  compassion  of  the 
people  by  contrasting  his  present  miserable  condition  with  his 
former  triumphs  and  dignities.  He  is  said  to  have  raised  by 
these  arts  a  body  of  about  six  thousand  men,  and  to  have  effected 
his  junction  with  Citma,  so  that  their  combined  forces  were  capa- 
ble of  being  divided  into  four  distinct  armies,^  with  two  of  which 
Cinna  and  Carbo  took  up  their  positions  on  both  sides  of  Rome  ; 
while  Sertorius,  with  a  third,  stationed  himself  so  as  to  command 
the  navigation  of  the  Tiber  above  the  city ;  and  Marius,  with  a 
fourth,  was  master  of  the  course  of  the  river  below,  between 
Rome  and  the  sea. 

In  this  state  of  things  Cn.  Pompeius  at  last  resolved  to  espouse 
the  cause  of  the  senate,  and  marched  towards  progregg  of  the  civu 
Rome.  A  battle  was  fought  between  his  army  and  ^" 
that  of  Cinna.  immediately  under  the  walls  of  the  capital :'"  but 
though  the  slaughter  was  great,  the  event  seems  to  have  been  in- 
decisive, and  soon  afterwards  Cn.  Pompeius  was  killed  by  light- 
ning in  his  own  camp.  Both  parties  were  suffering  severely 
from  the  attacks  of  sickness,  and  this  probably  suspended  their 
operations  ;  while  Marius  was  employed  in  destroying  several  of 
the  towns  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome,"  from  whence  the  city 
might  have  been  supplied  with  provisions  ;  and  a  detachment  oc- 
cupied Ariminum  to  intercept  the  reinforcements  which  the  senate 
hoped  to  receive  from  Cisalpine  Gaul.  One  hope  still  remained 
to  the  aristocracy.  Metellus  Pius,  the  son  of  that  Metellus  Nu- 
midicus,  whose  name,  combined  as  it  is  with  the  recollection  of 
his  virtues,  is  a  beautiful  contrast  to  those  which  we  must  now 
so  often  mention,  was  at  the  head  of  an  army  in  Samnium,  and 
was  still  carrying  on  hostilities  against  the  people  of  that  coun- 
try, who,  with  hereditary  obstinacy,  even  now  kept  alive  the  last 
sparks  of  the  Italian  war.  He  was  desired  by  the  senate  to  make 

7  Livy,  Epitom.  LXXIX.     Appian,  I.         9  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXIX.    Appian,67. 
67.     Paterculus,21.  lo  Paterculus,  II.  21.     Appian,  68. 

8  Appian,  67.     Plutarch,  in  Mario,  41.         >'  Appian,  67,  68. 


1  12  CINNA  AND  MARIUS  ENTER  ROME. 

the  best  terms  in  his  power  with  the  Samnites,'^  and  to  hasten 
to  the  rehef  of  his  country.  But  either  some  difficuhies  occurred 
in  the  negotiation,  or  the  conditions  which  he  granted  were  not 
so  favourable  as  to  prevent  the  popular  leaders  from  turning  his 
retreat  out  of  Samnium  to  their  own  advantage.  Marius 
promised  to  give  the  Sanniites  every  thing  which  they  required ; 
and  accordingly  they  instantly  joined  his  cause,  defeated  a  Roman 
officer  whom  Metellus  had  left  behind  him  to  watch  their  move- 
ments, and  added  their  whole  strength  to  that  already  overpow- 
ering confederacy  by  which  the  aristocracy  of  Rome  was  as- 
saulted. 

The  defenders  of  the  old  constitution,  under  the  command  of 
Octavius  the  consul,  and  Metellus,'^  bad  estabhshed  themselves 
on  the  hill  of  Alba,  and  still  presented  a  force  which  might  have 
encountered  any  one  of  the  enemiy's  armies  with  a  fair  hope  of 
victory.  But  the  generals  dreaded  to  expose  the  whole  nobility  of 
the  commonwealth,  with  their  wives  and  children,  to  the  conse- 
quences of  a  decisive  defeat  ;  besides  this  their  soldiers  could  not 
be  fully  depended  on,  for  many  of  them  preferred  Metellus  to 
Octavius,'^  and  entreated  him  to  take  the  supreme  command  ; 
and  when  he  refused,  and  desired  them  to  submit  to  the  consul, 
who  was  their  lawful  general,  they  went  over  in  crowds  to  the 
enemy.  The  very  uprightness,  indeed,  of  the  aristocratical  lead- 
ers, contributed  to  the  present  success  of  their  adversaries. 
Whilst  Cinna  was  seducing  the  slaves  to  join  him  by  promising 
them  their  liberty,  Octavius  refused  to  follow  the  example,  de- 
claring that  he  would  not  imitate  that  conduct  which  he  had  him- 
self denounced  in  his  antagonist  as  treasonable.  Thus  the  con- 
sular army  was  continually  diminishing  by  desertion,  without 
being  able  to  repair  its  losses ;  and  the  enemy  had  now  establish- 
ed so  strict  a  blockade,  that  the  mass  of  the  people  were  alarmed 
at  the  prospect  of  a  famine,  and  impatient  of  a  longer  continuance 
of  this  hopeless  struggle. 

Deputies  were  accordingly  sent  to  Cinna  by  the  senate  to  treat 

Cinna  and  Marius  en-    of   pCaCC.''       But    hc    iuslstcd    OU  kuOwiug  whcthcr 

u.'^c.'ees^A.  C.86.  they  were  going  to  treat  with  him  as  consul,  or  as 
a  private  individual  ;  and  this  difficulty  broke  off  the  negotiation 
for  the  moment.  But  the  desertion  from  the  city  to  the  besieging 
army  daily  increasing,  the  senate  were  obliged  to  yield  ;  they  con- 
sented to  acknowledge  Cinna  as  consul,  and  only  requested  him 
to  swear  that  he  would  shed  no  blood  after  his  victory.  He  re- 
ceived the  deputies  with  all  the  state  of  a  consul,'^  and  refusing 
to  take  any  oath,  merely  promised  that  he  would  not  willingly  be 
the  author  of  any  executions.     But  what  little  comfort  the  depu- 

12  Appian,  68.    Livy,  Epitome,  LXXX.         is  Appian,  69. 

13  Appian,  69.  '6  Appian,  70.     Plutarch,  in  Mario,  43. 

14  Plutarch,  in  Mario,  42. 


MASSACRES  IN  ROME  BY  ORDER  OF  MARIUS. 


113 


ties  might  have  derived  from  this  assurance  was  destroyed  by  the 
sight  of  Marius,  who  stood  silently  beside  the  consul's  chair,  and 
whose  savage  glances,  rendered  more  fearful  by  the  assumed 
wildness  of  his  face  and  the  meanness  of  his  attire,  betokened 
nothing  but  executions  and  massacres.  Metellus  had  in  the 
mean  time  withdrawn  from  Alba,  and  retired  towards  the  north  of 
Italy;"'  but  Octavius,  partly  actuated  by  a  courageous  sense  of 
duty,  partly  trusting  to  the  solemn  assurances  of  safety  which  he 
received  from  Cinna  and  Marius,  and  partly  led  away  by  his 
prophets  and  soothsayers,  who  foretold  that  he  should  suffer  no 
injury,  and  to  whose  predictions  he  was  habitually  too  ready  to 
listen,  refused  to  quit  his  station,  and  still  continued  to  wear  the 
ensigns  of  his  office,  and  to  show  himself  in  public  in  the  city. 
Cinna  had  already  entered  the  walls,  and  disguise  being  no 
longer  needful,  he  sent  a  party  of  soldiers  to  murder  his  colleague. 
Octavius  quietly  waited  their  approach,  refusing  either  to  fly  or 
to  conceal  himself;  the  assassins  executed  their  task,  and  the 
head  of  this  blameless  consul  was,  by  Cinna's  orders,  suspended 
over  the  rostra,  as  the  first  victim  to  his  vengeance. 

Rome,  with  every  thing  that  was  most  noble  and  most  distin- 
guished within  its  walls,  now  lay  at  the  mercy  of  the  popular 
leaders.  But  Marius  professed,  that  as  he  had  been  declared  an 
exile  by  the  people,'^  he  could  not  enter  the  city  till  his  sentence 
should  be  regularly  repealed :  and  the  tribes  were  summoned  in 
mockery,  that  their  votes  might  enable  their  conqueror  to  avail 
himself  of  his  own  victory.  His  thirst  of  blood,  however,  could 
not  brook  the  delay  which  he  had  devised  to  enhance  the  delight 
of  his  triumph  ;  and  when  two  or  three  of  the  tribes  had  voted, 
he  took  possession  of  one  of  the  gates,  and  entered  the  town  at 
the  head  of  a  band  peculiarly  attached  to  his  own  person,  and 
which  consisted  chiefly  of  the  peasants  or  fugitive  slaves  who 
had  joined  him  on  his  first  landing  in  Tuscany.  With  these  in- 
struments he  proceeded  at  once  to  the  work  of  mur-  Ma8.-acres  in  Rome 
der.  The  principal  nobility  were  selected  as  his  'v  order  of  Manus. 
victims.  Some  fell  by  their  own  hands  to  anticipate  the  stroke 
of  their  assassins  ;  some  were  betrayed,  and  dragged  from  their 
places  of  concealment  to  death ;  some  were  discovered  and  slain 
in  the  houses  where  they  had  sought  refuge  :  and  others  were 
butchered  in  the  open  streets,  and  gratified  Marius  with  the  sight 
of  their  agony.  In  the  midst  of  this  carnage,  the  wretches  who 
were  employed  in  it  added  to  its  horrors  by  all  varieties  of  unau- 
thorized crimes  of  their  own  devising.  Fugitive  slaves  availed 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  murder  their  masters,"  to  plun- 
der their  houses,  and  to  commit  the  worst  outrages  on  their  fami- 

17  Appian,80.     Plutarch,  in  Mario,  42.         ^s  Appian,  74. 

18  Plutarch,  in  Mario,  43. 


114  MASSACRES  IN  ROME  BY  ORDER  OF  MARIUS. 

lies.  The  wife  and  children  of  Sylla  were  happy  enough  to 
escape  this  fate;*^"  thoitgh  they  were  especially  sought  after  ;  they 
were  concealed  by  some  of  their  friends  until  means  were  found 
to  convey  them  out  of  the  city.  That  their  property  should  have 
been  confiscated,  that  all  Sylla's  laws  should  have  been  repealed, 
and  himself  declared,  in  his  turn,  a  public  enemy,  seemed  only 
the  natural  retaliation  of  a  party  which  had  so  lately  suffered  at 
his  hands  a  similar  treatment.  But  the  general  scene  of  lawless 
rapine  and  murder  which  was  every  where  exhibited,  as  it  far  ex- 
ceeded any  thing  which  Rome  had  hitherto  witnessed,  so  it  was 
far  too  dreadful  to  be  palliated  by  any  plea  of  former  provocations, 
and  has  deservedly  procured  for  those  who  were  its  actors,  the 
unmitigated  abhorrence  of  all  posterity. 

In  this  massacre  there  perished  by  the  orders  of  Cinna  and 
Marius,  L.  Julius  Caesar,*^'  who  had  been  consul  during  the  Ital- 
ian war,  and  had  distinguished  himself  by  a  splendid  victory 
over  the  Samnites  ;  together  with  his  brother,  C.  Julius  Cassar, 
whose  ill-advised  competition  for  the  consulship  had  first  provok- 
•  ed  Sulpicius  to  enter  on  his  career  as  a  demagogue,  and  was  now 
visited  with  death  by  the  luiforgiving  jealousy  of  Marius.  The 
heads  of  both  these  victims  were  exposed  over  the  rostra  ;  and 
near  them  was  seen  the  head  of  M.  Antonius,'^'^  the  most  eloquent 
citizen  in  the  commonwealth,  who  had  filled  the  offices  of  consul 
and  censor,  and  who  was  respected  as  the  able  defender  of  all 
who  applied  for  his  aid  in  the  courts  of  justice.  His  place  ol 
concealment  M^as  betrayed  to  Marius,^^  who,  although  he  was 
then  at  supper,  was  on  the  point  of  starting  up  from  the  table,  to 
be  himself  a  witness  of  his  death  ;  but  being  restrained  by  his 
friends,  he  sent  a  party  of  soldiers  instantly  to  destroy  him,  and 
bring  back  his  head  with  them.  P.  Crassus,^^  the  father  of  M. 
Crassus  the  triumvir,  who  had  also,  like  M.  Antonius,  been  both 
censor  and  consul,  being  now  marked  out  for  destruction,  and 
having  seen  one  of  his  sons  murdered,  killed  himself  C.  Numi- 
torius  and  M.  Baebius,^^  both  apparently  men  of  some  considera- 
tion,, and  the  latter  a  name  that  occurs  frequently  in  earlier 
periods  of  the  Roman  history,  were  murdered,  and  their  bodies 
ignominiously  dragged  through  the  forum  by  the  common  execu- 
tioners. These,  with  many  others,  were  sacrificed  by  mere  mili- 
tary execution  to  the  first  fury  of  the  victorious  leaders.  But 
against  L.  Cornelius  Morula,  who  had  been  appointed  consul 
when  Cinna  was  driven  from  Rome,  and  against  Q,.  Lutatius 
Catulus,  the  colleague  of  Marius  in  his  fourth  consulship,  and  his 
companion  in  his  great  victory  over  the  Cimbri,  it  was  resolved 

20  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  22.     Appian,  73.  23  Appian,  72. 

21  Cicero,  De   Oratore,  III.  3.     Tuscu-  21  Cicero,   de    Oratore,  III.   3.      Livy, 
Ian.  Disputat.  V.  19.  Epitome,  LXXX.     Florus,  III.  21. 

22  Cicero,  de  Oratore,  III  3.  25  Florus,  III.  21. 


SICKNESS  AND  DEATH  OF  MARIUS.  115 

to  proceed  with  something  of  the  forms  of  justice.  Their  con- 
demnation they  well  knew  was  the  necessary  consequence  of 
their  trial :  Merula,  therefore,  preferring  to  die  by  his  own  hands, 
opened  his  veins,'^®  and  as  his  blood  flowed  upon  the  altar  of  Ju- 
piter, he,  in  his  character  of  Flamen,  imprecated  the  vengeance  of 
his  god  upon  the  head  of  his  murderers.  Catulus,  it  appears, 
had  actually  co-operated  with  Sylla  in  procuring  the  expulsion 
of  Marius  and  Sulpicius,^''  and  causing  them  to  be  declared  pub- 
lic enemies.  For  this,  Marius  was  bent  upon  his  death,  and  an- 
swered every  solicitation  in  his  behalf  by  saying,  "He  must 
die  f'^^  upon  which  Catulus,  like  Merula,  to  avoid  falling  by  the 
executioner,  shut  himself  up  in  a  close  room,  and  suffocated  him- 
self by  burning  charcoal. 

Often  as  the  leaders  of  a  popular  party  have  made  the  interests 
of  their  followers  subservient  to  their  own  ambition,  yet  never  was 
this  more  shamelessly  exemplified  than  in  the  behaviour  of  Cinna 
and  Marius.  After  haying  plunged  their  country  into  a  civil  war, 
under  pretence  of  supporting  the  just  claims  of  the  Italians  to  an 
equal  share  in  the  right  of  suffrage,  the  chiefs  of  the  victorious 
party  would  not,  or  could  not,  rely  on  the  gratitude  of  those 
whose  cause  they  had  upheld  ;  nor  would  they  allow  the  people 
to  exercise  the  form  of  an  election,  even  when  they  could  have  so 
certainly  commanded  the  result.  Cinna  and  Marius,  by  their 
own  authority,  declared  themselves  consuls  for  the  ensuing 
year  i"^^  and  it  is  mentioned  of  the  latter,  that  on 

•',  '  T  1-11  ,  T  1    •  J        U.  C-  667.     A.  C.  87. 

the  very  day  on  which  he  entered  upon  his  usurped 
office,  he  ordered  a  senator,  of  the  name  of  Sextus  Licinius,  to 
be  thrown  from  the  Tarpeian  rock.  The  atrocities,  indeed,  which 
Marius  was  daily  committing,  and  the  excesses  in  which  his  band 
of  fugitive  slaves  indulged  themselves  without  remorse,  at  last 
awakened  the  shame  or  the  jealousy  of  his  associates.  Cinna, 
instigated,  as  it  is  said,  by  Sertorius,^"  who  beheld  with  indignation 
the  crimes  Avith  which  his  party  had  disgraced  themselves,  find- 
ing all  attempts  to  repress  these  disorders  fruitless,  assembled  a 
body  of  his  Gaulish  auxiliary  troops,  and  attacking  Marius's 
band  in  their  quarters  by  night,  put  the  whole  of  them  to  the 
sword.  Such  an  act  was  likely  to  have  exasperated  Marius 
against  his  colleague,  had  he  been  capable  of  revenging  the  af- 
front ;  but  his  career  was  fast  drawing  to  a  close  :  sickness  and  death  of 
he  was  now  in  his  seventieth  year,  and  plunging  v^c^lm.  a.c.  se. 
deeply  into  the  utmost  intemperance  in  his  manner  of  living,^' 
he  contracted  a  pleurisy,  of  which  he  died  after  a  short  illness, 
having  enjoyed  his  seventh  consulship  for  only  seventeen  days. 
It  was  reported  that  he  became  delirious  before  his  death,  and 

26  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  22.  29  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXX. 

2T  Appian,  74.  30  piutarch,  in  Sertorio,  5.    Appian,  74. 

88  Cicero,  Tuscul.  Disputat.  V.  19.  ^i  piutarch,  in  Mario,  45,  46. 


116  CINNA  REMAINS  MASTER  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

imagined  himself  to  be  commanditig  the  army  against  Mithri- 
datcs,  which  had  so  long  been  the  object  of  his  ambition,  often 
shouting  aloud,  and  expressing  by  the  most  violent  gestures  the 
liveliness  of  the  impression  which  occupied  his  mind.  But  what- 
ever were  the  scenes  which  accompanied  his  last  hours,  they 
could  scarcely  add  any  thing  to  the  certain  horror  of  a  sudden 
death  thus  cutting  him  olf  amidst  the  perpetration  of  so  many 
and  such  dreadful  crimes  ;  nor  are  any  stories  of  his  late  remorse 
and  agony  of  mind  required  to  aggravate  our  abhorrence  of  a  life 
which,  in  the  course  of  seventy  years,  presents  an  unvaried  pic- 
ture of  evil  passions,  darkening  more  and  more  as  he  advanced 
in  age,  and  growing  to  the  deepest  intensity  of  blackness  as  he 
approached  the  latest  period  of  his  earthly  existence. 

It  is  mentioned  by  Cicero,^*^  that  during  the  celebration  of  the 
funeral  of  Marius,  C.  Fimbria,  a  man  whose  ungoverned  violence 
in  speaking  and  in  acting  amounted  sometimes  alniost  to  insanity, 
caused  an  attempt  to  be  made  on  the  life  of  Q,.  Mucius  Scaivola, 
one  of  the  most  virtuous  citizens  of  his  time.  The  assassin  only 
wounded  his  intended  victim  ;  and  Fimbria,  when  he  heard  that 
Scffivola  had  escaped,  declared  that  he  would  bring  him  to  trial 
before  the  people.  He  was  asked  what  charge  he  could  possibly 
invent  against  a  character  so  pure  as  Mucius ;  to  which  he  re- 
plied, "  1  shall  accuse  him  for  not  having  given  my  dagger  a  more 
hearty  welcome."  Such  were  the  wretches  whose  crimes  were 
now  enjoying  a  full  impunity  in  the  triumph  of  the  professed 
champions  of  the  cause  of  liberty. 

After  the  death  of  Marius,  L.  Cornelius  Cinna  remained  in 
„_,  fact  the  sovereign  of  Rome.     His  power  was  little 

Cmna remains  master    "••■'^•'  C  i      i      ,  i   i        <•>,     i. 

of  the;  government,  jggg  absolutc  tliau  that  aitcrwards  held  by  Syila  or 
CsBsar  ;  and  it  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  his  usurpation  should 
have  been  so  little  noticed  by  posterity,  and  that  he  himself 
should  be  so  little  known,  that  not  a  single  trait  of  character,  and 
scarcely  a  single  personal  anecdote  of  him  is  to  be  found  on 
record.  His  first  step  was  to  supply  the  vacancy  in  the  consul- 
ship occasioned  by  the  death  of  Marius ;  and  for  this  purpose  he 
fixed  on  L.  Valerius  Flaccus,^^  who  had  been  the  colleague  of 
Marius  in  his  sixth  consulship,  about  fourteen  years  before.  The 
massacres  had  now,  for  the  most  part,  ceased  ;  and  it  was  in- 
tended that  the  usual  forms  of  the  constitution  should  still  be  ob- 
served. Nothing,  indeed,  appeared  to  dispute  the  power  of  the 
victorious  leaders  :  many  of  the  nobility  had  left  Italy, ^^  and 
sought  a  refuge  in  the  camp  of  Sylla ;  some  had  retired  to  their 
estates  in  the  country,  and  some  still  remained  in  Rome,  anxious 
above  all  things  to  avoid  participating  themselves  in  a  civil  war, 

32  Oral,  pro  Roscio  Amerino,  19.  ^*  Patercnlus,  2.3.     Plutarch,  in  Pom- 

33  Appian,  75.    Paterculus,  11.23.  peio,  6. 


SYLLA  REFUSES  TO  ACKNOWLEDGE  THE  GOVERNMENT.  117 

and  hoping  that  they  might  still  possess  influence  enough  to  pre- 
vent the  return  of  such  a  calamity  altogether.  In  this  last  class 
we  find  the  names  of  Q,.  Mucins  Scsevola/^  of  another  L.  Valerius 
Flaccus,  and  of  L.  Philippus,  the  famous  antagonist  of  Drusus, 
and  notorious,  during  his  consulship,  for  his  opposition  to  the  in- 
terests of  tlie  senate.  But  the  usual  freedom  of  speech  allowed 
in  the  forum  and  in  the  courts  of  justice  was  so  much  abridged, 
that  Cicero  describes  the  three  years  which  followed  the  victory 
of  Cinna,  as  a  period  in  which  the  repubhc  was  without  laws  and 
without  dignity.^^  He  himself  remained  during  all  this  time  at 
Rome,"  and  was  employing  himself  in  the  study  of  eloquence 
and  philosophy ;  attending  the  lectures  of  Philo,  then  a  refugee 
from  Athens,  and  of  Molo  of  Rhodes,  and  preparing  himself  at 
leisure,  during  this  cessation  of  opportunities  for  actual  practice, 
for  the  splendid  career  which  the  subsequent  triumph  of  the  aris- 
tocracy laid  open  to  him. 

The  scanty  reports  of  these  times  which  remain  to  us,  will  as- 
sist but  little  in  ascertaining  the  state  of  the  people  at  large  under 
the  dominion  of  Cinna.  An  immense  military  force  was  kept  on 
foot  throughout  Italy  ;  so  that  even  if  the  Romans  were  exempted 
from  all  share  in  its  support,  the  burthen  must  still  have  pressed 
heavily  on  the  Italians,  in  addition  to  the  numerous  excesses  which 
troops,  so  little  subject  to  discipline,  would  naturally  commit  in  the 
districts  in  which  they  were  quartered.  In  Rome  itself  there  was 
a  large  proportion  of  debtors  among  the  lower  orders,  who  were 
insolvent  either  through  poverty  or  dishonesty.  To  relieve  them, 
was  judged  a  measure  becoming  a  party  professedly  popular  ;  and 
L.  Flaccus,  the  consul,  brought  in  a  law,^^  allowing  a  debtor  to 
avoid  all  further  claims  upon  him,  on  payment  of  a  fourth  part  of 
his  debt.  It  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  in  legislation,  to 
observe  a  just  balance  between  severity  to  unavoidable  distress, 
and  indulgence  to  wilful  extravagance  or  fraud ;  but  at  Rome, 
hi  this  case,  as  in  so  many  others,  the  scale  vibrated  from  one 
extreme  of  injustice  to  the  other  ;  and  the  monied  interest,  who  a 
short  time  before  had  murdered  a  lawful  magistrate,  because  he 
had  defended  the  poor  against  their  oppressions,  now  saw  their 
just  rights  sacrificed  in  return,  because  the  government  wished  to 
conciliate  the  needy  and  the  desperate. 

Meanwhile,  the  several  provinces  of  the  empire  submitted,  as 
far  as  appears,  without  opposition  to  the  party  which  syiia  refuses  to  ac- 
prevailed  in  the  capital.  Sylla  alone  remained  an  emmentl't  Romr' 
object  of  fear  and  jealousy.  Far  from  seeking  to  disarm  his 
enemies  by  concession,  he  is  said  continually  to  have  avowed  his 
intention  of  punishing  them,^'  so  soon  as  he  should  have  finished 

as  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VIII.  epist.  III.  38  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  23.  ' 

36  Cicero,  de  Claris  Oratoribus,  62.  39  Paterculus,  II.  24. 

3T  De  Claris  Oratoribus,  89. 


1 18  COiNSULSHlP  OF  CINNA  AND  CARBO. 

the  war  with  Mithridates ;  and  his  confidence  in  his  army  was 
so  well  grounded,  that  lie  had  no  fears  of  their  allowing  any  other 
general  than  himself  to  be  appointed  to  command  them.  L.  Flac- 
cus,  indeed,  was  sent  into  Greece  with  a  new  army/"  as  the  officer 
intrusted  by  the  people  with  the  conduct  of  the  war  ;  but  he,  not 
venturing  to  interfere  with  Sylla,  who  was  at  this  time  wintering 
in  Thessaly,  moved  through  Macedonia,  and  from  thence  crossed 
over  into  the  northern  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  to  attack  Mithridates 
in  his  own  country.  Here,  however,  he  was  soon  assasinated  by 
C.  Fimbria,  who  had  accompanied  him  from  Rome  as  his  lieuten- 
ant, and  whose  daring  wickedness  gladly  caught  at  this  opportu- 
nity of  advancing  himself  On  the  death  of  Flaccus,  he  succeeded 
to  the  command,  and  carried  on  hostilities  against  Mithridates 
with  some  success  ;  but  when  Sylla,  having  recovered  the  whole 
of  Greece,  crossed  over  himself  into  Asia,  and  there  soon  con- 
cluded a  peace  with  the  enemy,  Fimbria  was  summoned  to  sur- 
render the  authority  which  he  had  unlawfully  acquired  ;^ '  and 
finding  his  soldiers  yielding  to  the  ascendency  of  Sylla's  reputa- 
tion, and  inclined  to  desert  him,  he,  to  avoid  the  punishment  which 
he  deserved,  killed  himself 

The  death  of  Fimbria,  however,  did  not  take  place  till  after  the 
period  at  which  we  are  now  arrived.  To  resume,  then,  the  regular 
course  of  our  narrative,  we  must  go  back  to  the  conclusion  of  the 
year  667,  when  the  time  was  arrived  for  the  appointment  of  consuls 
cinnaas.oc.ates  car-  for  the  year  followiiig.  Clnua  again  re-elected 
wn^uiship^'and'Ce'-  lii'^self  by  his  own  authority,^ 2  ^nd  chose  as  his 
pares  lor  war.  colleaguc,  Cu.  Paplrius    Carbo,  a  man  whose  very 

name  was  ominous  of  evil ;  for  of  the  two  individuals  of  his  fam- 
ily who  had  hitherto  been  most  conspicuous,  one  had,  through  his 
perfidy,  embroiled  the  republic  in  a  quarrel  with  the  Cimbri,  and 
had  sustained  from  them  a  severe  defeat  in  Illyria  ;  and  the  other 
was  deeply  involved  in  the  mischievous  plans  of  the  Gracchi,  and 
when  brought  to  trial,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  by  L.  Cras- 
sus,  the  orator,  poisoned  himself  through  fear  of  the  sentence  of 
his  judges.  The  consuls,  thus  self-appointed,  began  to  prepare 
themselves  for  the  approaching  contest  with  Sylla :  they  endeav- 
oured to  conciliate  the  rich  by  showing  them  unwonted  attentions  ; 
they  appealed  especially  to  the  Italian  states,  of  whose  interests 
they  always  professed  themselves  the  advocates ;  and  endeavoured 
to  secure  the  coasts  of  Italy  against  the  expected  invasion,  by  col- 
lecting a  considerable  fleet  from  the  different  ports  of  Italy  and 
Sicily. 

In  this  interval  of  suspense,  a  motion  was  made  and  carried 
in  the  senate,  by  L.  Valerius  Flaccus,"  that  deputies  should  be 

«  Appian,de  Bell.  Mithridatico,  51.  52.         ^2  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  75,  Livy, 
Paterculus,  II.  24.  Epitom.  LXXXIII. 

41  Appian,  de  Bell.  Mithridat.  59.  "  Ljyy^  Epit.  LXXXIII.  Appian,  77. 


MUTINY  OP  THE  SOLDIERS— CINNA  IS  KILLED. 


119 


sent  to  Sylla,  to  prevent,  if  possible,  the  evils  of  war ;  and  Cinna 
and  Caibo  were  desired  to  snspend  their  military  preparations,  till 
the  answer  to  this  embassy  should  be  receiv^ed.  The  consuls 
promised  compliance,  and  the  deputies  were  sent  over  into  Greece 
to  treat  with  Sylla ;  but  Cinna  could  not  consent  thus  easily  to 
relinquish  the  sovereignty  he  had  gained,  nor  to  treat  on  equal 
terms  with  an  enemy  whom  he  had  injured  beyond  all  hope  of 
reconciliation.  Once  more,  therefore,  he  re-appoint- 
ed himself  and  Carbo  to  the  consulship  ;''  and  both  ^'- '''''•  ''•''•'' 
leaders  then  left  Rome,  and  began  themselves  to  press  the  levies 
of  soldiers,  intending  no  longer  to  reaiain  on  the  defensive,  but  to 
cross  the  Adriatic  in  person,  and  to  anticipate  Sylla  in  begirming 
hostilities.  But  it  seems  that  they  had  not  a  Heet  sufficient  to 
transport  at  one  passage  a  force  strong  enough  to  maintain  itself 
against  the  enemy.  They  resolved,  therefore,  to  send  over  their 
troops  in  successive  detachments  from  the  neighbourhood  of  An- 
cona,  to  the  opposite  coast  of  Liburnia,  a  spot  so  distant  from  the 
intended  scene  of  operations,  that  the  whole  army  might  be  safely 
landed,  before  Sylla  could  arrive  to  attack  it.  But  the  high  repu- 
tation of  the  general  against  whom  they  were  to  act,  rendered  the 
soldiers  very  averse  to  the  expedition  :  one  detachment,  after  it 
had  set  soil,  was  driven  back  by  a  storm  ;  and  no  sooner  did  the 
men  find  themselves  again  on  Italian  ground,  than  they  deserted 
their  standards,  and  returned  to  their  several  homes.  This  exam- 
ple decided  the  rest  of  the  army,  and  they  all  refused  to  embark. 
Cinna  called  them  together,  and  endeavoured  to  enforce  obedience. 
The)  crowded  round  him  with  minds  prepared  for  the  last  ex- 
tremities ;  and  when  one  of  his  lictors  struck  a  soldier,  in  order  to 
clear  the  way,  the  blow  was  returned  by  the  man's  comrade  : 
Cinna  called  out  to  seize  the  offender ;  a  general  mutiny  broke 
out  at  the  word,  stones  were  cast  at  him,  and  the    Mutiny  of  the  soi.iiers, 

1  !•  1  1  i     J  •  xi      •  1  ill  which  China  is  kiU- 

soldiers  who  where  nearest,  dravvmg  then-  swords,  ed. 
immediately  stabbed  and  killed  him.  Carbo  at  once  saw  that  the 
project  of  crossing  the  Adriatic  was  hopeless  ;  he  recalled  the  few 
men  who  had  already  effected  their  passage,  and  resolved  to  con- 
fine his  care  to  the  defence  of  Italy.  The  death  of  Cinna,  however, 
and  the  avowed  disposition  of  the  soldiers,  encouraged  the  ordina- 
ry magistrates  of  the  commonwealth  to  resume  somewhat  of  their 
lawful  authority.  Carbo  was  summoned  by  the  tribunes  to  return 
to  Rome,  and  to  hold  the  comitia  for  the  election  of  a  consul  in  the 
room  of  Cinna.^5  jjg  obeyed  ;  but  on  the  first  day  that  the  comitia 
were  held,  the  auspices  were  unfavourable:  and  on  the  next,  the 
meeting  was  broken  off  by  a  thunder  storm,  so  that  the  augurs 

«  Appian,  77,  78.     Paterculus,  II.  24.         «  Appian,  78. 
Livy,  Epitotn.  83.     Auclor  de  Viris  illus- 
tribus,  in  Vita  Cinnae; 


120  CARBO  REMAINS  SOLE  CONSUL. 

carbo  remains  sole     foibadc  thc  clectioii  to  takc  placG  till  after  the  sum- 
<•«"»"'•  mer  solstice  ;  and  Carbo  thus  reniaiiicd  sole  consul. 

About  this  time,  the  answer  of  Sylla  to  the  deputation  of  the 
senate  was  received  in  Rome."  It  stated  that  he  would  lay  aside 
his  purpose  of  invading  Italy,  if  all  those  citizens  whom  Cinna  had 
outlawed,  were  restored  to  their  country  and  their  honours.  The 
senate,  we  are  told,  was  disposed  to  accept  these  conditions  ;  but 
the  iuduence  of  Carbo  and  his  party  procured  their  rejection,  and 
war  now  appeared  inevitable.  Some  months,  however,  intervened, 
before  Sylla  conmienced  his  expedition  to  Italy ;  and  this  delay 
was  occasioned,  in  part,  by  an  illness  which  attacked  him,^'  and 
which  obhged  him  to  go  to  ^depsus,  in  Euboea,  to  try  the  effect 
of  thc  warm  baths,  for  which  that  place  was  celebrated.  Here  he 
passed  considerable  time,  anmsing  himself  with  the  society  of 
actors,^ ^  and  of  those  persons,  then  so  common  in  Greece,  who  lived 
upon  their  several  talents  of  disputation,  of  eloquence,  of  wit,  or  of 
bulfoonery.  But  he  might  console  himself  for  this  interruption  to 
his  plans,  by  reflecting  that  the  party  of  his  antagonists  was  by  no 
means  rising  in  the  public  opinion,  and  that  his  own  friends  on 
the  contrary  were  daily  becoming  more  numerous  ;  while  the  fate 
of  Cinna  sulliciently  showed,  that  he  was  in  no  danger  of  being 
anticipated  in  his  schemes  of  invasion,  and  of  finding  himself 
obliged  to  act  on  thc  defensive  in  the  country  which  he  now  oc- 
cnpied. 

In  the  meantime,  Q,.  Metellus  Pius,-"^  who,  in  conjunction  with 
Octavius,  had  unsuccessfully  opposed  Cinna  and  Marius  in  their 
attack  upon  Rome,  and  who,  since  their  victory,  had  been  living 
in  one  of  the  provinces  in  obscurity,  now  endeavoured  to  raise 
again  the  standard  of  the  aristocratical  party,  and  to  obtain  pos- 
session of  the  province  of  Africa,  His  attempt,  however,  was 
unfortunate  ;  he  was  repulsed  by  C.  Fabius,  the  praetor,  and  from 
thence  retired  to  Ligaria,  there  to  wait  for  a  better  opportunity  of 
renewing  the  contest.  The  senate,  though  greatly  overawed,  was 
yet  not  entirely  subservient  to  Carbo ;  for  it  is  said  that  he  was 
prevented  by  them  from  demanding  hostages  of  all  the  towns  and 
colonies  of  Italy,^°  as  a  security  against  their  supporting  Sylla. 
But  in  other  points  the  interest  of  the  popular  leaders  visibly  pre- 
vailed. The  right  of  voting  was  solemnly  conferred,  by  a  decree 
of  the  senate,  on  all  newly  admitted  citizens,  of  whom  the  late 
war  had  given  birth  to  a  considerable  number,  not  consisting  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  states  of  Italy,  but  of  enfranchised  slaves  or 
foreign  soldiers,  who  had  flocked  to  the  the  standard  of  Cinna  and 
Marius,  and  had  contributed  to  their  triumph.     These  had  not 

46  Livy,Epitom.  LXXXIV.  «  Livy,   Epitom.    LXXXIV.    Appian, 

"  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  26.  Stralw,  L  56,     80. 
et  IX.  487,  edit.  Xyland.  so  Lj^y^  Epitom.  LXXXIV. 

43  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  26. 


CONSULSHIP  OF  SCIPIO  AND  NORBANUS.  jg^ 

only  the  right  of  voting  now  given  to  them^'  (whereas,  before 
they  only  enjoyed  the  personal  liberties  of  Roman  citizens),  but 
they  were,  moreover,  allowed  to  be  enrolled  indiscriminately  in 
all  the  tribes ;  that  important  point  which,  in  the  case  of  the 
Italians,  had  been  so  warmly  contested,  and  which,  in  fact,  had 
furnished  Cinna  with  his  first  pretext  for  disturbing  the  public 
peace.  In  addition  to  these  acts,  a  decree  of  the  senate  was  also 
passed,  commanding  all  military  officers  in  every  part  of  the  em- 
pire to  disband  their  forces.  That  Sylla  should  obey  this  order, 
was  scarcely  to  be  expected ;  but  Carbo  probably  hoped,  by  its 
apparent  fairness,  to  throw  upon  him  the  odiumof  being  the  chief 
obstacle  to  peace,  and  of  disobeying  that  body,  Avhose  authority 
he  professed  to  respect  so  highly. 

The  year  of  Carbo's  consulship  now  drew  to  an  end  ;  and  as 
he  could  not,  or  would  not,  procure  his  own  re-  consulship  of  scipio 
appointment,  two  new  consuls  were  chosen,  C.  Nor-  u'c  sto.'^""^' 
banus,  and  L.  Cornelius  Scipio.  We  are  not  informed  what  cir- 
cumstances could  have  connected  the  latter,  a  member  of  one  of 
the  noblest  families  in  Rome,  with  the  party  of  Carbo ;  or  whether, 
indeed,  he  may  not  have  been  chosen  by  the  most  moderate  citi- 
zens, as  a  man  who  might  temper  the  violences  of  the  times  ;  and 
have  been  tolerated  by  the  popular  party,  on  account  of  his  want 
of  the  vigour  and  abihty  which  might  have  made  him  dangerous 
to  them.  But  C.  Norbanus  was  a  consul  such  as  Carbo  might 
have  most  desired.  We  have  already  noticed  his  seditious  tri- 
buneship,  during  which,  at  his  instigation,  a  riot  broke  out  at  tlie 
trial  of  Q,.  Caepio,  and  the  condemnation  of  the  prisoner  was  pro- 
cured by  actual  force.  For  this  crime,  he  was  accused  by  P.  Sul- 
picius,^**  who  was  destined,  at  no  remote  period,  to  tread  in  his 
footsteps  ;  and  was  defended  by  M.  Antonius,  whose  murder, 
some  years  afterwards,  might  have  been  justified  by  the  very  argu- 
ments which  he  himself,  on  this  occasion,  taught  the  people  to 
approve.  It  was  against  these  consuls  that  Sylla  now  led  his 
army  from  Greece.  All  his  preparations  were  completed,  his 
health  was  fully  re-established,  and  the  devotion  of  his  troops  had 
been  just  proved,  by  their  taking  an  oath  to  abide  by  him  Avhen 
they  should  be  landed  in  Italy,*'  and  by  their  offering  to  raise 
among  themselves  a  supply  of  money  for  his  use.  With  soldiers 
so  attached  to  him,  and  inured  as  they  were  to  war,  his  force  was 
far  stronger  than  the  proportion  of  his  numbers  seemed  to  pro- 
mise ;  and  though  it  is  said  that  he  landed  in  Italy  with  no  more 
than  40,000  men,*^  while  more  than  200,000  were  in  arms  against 
him,  he  might  yet  fairly  calculate  on  meeting  his  enemies  with  at 
least  an  equal  chance  of  victory. 

51  Livy,  Epitom.  LXXXIV.  s^  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  24.  Appian, 

52  Cicero,  de  Oratore,  II.  49.  79. 

53  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  27. 


122        SYLLA  LANDS  IN  ITALY,  AND  IS  JOINED  BY  POMPEY. 


The  expedition  set  sail  from  Patrse  in  Achaea,"  and  arrived  in 
safety  at  Brundnsium.  The  inhabitants  of  that  town  received 
Sylla  without  opi)osition,  and  he  innnediately  hegan  to  move 
forwards.  On  his  march  through  Calabria  and 
Sylla  lands  in  Italy,  ^p^^jj^^  56  hj^  army  obscrvcd  tlio  strictost  discipline  ; 
and  his  conduct  thus  confirmed  his  professions,  that  he  was  ever 
ready  to  Hsten  to  fair  conditions  of  peace.  It  is  said,  tiiat  he  sent 
deputies  to  the  camp  of  Norbanus,  to  propose  a  negotiation  ;"  and 
that  it  was  not  till  they  had  been  insulted  and  outraged,  that  he 
commenced  his  military  operations.  He  fell  upon  Norbanus,  who 
was  encamped  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Capua,  and  defeated  him 
with  considerable  loss.  Over  the  other  consul,  L.  Scipio,  he  ob- 
tained a  still  more  decisive  advantage.  With  him  too  he  oliered 
to  treat,  and  commissioners  from  the  two  armies  actually  met  to 
deliberate  on  the  terms  to  be  agreed  upon.^^  Of  the  particulars 
which  followed,  cojitradictory  accounts  are  given  by  dilferent 
writers,  none  of  whom  are  of  sufUcient  authoiity  to  be  confidently 
followed.  The  result,  however,  admits  of  no  dispute  ;  tlie  soldiers 
of  the  consular  army  were  corrupted  by  those  of  Sylla,^'  and  at 
last,  leaving  L.  Scipio  and  his  son  alone  in  the  general's  tent,  they 
went  over  in  a  body  to  the  enemy.  Sylla  then  attempted  to  open 
a  communication  with  the  army  of  Norbanus ;  but  finding  that 
his  design  was  suspected,  and  that  no  answer  was  returned  to  his 
proposals,  he  continued  to  advance  towards  Rome,  and  then  for 
the  first  time  began  to  lay  waste  the  country  through  which  he 
passed.  He  was  not,  however,  yet  in  a  condition  to  approach  the 
capital,  where  Carbo's  influence  prevailed  so  far  as  to  procure  a 
decree  of  the  people,"  declaring  all  those  who  had  joined  Sylla, 
to  be  ])ublic  enemies.  This  denunciation  was  not  issued  on  light 
grounds  ;  for  the  nobility  were  flocking  on  all  sides  to  the  camp 
of  the  invader ;  and  Q,.  Metellus  had  joined  him  with  such  troops 
as  still  adhered  to  him,  and  was  zealously  co-operating  with  him 
in  the  conduct  of  the  war. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Cn.  Pompeius,  the  son  of  the  late  pro- 
consul of  that  name,  first  made  his  appearance  as 
a  public  character.  After  the  death  of  his  father, 
and  the  establishment  of  Cinna's  power  at  Rome,  he  had  retired 
into  Picenum,^'  where  he  possessed  some  property,  and  where 
his  father's  memory,  hated  as  it  was  by  the  Romans,  was  regarded 
with  respect  and  ati'ection.  To  account  for  this,  we  nuist  sup- 
pose, that  during  the  loug  period  of  his  military  command  in  that 
neighbourhood,  he  had  prevented  his  soldiers  from  being  burden- 


is  joined  by  Pompey. 


55  Appian,  79. 

5S  Paterculus,  25. 

5''  Livy,  Epitoin.  LXXXV. 

55  Cicero,  Philippic.  12.  11 


59  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  28.  Appian,  85. 
Livy,  Epitom.  LXXXV. 

fi"  Appian,  86. 

6^  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  6.  Paterculus, 
29.     Appian,  80. 


CONSULSHIP  OF  CARBO  AND  THE  YOUNGER  MARIUS.        133 

some  to  the  people,  and  had  found  means  of  obliging  or  gratifying 
some  of  the  principal  inhabitants.  Be  this  as  it  may,  his  son  pos- 
sessed so  much  induence  in  Picenum,  partly  hereditary,  and  partly 
personal,  that  he  prevailed  on  the  people  to  drive  away  the  otficers 
sent  among  them  by  Carbo,  to  enlist  soldiers  for  Ihe  snpport  of 
his  cause,  and  succeeded  himself  in  raising  an  army  of  three 
legions,  or  abont  16,000  or  17,000  men.  With  this  force,  having 
obtained  also  the  necessary  supplies  for  its  maintenance  from  the 
zeal  of  the  Picentes,  he  set  out  to  join  Sylla.  lie  was  at  this  time 
only  twenty-three  years  of  age,  and  had  never  filled  any  office  in 
the  state  ;  but  his  appearance  at  the  head  of  an  army  so  collected, 
announced  him  as  a  young  man  of  more  than  ordinary  promise ; 
and  Sylla,  as  we  are  told,  received  him  with  the  most  flattering 
marks  of  distinction. 

Whilst  both  parties  were  endeavouring  to  strengthen  their 
forces,  the  season  for  action  gradually  passed  away,  and  the  ar- 
mies mutually  went  itito  winter  quarters.  So  imperfect  are  our 
accounts  of  this  famous  war,  that  we  cannot  tell  how  far  Sylla 
had  penetrated,  nor  what  positions  were  occupied  by  him  during 
the  winter.  His  progress,  however,  had  been  such  as  to  fill  his 
antagonists  with  alarm :  Carbo,  therefore,  caused  himself  to  be 
appointed  consul  for  the  following  year,«^  and  se-  consul  hip  of  carbo 
lected,  as  his  colleague,  C.  Marius  the  younger,  the  Marius!'"  '°""'"' 
nephew  and  adopted  son  of  the  famous  Marius,  and  who  already, 
at  the  early  age  of  twenty,  seemed  to  have  inherited  all  his  father's 
wickedness. 

The  winter  was  long  and  severe,  and  detained  the  armies  on 
both  sides  for  a  considerable  time  in  a  state  of  inaction.  Carbo, 
meanwhile,  chose  Cisalpine  Gaul  as  his  province,*^  and  thus  re- 
served the  country  to  the  north  of  Rome  for  the  scone  of  his  oper- 
ations ;  while  Marius  lay  between  the  capital  and  the  main  army 
of  Sylla,  on  the  confines,  perhaps,  of  Latium  and  Campania.  It 
was  about  this  time  that  Sylla,  to  quiet  the  suspicions  of  the  Ital- 
ian allies,^^  who  were  afraid  that  he  would  rescind  the  conces- 
sions made  to  them  during  the  ascendency  of  Cinna,  issued  a 
declaration  that  he  would  respect  all  the  privileges  which  they 
actually  enjoyed  ;  and  on  these  terms  concluded,  as  we  are  told, 
a  treaty  with  them.  But  whether  the  Samnites  were  not  among 
those  to  whom  this  promise  extended,  or  whether  they  distrusted 
his  sincerity,  and  thought  they  might  do  better  by  adhering  to 
their  old  cause,  it  is  plain  that  they  were  amongst  his  most  deter- 
mined enemies,  and,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  did  more  than  any 
of  their  confederates  to  render  his  victory  doubtlul.  On  the  part 
of  Sylla,  Q,.  Metellus  was  opposed  to  Carbo  on  the  side  of  Tns- 

62  Livy,  Epitom.    LXXXVI.     Appian,         63  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  I.  13. 
87.  «<  Livy,  Epitom.  LXXXVL 


124  MASSACRE  COMMITTED  AT  ROME 

cany,®^  and  after  having  gained  an  advantage  over  one  of  his 
lieutenants,  was  so  hard  pressed  by  the  consul  himself,  that  Cn. 
Pornpeius,  or,  as  his  celebrity  has  caused  his  name  to  be  angli- 
cized, Pompey,  was  sent  to  support  him ;  and  these  two  com- 
manders together  kept  the  fortune  of  the  war  in  suspense.  To 
the  south  of  Rome,  Sylla  first  took  the  town  of  Setia ; «®  and 
Marius,  retreating  before  him  in  the  direction  of  Piaiueste,  halted  at 
a  place  called  Sacriportum,  situated  apparently  between  Pra.nieste 
and  Setia,  and  there  drew  out  his  army  in  order  of  battle.  Sylla 
instantly  proceeded  to  attack  him,  encouraged,  as  it  is  said,  by  a 
dream,^''  which  had  visited  him  in  the  precediiig  night,  and  which 
had  named  the  ensuing  day  as  fatal  to  the  family  of  Marius.  The 
enemy  had  brolien  up  the  roads,  and  raised  such  obstacles  to  his 
march,  that  his  soldiers,  in  their  exertions  to  remove  them,  were 
worn  down  with  fatigue,  and  many  of  them  threw  themselves  on 
the  ground,  with  their  heads  resting  on  their  shields,  to  seek  relief 
in  sleep.  It  was  in  vain  to  persist  in  forcing  them  to  action  under 
these  circumstances  ;  and  Sylla,  however  reluctant  to  contradict 
Battle  of  sncrjportum,  his  drcaui,  issucd  the  order  to  halt,  and  to  begin 
young"  r  is  defeased  by  thc  usual  works  for  the  formatiou  of  a  camp.  But 
v'.c.'ers.  A.c. 82.  whilst  his  men  were  busied  in  digging  the  trench, 
the  enemy's  cavalry  rode  up,  and  began  to  annoy  them  ;  till,  irri- 
tated into  an  entire  forgetfulness  of  their  fatigues,  they  at  once 
left  their  work,  and  rushed  on  sword  in  hand  to  revenge  the 
insults  that  had  been  oflcred  to  them.  Tlieir  vehemence,  how- 
ever, might  have  proved  fatal  to  themselves,  had  the  soldiers  of 
Marius  done  their  duly  ;  but  on  the  first  impression  made  by  the 
assailants  on  the  adverse  line,  five  cohorts  of  infantry  and  two 
troops  of  cavalry  deserted  their^ standards,^*  and  joined  the  hostile 
army ;  and  this  act  of  treachery  presently  decided  the  fate  of  the 
battle.  The  whole  Marian  army  fled,  and  was  pursued  with 
great  slaughter  :  the  fugitives  sought  a  shelter  in  Praeneste  ;  but 
the  victors  followed  them  so  closely,  that  it  became  necessary  to 
shut  the  gates  in  haste,  and  to  exclude  the  greatest  number  of 
them,  and  even  Marius  himself  was  drawn  up  by  ropes  thrown 
down  to  him  from  the  top  of  the  wall."  Thus  exposed  to  the 
swords  of  their  conquerors,  20,000  of  them  were  said  by  Sylla  to 
have  been  slain,  and  8,000  made  prisoners  ;  '^°  while  he  acknow- 
ledged on  his  own  side  no  greater  loss  than  that  of  twenty-three 
men. 

It  was  only  a  short  time  beforethe  battle  of  Sacriportum,  that 
Massacre  committed  the  licads  of  the  popular  party  added  their  last  and 

at  Rome  by  order  of  .      ■,  ■■,  ^  ^1^1  ™ 

the  younger  Marius.     most   homble  act  to  the   numerous  provocations 
which  were  soon  to  be  so  mercilessly  repaid.     At  the  commence- 

65  Appian,  87.Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  8.         ^^  Appian,  87. 
es  Appian,  87.  ^9  Appian,  87. 

"  Plutarch,  in  Sylld,  28.  "">  As  quoted  by  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  28. 


BY  ORDER  OF  THE  YOUNGER  MARIUS. 


125 


ment  of  the  campaign,  Maviushad  fixed  on  Prgeneste  as  the  place 
of  support  to  his  operations/'  and  as  the  intended  refuge  and 
bulwark  of  his  partisans,  in  case  they  should  be  defeated  in  the 
field.  The  situation  of  the  town  was  naturally  strong,  as  it  was 
built  on  the  side  of  a  projecting  eminence, ^^  connected  only  by 
one  narrow  ridge  with  that  chain  of  hills  which  rises  immediately 
from  the  Campagna,  or  great  plain  of  Rome,  at  the  distance  of 
about  twenty  miles  from  the  capital.  Standing  on  the  edge  of 
this  plain,  Praeneste  is  a  conspicuous  object  from  the  walls  of  the 
eternal  city ;  and  a  strong  army  occupying  this  position,  might 
greatly  impede  or  endanger  the  approach  of  an  enemy  towards 
the  capital  from  the  side  of  Campania.  Marius,  therefore,  had 
strengthened  the  place  to  the  utmost,  by  the  assistance  of  art,  and 
had  carried  thither  the  treasure  of  all  the  temples  in  Rome,"  to 
be  converted  into  money  for  the  payment  of  his  soldiers.  But  the 
advance  of  Sylla  still  gave  him  considerable  alarm  ;  and  fearing 
that  the  aristocratical  party  in  the  capital  might  yet  be  able  to 
exert  itself  with  effect,  should  kSylla  continue  his  progress,  he  sent 
instructions  to  L.  Damasippus,'^  at  that  time  prastor,  to  assemble 
the  senate  in  the  Curia  Hostilia.  AVhen  the  members  were  met 
together,  the  avenues  leading  to  the  spot  where  secured  by  armed 
men,  and  the  individuals  most  obnoxious  to  the  popular  leaders 
•were  then  marked  out  to  be  massacred.  Publius  Antistius,  the 
father-in-lavy;  of  Pompey,^^  ^j^jj  q_  Papirius  Carbo,  a  relation  of 
the  consul,  and  the  son  of  that  Carbo  who  had  shared  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Gracchi,''®  were  murdered  in  the  senate  house. 
L.  Domitius  was  killed  in  endeavouring  to  escape  ;  of  him  little 
else  is  known,  but  that  his  name  and  noble  family  were  likely  to 
render  him  an  object  of  suspicion  to  the  enemies  of  the  aristocracy. 
But  the  most  distinguished  victim  was  Q,.  Mucins  Scscvola,  the 
Pontifex  Maximus,  who  had  earned  the  purest  and  the  rarest  glory 
of  scny  of  his  contemporaries,  by  his  virtuous  administration  of  his 
province  of  Asia.  Having  brought  home  with  him  a  character  of 
spotless  integrity  and  benevolence,  he  stained  it  b}^  no  subsequent 
acts  of  infamy  ;  his  name  is  charged  with  no  participation  in  the 
crimes  of  either  party  ;  but  he  continued  to  reside  at  Rome,  and  to 
make  himself  generally  useful  to  all  who  asked  his  advice,  by  his 
unrivalled  knowledge  of  the  civil  law.  Though  bound  by  birth, 
and  station,  and  connexions,  to  the  cause  of  the  aristocracy,  and 
although  the  attempt  made  on  his  life  by  Fimbria,  at  the  funeral 
of  the  elder  Marius,  might  have  warned  him  of  the  danger  to 
which  his  virtues  exposed  him  under  the  sway  of  the  most  profli- 

'i'l  Paterculus,  26.  ''^  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  9. 

72  Strabo,  V.  261.  7«  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.     IX.  epist.  21. 

73  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  XXXIII.  1.  De  Claris  Orator.  60. 
7^  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXXVI.  Paterculus, 

26. 


126  SYLLA  RECOVERS  ROME. 

gate  of  mankind,  he  yet  had  refused  to  quit  Rome,  or  to  choose 
any  part  in  the  civil  war,  declaring  that  he  would  rather  die  than 
take  up  arms  against  his  countrymen.  Marius,  however,  was 
bent  upon  his  destruction ;  and  the  soldiers  of  Daniasippus  ad- 
vancing to  murder  him,  he  fled  to  the  temple  of  Vesta,"  and  was 
overtaken  and  butchered  even  within  the  sacred  ground.  His 
body,  together  with  those  of  Domitius,  Carbo,  and  Antistius,  was 
thrown  into  the  Tiber  ;  and  by  this  murder  of  the  most  virtuous 
of  citizens,  it  was  hoped  that  the  ascendency  of  the  Marii,  the 
Carbones,  and  the  Norbani,  might  yet  be  maintained. 

But  the  issue  of  the  battle  of  Sacriportum  rendered  this  mas- 
syiia  recovers  Rome,  sacrc  as  fiuitlcss  as  it  was  detestable.  Marius,  the 
i^o'lhilmrioliy^rom  ^uthor  of  it,  was  now  blocked  up  in  Prasneste  ;  and 
'*"'>■  the  road  to  the  capital  being  left  open,  Sylla  ad- 

vanced towards  it  with  one  part  of  his  army,  while  the  other  part, 
under  the  command  of  Lucretius  Ofolla,'^  was  pressing  the  siege 
of  Praeneste.  Rome  received  her  new  master  without  a  struggle  ; 
and  he  who  had  so  lately  been  regarded  as  an  outlawed  rebel, 
being  now  in  possession  of  the  seat  of  government,  was  in  a  con- 
dition to  retort  the  charge  of  rebellion  on  his  antagonists.  He 
immediately  ordered  their  property  to  be  confiscated  ;  and  having 
then  left  the  city  to  the  care  of  some  of  his  partisans,  he  again 
took  the  field,  and  hastened  to  Clusium,  in  order  to  supei  intend 
the  operations  of  the  war  in  Tuscany  and  the  nouth  of  Italy.^' 
His  arms  were  attended  with  equal  success  in  every  quarter :  his 
lieutenants,  Metellus  Pius,  Pompey,  M.  Crassus,  M.  Luculus,  and 
others,  signalized  themselves  by  several  victories  over  Carbo  and 
his  adherents  ;  and  in  proportion  as  the  Marian  party  seemed 
declining,  it  sulFered  more  and  more  from  the  treachery  of  its  own 
members.  Not  only  did  the  common  soldiers  often  desert  in  large 
bodies  to  the  enemy,  but  Albinovanus,*"  an  officer  of  considerable 
rank,  purchased  his  pardon  from  Sylla  by  contriving  the  assassina- 
tion of  several  of  his  colleagues  in  command ;  and  Verres,  on 
whom  the  eloquence  of  Cicero  has  bestowed  such  an  infamous 
celebrity,  and  who  was  at  this  time  quagstor  of  Carbo's  army, 
abandoned  his  general,^'  and  carried  off  with  him  a  consi  lerable 
portion  of  the  money  committed  to  his  charge  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  consul's  forces.  Attempts  had  been  made  in  vain  to  raise 
the  blockade  of  Prosneste  ;  and  in  this  state  of  their  affairs  Nor- 
banus,  being  left  almost  alone  at  Ariminum  by  the  desertion  of  his 
troops,*^  escaped  by  sea  to  Rhodes  ;  while  Carbo  gave  up  the 
command  of  the  army  which  he  still  possessed  in  Tuscany,  and 
withdrew  with  some  of  his  friends  into  Africa,  hoping  there  to  be 

77  Cicero,  de  Natura  Deorum,  III.  32.  *^  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  I.  1.3,  et  seq. 

78  Appian,  88.  82  Appian,    91,    92.      Livy,   Epitome, 

79  Appian,  89.  LXXXVIII. 

80  Appian,  91. 


THE  SAMNITES  ATTACK  ROME.  127 

able  to  renew  the  contest,  and  to  obtain  the  assistance  of  Hiarbas, 
the  king  of  Mauritania. 

At  this  late  period  of  the  war,  when  the  victory  of  the  aristo- 
cratical  party  seemed  decided,  one  desperate  etfort    The  samnites,  with 
was  made  to  wrest  it  from  them,  which  had  well    lMarian"p''ar'ty,i'ttlck 
nigh  altered  the  history  of  the  world.     The  Sam-    ^°™*'- 
nites  and  Lucanians,  alone  of  all  the  people  of  Italy,  had  not  for- 
gotten their  own  national  grounds  of  hostility  towards  the  Roman 
government ;    and  whilst  they  supported  the  party  of  Marius 
against  Sylla,  they  intended  to  make  their  assistance  subservient 
to  their  own  views,  rather  than  to  sink  into  the  mere  adherents  of 
one  of  the  factions  of  Rome.     During  the  advance  of  Sylla,  their 
armies  rested  securely  amid  their  own  mountains,  and  had  seen 
the  defeat  of  Marius  at  Sacriportum,  and  the  blockade  of  the  rem- 
nant of  his  forces  in  Praeneste,  without  exerting  their  main  strength 
in  his  behalf.     Possibly  they  beheld  without  regret  every  field  of 
battle  covered  with  Roman  dead,  and  may  have  rejoiced  in  the 
hope  that,  when  both  parties  were  exhausted  by  mutual  slaughter 
they  might  themselves  arise  to  wrest  from  their  weakened  hands 
the  prize  for  which  they  were  contending.     But  now,  when  the 
rapid  victories  of  Sylla  threatened  them  with  a  speedy  termination 
of  the  civil  war,  their  generals,  Pontius  Telesinus  and  M.  Lam- 
ponius,  saw  that  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  take  a  decisive  part ; 
and  before  Carbo  and  Norbanus  had  left  Italy,  the  Samnites  and 
Lucanians  had  endeavoured  to  relieve  Praneste,^^  but  were  unable 
to  force  the  strong  positions  occupied  by  the  blockading  army. 
Still  they  lingered  in  the  neighbourhood,  hoping  that  some  opportu- 
nity might  arise  to  facilitate  the  execution  of  their  object.     Mean- 
time Carbo  had  retired  to  Africa,  and  the  army  which  he  had 
forsaken  had  sustained  a  bloody  defeat  at  Clusium  from  Pompey, 
so  that  the  remaining  generals  of  the  popular  party.  Carinas, 
Marcius,  and  L.  Damasippus,  the  agent  in  the  late  massacre  at 
Rome,  resolved,  as  their  last  hope,  to  eifect  a  junction  with  the 
Samnites  and  Lucanians,  and  then  to  attempt  once  more  to  deliver 
Marius  and  his  garrison.     The  armies  were  united,  and  the  at- 
tempt was  made,  but  still  in  vain,  when  the  confederate  generals 
conceived  the  plan  of  falling  suddenly  upon  Rome,  which  they 
thought  to  find  stripped  of  troops,  and  utterly  unprovided  with 
means  to  withstand  their  assault.     At  this  very  time  they  were 
threatened  at  once  by  two  armies,  that  of  Sylla  on  one  side,  and 
that  of  Pompey  on  the  other ;  yet  hoping  to  win  the  capital  before 
their  purpose  could  be  discovered,  they  broke  up  from  their  camp 
in  the  night,  hastened  towards  Rome,  and  halted  till  morning®^  at 
the  distance  of  little  more  than  a  mile  from  the  Colline  gate.    Day 
dawned,  and  discovered  to  the  Romans  the  unlooked-for  sight  of 

83  Appian,  90.  92.  S4  piuiarch,  in  Sylla,  29. 


128  VICTORY  OF  SYLLA,  AT  THE  PORTA  COLLINA. 

the  Samnite  and  Lucanian  army.  Some  parties  of  cavalry,  con- 
Batueatthe  coiiine  slstiiig  of  tliG  flower  of  the  youth  of  the  city,  imme- 
^^-  diately  salhed  to  observe  and  to  check  the  enemy  ; 

but  they  were  routed  and  driven  back  within  their  walls  with 
severe  loss.  The  panic  then  rose  to  the  greatest  height,  when  L. 
Balbus  arrived  with  an  advanced  guard  of  seven  hundred  cavalry 
from  Sylla's  army,  and  hardly  allowing  his  horses  a  moment's 
respite,  he  led  them  at  once  into  action.  Sylla  himself  followed 
soon  after  ;  he  was  well  aware  of  the  urgency  of  the  danger,  and 
had  hurried  with  the  utmost  speed  in  pursuit  of  the  Samnites,  as 
soon  as  he  learnt  their  object.  His  men  were  greatly  fatigued, 
and  his  officers  pressed  him  to  postpone  the  action,  for  it  was  now 
late  in  the  afternoon  of  a  November  day ;  but  he  refused  to  listen 
to  them,  and  having  ordered  his  men  to  eat  their  dinners  as  fast 
as  they  arrived  from  their  march,  he  sent  them  to  engage  the 
enemy  successively.  Telesinus,  on  his  part,  forgetting  his  char- 
acter as  a  partisan  of  Marius,  and  feeling  only  as  a  Samnite  gen- 
eral, rode  along  the  ranks  repeatedly  exclaiming,^*  that  this  was 
the  last  day  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  calling  to  his  soldiers  to 
pull  down,  to  destroy  the  city,  for  that  those  wolves,  who  had  so 
long  ravaged  Italy,  could  only  be  extirpated  by  rooting  up  tbe  wood 
which  used  to  shelter  them.  At  length  M.  Crassus,  who  com- 
manded the  right  wing  of  Sylla's  army,  routed  the  left  of  the 
enemy,®*  and  pursued  them  as  far  as  Antemnaj ;  but  the  wing 
which  was  led  by  Sylla  in  person,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  its 
general,  was  driven  back  under  the  walls  of  Rome,  and  was  pur- 
sued even  to  the  gates  of  the  city.  The  gates  were  hastily  closed 
to  prevent  the  Samnites  from  entering  together  with  the  fugitives  ; 
and  the  Romans,  thus  obliged  to  defend  themselves,  continued  the 
Victory  ofsyiia,  at  the  actlou  till  souic  time  after  it  was  dark,  although 
u°a  67l'"A."c°8i2.'  with  little  hope  of  resisting  effectually.  Nay,  so 
great  was  the  general  panic,  that  some  of  Sylla's  soldiers  flying 
from  the  field  arrived  at  the  lines  before  Praeneste,  and  urged 
Lucretius  Ofella,  who  connnanded  the  blockading  army,  to  raise 
the  siege,  and  hasten  to  the  rescue  of  his  general  and  his  coun- 
try. Night  at  last  stopped  the  engagement,  and  the  Romans  be- 
liev^ed  themselves  completely  defeated  ;  when,  about  an  hour  after 
the  close  of  the  action,  an  officer  arrived  from  M.  Crassus,  with 
the  tidings  of  his  success,  and  requiring  supplies  of  provisions  to 
be  sent  to  him  at  Antemnae.  It  then  appeared  that  the  enemy's 
loss  had  been  even  greater  than  that  of  Sylla  ;  and  the  morning 
displayed  more  fully  the  real  issue  of  the  contest.  Telesinus  had 
fallen,  and  his  soldiers,  discouraged  by  his  death  and  by  the  ter- 
rible slaughter  of  the  battle,  had  abandoned  the  field,  and  had 
begun  to  retreat  in  all  directions.     Sylla  then,  to  lose  no  time  in 

S5  Velleius  Paterculus,  27.  '"s  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  29,  30. 


SYLLA  COMMENCES  HIS  MASSACRES. 


129 


improving  his  victory,  set  out  at  an  early  lioiir,  and  immediately 
joined  Crassus  at  Antemnge. 

The  Roman  writers,  whose  csecounts  of  these  times  remain  to 
us,  after  following  Sylla  thus  far  in  his  career,  and  syiia  commences  ws 
sympathizing  in  his  victories  over  the  popular  party,  ">assacrcs. 
all  concur  in  turning  away  with  unminglcd  abhorrence  from  his 
conduct  after  the  decision  of  the  struggle.  One  act  of  cruelty, 
indeed,  follows  another  so  rapidly  in  this  part  of  his  life,  that  a 
complete  picture  of  his  character  cannot  be  drawn  without  satiat- 
ing the  reader  with  details  of  spoliation,  and  outrage,  and  massa- 
cre. On  his  arrival  at  Antemnse,  three  thousand  of  the  enemy 
sent  to  implore  his  mercy, -^  which  he  promised  them,  if  they 
would  deserve  it  by  helping  him  to  execute  vengeance  on  their 
associates.  Thus  encouraged,  they  fell  upon  another  party  of 
fugitives  from  their  own  army,  and  began  to  cut  them  to  pieces  ; 
and  then  surrendered  themselves  to  Sylla,  to  receive  his  promised 
pardon.  But  they,  with  all  the  other  prisoners  taken  after  the 
battle,  amounting  together  to  eight  thousand  men,  were  conveyed 
to  Rome,  and  orders  were  issued  by  Sylla  that  they  should  all  be 
put  to  the  sword.  Tbe  men,  thus  doomed  to  be  slaughtered, 
were  not  the  instruments  of  former  massacres  and  pioscriptions, 
wretches  whose  punishment,  however  shocking,  might  yet  have 
worn  the  appearance  of  an  awful  retribution  ;  but  they  were 
mostly  Samnite  soldiers,^^  who  had  fought  fairly  against  the  Ro- 
mans in  the  field,  and  who  were  now  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  same 
atrocious  policy  which,  in  former  times,  had  murdered  their  heroic 
countrjrman,  C.  Pontius ;  which  had  driven  Hannibal,  in  old  age 
and  exile,  to  end  his  life  by  suicide  ;  which  had  exercised  every  ex- 
tremity of  unmanly  cruelty  against  the  brave  citizens  of  Numan- 
tia,  and  against  the  rival  people  of  Carthage.     In  the  mean  time, 

ST  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  30.  writer  whom  we  have  been  able  to  consult : 
8S  Ferguson  has  ventured  to  describe  and  as  it  is  a  point  of  some  importance, 
those  Avho  were  thus  murdered,  as,  "  six  the  references,  by  which  any  reader,  who 
or  eight  thousand  of  those  who  were  sup-  has  means  and  inclination,  may  satisfy 
posed  to  have  been  the  busiest  instruments  himself,  are  here  subjoined, 
of  the  late  usurpations  and  murders,"  who  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXXVIII.  Auctor  de 
had  been  "  taken  prisoners  in  the  war,  or  Viris  lUustribus,  in  Sylla.  Florus,  III.  21 . 
surprised  in  the  city."  It  is  not  easy  to  Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  2.  Seneca,  de  Be- 
say  where  Ferguson  found  his   authority  neficiis,  V.  16. 

for  this  statement,  as  he  appeals  to  no  an-  All  these  writers  agree  in  the  fact,  that 
cient  writer  to  justify  it  ;  but  it  is  a  most  the  men  who  were  massacred  were  sol- 
blameable  misrepresentation,  to  use  the  diers,  and  soldiers  who  had  surrendered 
lightest  term,  as  far  as  it  labours  to  give  a  themselves  to  the  conqueror.  Seneca's 
colour  of  retributive  justice  to  a  massacre  words  are  as  follows  : — "  Legiones  duas, 
dictated  by  mere  policy  and  national  ha-  quod  crudele  est,  post  victoriam  ;  quod  ne- 
tred.  In  particular  the  words,  "  or  sur-  fas,  post  fidem,  in  angulum  congestas  con- 
prised  in  the  city,"  are  inserted  especially  trucidavit." 

to  palliate  Sylla'sconduct,  incomplete  op-  In  addition  to  these  testimonies,  Strabo 

position  to  the  truth.     That  the  men  who  declares  that  the  victims  Were  mostly  Sam  - 

were  murdered  were  soldiers,  taken  in  bat-  nites,  V.  271,  edit.   Xyland  ;  and   Appian 

tie,  is   the  concurrent   account  of  every  agrees  with  him,  I.  93. 


]30  THE  PROSCRIPTION  LISTS 

while  the  massacre  was  perpetrating,  Sylla,  having  returned  to 
Rome,  had  assembled  the  senate  in  the  temple  of  Bellona,^^  and 
was  beginning  to  address  the  %iembers  upon  the  state  of  the 
republic.  The  cries  of  his  victims  mingled  wilh  his  first  words, 
and  the  senators  started  with  horror  at  the  sound  ;  but  he,  with 
an  unmoved  countenance,  desired  them  to  listen  to  him,  and  not 
to  concern  themselves  with  what  was  passing  elsewhere  ;  what 
they  heard  was  the  correction  bestowed  by  his  orders  on  a  few 
disturbers  of  the  public  peace.  Oil  the  following  day,  Marcius 
and  Carinas,  two  of  the  Roman  officers  who  had  joined  the  Sam- 
nite  army  previously  to  their  attack  on  Rome,  we;e  taken  in  their 
flight,  and  being  brought  before  Sylla,  were,  by  his  orders  put  to 
death,  and  their  heads,  with  the  head  of  Telesinus,  \vere  sent  to 
Lucretius  Ofella  before  Prasneste,^"  wilh  directions  that  they 
should  be  carried  around  the  walls  of  the  town,  to  inform  the  be- 
sieged of  the  fate  of  their  expected  deliverers. 

One  signal  act  of  justice  was  performed  by  Sylla  at  this  time, 
which  was  received  with  general  satisfaction.  L.  Damasippus," 
the  murderer  of  Mucins  Scasvola,  had  been  taken  after  the  late 
battle,  and  was  instantly  put  to  death.  So  great  indeed  w^ere  the 
crimes  with  which  the  cliiefs  of  the  Marian  party  w^ere  loaded, 
that  men  became  reconciled  to  executions  from  the  pleasure  with 
which  they  regarded  the  fate  of  these  flagrant  offenders.  But 
they  soon  were  taught  that  the  wickedness  of  the  sufferer  ought 
never  to  lessen  our  hatred  of  bloody  and  illegal  acts  of  vengeance. 
Numerous  victims  were  every  day  murdered  ;  some  by  Sylla's 
own  order:  but  many  more  were  sacrificed  to  the  rapaciousness 
or  personal  enmities  of  his  adherents, ^^  whose  excesses  he  took  no 
pains  to  suppress.  At  last  he  was  entreated  to  relieve  the  com- 
monwealth from  its  present  state  of  suspense,  by  assuring  of  their 
pardon  those  whom  he  did  not  intend  to  destroy ;  but  one  of  his 
own  retainers  gave  a  different  turn  to  this  request,'^  by  asking 
him  only  to  name  those  whom  he  had  marked  out  for  punish- 
The  proscription  lists  mcut.  Sylla  auswcrcd,  that  he  would  do  so,  and 
are  published  by  Sylla.  immediately  published  his  first  list  of  proscriptions, 
containing  the  names  of  eighty  individuals  who  were  to  be  put  to 
death  :  to  this,  on  the  following  day,  he  added  two  hundred  and 
twenty  names  more ;  and  again,  on  the  third  day,  the  fatal  list 
was  increased  by  an  equal  number.  "  These,"  said  Sylla  to  the 
people,  "  are  all  that  I  can  at  present  remember  :  if  1  recollect  any 
others  who  must  be  puiiished,  1  will  proscribe  their  names  here- 
after." It  soon  appeared  that  he  had  good  reason  to  stipulate  thus 
for  the  further  gratification  of  his  vengeance.  In  proportion  as  he 
extended  his  massacres,  reasons  would  arise  for  perpetually  adding 

89  Seneca,  de  ClementiS.  T.  12.  92  Plutarch,  in  Sylia,31.     Sallust,  Cat- 

so  Appian,93      Paterculus,  28.  alina,51. 

91  Sallust,  Cataliiia,  51.  93  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  31. 


ARE  PUBLISHED  BY  SYLLA. 


131 


new  victims  to  the  catalogue  of  the  proscribed  ;  and  the  more  he 
became  deserving  of  a  future  retahatioii  upon  himself  and  his 
party,  the  more  anxious  was  he.  to  rid  himself  of  every  person 
who  might  be  likely  to  assist  in  effecting  it.  But  it  was  the  most 
dreadful  part  of  this  proscription,  that  by  establishing  the  reign  of 
wild  and  unbridled  violence,  and  by  trampling  under  foot  not  only 
the  laws  of  the  commonwealth,  but  ev^en  the  most  lax  of  all  tlje 
restraints  which  men  under  a  low  system  of  morals  still  imposed 
on  themselves,  it  emboldened  every  meaner  criminal  to  participate 
in  the  license  of  which  the  present  master  of  the  republic  set  so 
large  an  example.  The  meanest  office,  in  ordinary  times,  is  ob- 
tained from  a  government  by  its  retainers  with  less  ease  than 
Sylla's  followers  could  gain  from  their  leader  the  gift  of  innocent 
blood.  It  is  mentioned  that  one  Q..  Aurelius,^^  an  inoffensive 
individual,  who  had  never  mingled  in  political  quarrels,  stop- 
ped one  clay  in  the  forum  to  read  the  list  of  tlie  proscribed,  and 
found  his  own  name  among  the  tjumber.  "  Wretch  that  I  am  !" 
he  exclaimed  ;  -'my  Alban  villa  is  my  death  ;"  and  before  he  had 
gone  far  from  the  spot,  he  was  followed,  overtaken,  and  murdered. 
Nor  were  these  scenes  confined  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome, 
but  extended  over  the  whole  of  Italy.  All  who  had  rendered  any 
assistance  to  the  Marian  partj',"^  who  had  carried  arms  in  their 
cause,  or  had  supplied  them  with  money  ;  nay,  those  vdio  liad 
held  any  communication  even  in  the  commonest  civilities  of  life 
with  the  enemies  of  Sylla,  were  exposed  lo  the  vengeance  of  the 
conquerors.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  subordinate  officers, 
commanding  in  remote  provinces,  would  exceed  the  wishes  of 
their  chief,  and  would  gratify  their  cupidity  or  their  cruelty  with 
less  scruple.  We  are  told  that  M.  Crassus,^^  who  was  employed 
in  Bruttium,  proscribed  a  wealthy  individual  without  Sylla's 
orders,  in  order  to  get  possession  of  his  fortune;  and  that  Sylla, 
being  informed  of  the  fact,  would  never  afterwards  commit  to 
Crassus  any  post  of  importance.  But  if  this  be  so,  Crassus  might 
fanly  complain  of  his  ill  fortune,  for  he  had  done  no  more  than 
was  practised  by  almost  every  one  in  similar  circumstances  ;  and 
these  supernumerary  crimes  heightened  still  more  the  horrors  of 
the  original  proscription.  Murders,  it  is  said,  ware  sometimes 
perpetrated  even  in  the  presence  of  Sylla  himself,^"  when  some  of 
the  victims,  condemned  by  his  proscription,  endeavoured  to  save 
themselves  by  a  direct  appeal  to  his  mercy,  and  were  slain  in  his 
sight  by  their  pursuers,  wtio  never  found  any  interruption  to  their 
work  from  any  touch  of  compunction  in  his  nature.  His  doors 
were  beset  with  the  executioners  of  his  orders,  who  flocked 
thither  with  the  heads  of  those  whom  they  had  murdered,  to  claim 

94  Pluta-ch,  in  Sy!l&,  31 .  as  Plutarch,  in  Crasso,  6. 

a5  Appian,  96.  97  Appian,  95. 


132  SURRENDER  OF  PRiENESTE. 

from  him  the  promised  reward ;  and  it  is  said,  that  this  sight  so 
awakened  the  indignation  of  M.  Cato,*^  who  being  then  a  boy- 
was  taken  by  his  tutor  to  visit  Sylla,  that  he  could  not  forbear 
asking  for  a  sword,  with  which  he  might  himself  despatch  the 
tyrant.  Yet,  on  one  memorable  occasion  the  remorseless  nature 
of  Sylla  listened  to  the  intercession  of  his  friends,  and  spared  a 
man,  whom,  if  he  could  have  looked  into  futurit^^  he  would,  above 
all  others,  have  desired  to  destroy.  C.  Julius  Csesar,^®  then  quite 
a  young  man,  had  married  the  daughter  of  Cinna,  and,  during  the 
ascendency  of  his  father-in-law,  had  been  designed  to  fill  the  office 
of  Flamen  of  Jupiter.  He  was  farther  connected  with  the  popular 
party  through  the  marriage  of  Julia,  his  father's  sister,  with  the 
elder  Marius  ;  yet,  although  thus  doubly  obnoxious  to  the  victo- 
rious party,  he  refused  to  comply  with  the  commands  of  Sylla  to 
divorce  his  wife  ;  and  being  exposed  in  consequence  to  his  re- 
sentment, he  fled  from  Rome,  and  baffled  all  attempts  upon  his  life, 
partly  by  concealing  himself,  and  partly  by  bribing  the  officer 
sent  to  kill  him,  till  Sylla  was  prevailed  upon,  according  to  Sue- 
tonius, to  spare  him  at  the  entreaty  of  some  common  friends.  A 
story  was  afterwards  common,  that  Sylla  did  not  pardon  him  with- 
out great  reluctance  ;  and  that  he  told  those  who  sued  in  his  be- 
half, that  in  Caesar  there  were  many  Mariuses.  Had  he  indeed 
thought  so,  his  was  not  a  temper  to  have  yielded  to  any  supplica- 
tions to  save  him  ;  nor  would  any  considerations  have  induced 
him  to  exempt  from  destruction  one  from  whom  he  had  appre- 
hended so  great  a  danger. 

Soon  after  the  defeat  of  the  Samnites  before  Rome,  the  garri- 
surreiiderofPra?neste  SOU  of  Prsencste  Surrendered.  Marius  attempted  to 
Marius^ndm^a^'safre  Gscapc  froui  the  town  by  a  subterranean  passage, 
ofthePrsnestmes.  commuuicating  witli  the  open  country:'""  but  his 
flight  was  intercepted,  and  he  fell,  either  by  the  hands  of  the 
enemy's  soldiers,  or,  according  to  the  more  common  account,  by 
the  sword  of  his  own  slave,  whom  he  requested  to  perform  this 
last  service.  His  head  was  brought  to  Rome,  and  presented  to 
Sylla,  who  ordered  it  to  be  exposed  in  front  of  the  rostra,  in  the 
forum ;  and  as  if  his  triumph  were  now  complete,  he  assumed  to 
himself,  from,  henceforward,  the  title  of  Felix,  or  the  Fortunate. 
He  might  have  justly  claimed  this  title,  says  Paterculus,  if  his  life 
had  not  been  prolonged  beyond  the  hour  which  thus  crowned  his 
victory.  Immediately  on  the  surrender  of  Prauieste,  Lucretius 
Ofella  put  to  death  several  senators  whom  he  found  in  the  town,"" 
£Qrd  detained  others  in  custody,  to  wait  Sylla's  decision  on  their 
fate.  Sylla  soon  arrived,  and  having  first  ordered  the  execution 
of  all  whom  Ofella  had  arrested,  and  selected  from  the  whole 

^  Plutarch,  in  Catone,  3.  ^'^   Paterculus,    28.       Livy,    Epitome, 

99  Suetonius,  in  C.  J.  Caesar,  1 .  LXXXVIII. 

'">  Appian,  94. 


DEATHS  OF  CARBO  AND  NORBANUS. 


133 


number  of  his  prisoners  some  few  whom  he  thought\leserving  of 
mercy,  he  divided  ah  the  rest  into  three  parties,  one  consisting  of 
Romans,  another  of  Samnites,  and  a  third  of  the  citizens  of  Prse- 
neste.  To  the  first  he  said,  tliat  though  they  deserved  death  he 
nevertheless  gave  them  their  hves ;  but  the  other  two  divisions 
were  indiscriminately  massacred,  to  the  number,  as  is  said,  of 
twelve  thousand  persons.  The  women  and  children  were  then 
dismissed,  with  what  prospect  of  future  provision  we  know  not ; 
and  the  town  was  given  up  to  plunder.  In  like  manner  the 
towns  of  Spoletum,  Interamna,  Fluentia,  Sulmo,  Norba,  Arretium, 
and  Ariminum  were  plundered,  '"^  and  deprived  of  their  privi- 
leges, and  their  inhabitants  were  either  sold  for  slaves  or  massa- 
cred. But  the  Samnites  felt  the  heaviest  weight  of  the  conqueror's 
vengeance ;  for  not  satisfied  with  the  slaughter  of  so  many  thou- 
sands of  them  in  cold  blood,  both  at  Rome  and  at  Prasneste,  he 
seemed  bent  on  the  utter  extirpation  of  the  whole  people  ;  and  his 
subsequent  proscriptions  destroyed  or  compelled  to  emigrate  so 
large  a  proportion  of  them,  tliat  in  Strabo's  time  the  ancient  cities 
of  Samnium  had  either  been  reduced  entirely  to  ruins'"^,  or  were 
dwindled  to  the  rank  of  mere  villages. 

Italy  had  been  filled  with  murders  and  devastations  from  one 
end  to  the  other,  while  the  author  of  them  was  as  Deaths  of  carbo  and 
yet  uninvested  with  any  legal  authority.  His  par-  Norbanus. 
tisans,  however,  were  every  where  inflicting  as  summary  ven- 
geance upon  his  enemies,  as  if  he  had  been  the  lawful  sovereign 
of  Rome.  C.  Norbanus,  who  had  fled  to  Rhodes, '"^  finding  that 
he  was  proscribed,  and  fearing  that  he  might  be  arrested  by 
Sylla's  order,  even  in  this  remote  exile,  killed  himself  Carbo, 
after  having  abandoned  Italy,  had  fled  first  to  Africa  j"'^  but 
hearing  that  some  attempts  were  making  to  rally  his  party  in 
Sicily,  he  crossed  over  to  that  island,  leaving  the  command  in 
Africa  to  Cn.  Domitius.  But  his  hopes  were  blasted  by  the  arrival 
of  Pompey,  who,  having  been  dispatched  to  Sicily  by  an  order  of 
the  senate,  soon  crushed  the  beginnings  of  resistance  there,  and 
obliged  Carbo  again  to  fly  to  the  neighbouring  island  of  Cossura. 
He  was  pursued,  however,  and  taken,  and  brought  as  a  prisoner 
to  Lilybasum,  where  Pompey  then  was.  It  is  said,  that  his  treat- 
ment was  that  of  a  common  criminal ;  that  he  was  brought  be- 
fore the  tribunal,  where  Pompey  sat  as  judge,  and,  after  under- 
going a  short  examination,  was  ordered  away  to  immediate  exe- 
cution. By  his  death,  added  to  that  of  Marius,  the  republic  was 
left  without  consuls;  and  the  senate  accordingly  appointed  L. 
Valerius  Flaccus  to  be  interrex,'"^  that  he  might  hold  the  comitia 

192  Florus,  III.  21.  Appian,94.  Cicero,         '"s  Appian,  I.  95,96.     Livy,  Epitome, 
in  Verrem,!.  14  ;  pro  Caecina,  33.  LXXXIX.     Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  10. 

103  Strabo,  V.  272.  los  Appian,  98. 

i«  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXXIX. 


134  SYLLA  IS  APPOINTED  PERPETUAL  DICTATOR. 

for  the  electrons  of  the  ensuing  year.  But  the  interrex,  having 
received  instructions  from  Sylla,  instead  of  proceeding  to  the 
election  of  consuls,  moved,  that  the  office  of  dictator,  which  had 
been  disused  almost  since  the  time  of  Q,.  Fabius  Maximus,  should 
now  be  revived,  and  intrusted  to  the  hands  of  Sylla  ;  proposing 
besides,  that  it  should  be  given  him  for  an  unlimited  period,  till 
he  should  have  restored  the  affairs  of  the  commonwealth  to  a 
state  of  tranquillity  and  security.  Nor  was  L.  Flaccns  content 
with  investing  Sylia  with  absohite  power  for  the  future  ;  but  he 
proposed  further,  that  all  his  acts  up  to  the  present  time  should  be 
ratified  ;'"^  thus  giving  the  sanction  of  law  to  all  his  proscriptions 
and  confiscations.  The  senate  and  people,  however,  felt  that  re- 
sistance was  hopeless,  and  agreeing  to  both  the  proposed  laws, 
Sylla  was  named  dictator,  and  L.  Flaccns  was  by  him  appointed 
his  master  of  the  horse.  Having  thus  secured  all  real  power  to 
sylla  is  appointed  per-  hlmsclf,  Sylla  was  Still  williug  that  the  year  should 
petuai  dictator.  j^g  marked  as  usual  by  the  names  of  two  consuls; 

and,  accordingly,  M.  Tullius  Decula  and  Cn.  Cornelius  Dolabella 
were  selected  to  wear  the  titles  of  the  consular  office. 

In  this  manner  the  liberties  of  Rome  were  surrendered  into 
the  hands  of  a  man,  whose  utter  contempt  of  his 
^'  '^^^'  ■  ■  ■  fellow-creatures  seemed  to  promise  a  dreaful  exer- 
cise of  that  absolute  power  with  which  he  was  now  in  some  sort 
legally  invested.  His  dominion,  however,  did  not  extend  over  the 
whole  space  of  the  Roman  empire.  In  Asia,  the  war  with 
Mithridates,  which  had  been  imperfectly  smothered  by  the  treaty 
concluded  just  before  Sylla's  arrival  in  Italy,  was  now  again 
breaking  out;  and  in  xifrica,  the  native  force  of  Mauritania,  al- 
ways destined  to  assist  the  unsuccessful  party  in  the  civil  wars  of 
Rome,  was  supporting  Cn.  Domitius,  and  the  last  remains  of  the 
Marian  fugitives  from  Italy,  and  was  preparing  to  resist  the  arms 
of  Pompey,  to  whom  the  task  of  establishing  Sylla's  authority 
was  intrusted.  But  the  most  formidable  enemy  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment was  to  be  found  in  Spain,  Thither  Q..  Sertorius  had  re- 
tired, after  the  first  successes  of  Sylla  over  the  consuls  Scipio  and 
Norbanus  ;  and  there  he  had  organized  a  force,  insignificant  in- 
deed at  present,  in  its  actual  strength,  but  which  became,  by  the 
extraordinary  abilities  of  its  general,  an  invincible  obstacle  for 
many  years  to  the  complete  triumph  of  the  aristocratical  party.  In 
Italy,  however,  the  power  of  the  dictator  was  undisputed  ;  there 
a  series  of  battles,  massacres,  and  proscriptions,  had  almost  anni- 
hilated the  popular  cause  ;  and  the  Commonwealth  lay  subdued 
and  exhausted,  incapable  of  resisting  any  remedies  which  Sylla 
might  think  proper  to  administer,  in  order  to  correct  the  evils  from 
which  it  had  sutfered,  and  to  infuse  into  it  a  principle  of  future 
health  and  vigour. 

1°''  Cicero,  de  Lege  Agraria,  III.  2. 


LAWS  OF  SYLLA. 


135 


It  is  a  most  certain  truth,  that  the  leader  of  a  victorious  fac- 
tion can  never  safely  be  intrusted  with  the  task  of 
reforming  that  which  is  faulty  in  the  constitution  of  Lawsof  syiia. 

his  country  ;  and  least  of  all,  when  lie  has  conmiitted  acts  so  vio- 
lent as  those  of  Sylla,  in  humbhng  the  party  of  his  opponents. 
The  eyes  of  the  dictator  were  blind  to  all  grievances,  except  those 
under  which  the  interests  of  his  own  friends  had  suffered ;  while 
he  attributed  all  the  disorders  of  the  conuiionwealth  to  the  turbu- 
lence and  inordinate  authoiity  of  the  popular  assembly  and  the 
tribunes.  The  great  object  of  his  measures,  accordingly,  was  to 
strengthen  the  senate  and  the  aristocracy,  and  to  weaken  the 
democratical  part  of  the  constitution.  For  this  purpose,  he  trans- 
ferred the  judicial  power,  which  had  been  so  often  the  subject  of 
dispute,'"*  from  the  hands  of  the  equestrian  order  to  the  senate. 
He  deprived  the  tribunes  of  the  right  of  proposing  laws,'"^  and 
made  it  illegal  for  any  one,  who  had  filled  the  office  of  tribune,  to 
be  afterwards  elected  to  any  other  magistracy.  He  increased  the 
number  of  the  pontifices  and  augurs,''"  and  repealing  the  law  of 
Domitius,  which  had  left  the  appointment  of  them  to  the  people, 
he  restored  to  them  their  ancient  right  of  filling  up  the  vacancies 
in  their  own  body.  He  selected  the  most  distinguished  individu- 
als of  the  equestrian  order  to  recruit  the  numbers  of  the  senate,"' 
which  had  been  greatly  thinned  by  the  civil  wars  and  proscrip- 
tions ;  and  he  pretended  to  subject  the  persons,  whom  he  thus 
named,  to  the  approval  or  rejection  of  the  assembly  of  the  tribes. 
Added  to  these  were  a  great  variety  of  statutes,  some  amending 
and  strengthening  the  code  of  criminal  laws,  others  providing  for 
the  better  administration  of  the  provinces,  and  others,  again,  tend- 
ing to  promote  the  general  regularity  and  security  of  the  govern- 
ment. In  these  points,  where  the  interest  of  the  republic  did  not 
interfere  with  any  personal  or  party  views  of  the  legislator,  his 
wisdom  and  experience  suggested  to  him  regulations  which  were 
really  excellent.  Of  his  criminal  laws,  one  was  directed  against 
forgeries  of  wills,  or  any  other  instruments,"-  and  against  coining 
or  adulterating  money  ;  and  its  object  was  partly,  perhaps,  to  deter- 
mine more  carefully  the  penalty  for  such  otfences,  and  also,  in  the 
case  of  forgeries,  to  render  them  public  crimes,  for  which  any  indi- 
vidual might  lawfully  prosecute.  Another  law,  or  rather  another 
clause  of  the  same  law,  denounced  punishment  against  murders,"^ 
whether  committed  by  poison  or  by  actual  violence  ;  and  a  third 
clause  rendered  it  criminal  in  any  magistrate  or  senator  to  have 

los  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  3'2.  Aginr.   cont.    Rull.   II.    7.  Dion  Cassius, 

109  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXXIX.    Appiaii,  XXXVII.  46.  edit.  Leunclav. 

de   Bell.   Civili,  I.  100.    Caesar,  de    Bell.  '■'  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXXIX.   Appian, 

Civili,  I.  5.     Cicero,  de   Legibus,   III.  9.  I.  100. 

Lepidi  Oralio,  Sallust.  i'2  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  I.  42. 

HO  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXXIX.    Cicero,  "3  Seneca,  de  Providentia,  3.   Cicero, 


10 


pro  Cluentio,  54. 


ll^Q  LAWS  OF  SYLLA. 

conspired  or  concurred  in  procuring  the  condemnation,  of  a  citizefi 
in  a  court  of  justice."^  When  we  find  so  many  various  provisions 
comprehended  in  one  statute,  and  many  of  them  relating  to  the 
first  and  most  natural  subjects  of  criminal  legislation,  we  might 
be  apt  to  wonder  how  such  enactments  could  be  needed,  wlien  the 
commonwealth  had  subsisted  nearly  700  years,  and  must  have 
possessed  sufficient  laws  on  all  such  points  for  many  generations 
before  the  time  of  Sylla.  But  it  seems  that  in  all  half-civilized 
countries,  and  in  governments  which  have  often  been  disturbed  by 
seditions  and  acts  of  violence,  the  time  at  which  a  law  is  consid- 
ered obsolete  commences  early,  and  it  soon  ceases  to  regulate  the 
proceedings  of  the  courts  of  justice,  unless  it  be  sanctioned  and  re- 
newed at  certain  intervals  by  the  authority  of  a  more  recent  stat- 
ute. In  this  manner,  we  know  that  Magna  Charta  was  confirmed 
often  after  its  first  enactment,  in  several  successive  reigns;  and 
thus,  after  such  violent  convulsions  as  the  republic  had  lately  sus- 
tained, Sylla  might  deem  it  expedient  to  republish  and  confirm 
anew  the  existing  laws,  on  all  points  which  he  considered  of  im- 
portance. With  regard  to  the  provinces,  Sylla  limited  the  ex- 
penses allowed  by  the  provincial  cities  to  their  deputies,"^  whom 
they  were  in  the  habit  of  sending  to  Rome  at  the  end  of  every 
year,  to  pronounce  a  compliment  before  the  senate,  on  the  conduct 
of  their  late  governor.  He  ordered,  also,  that  every  officer  should 
leave  his  province  within  thirty  days  after  the  arrival  of  his  suc- 
cessor;"^ and  for  the  better  prevention  of  bribery,  it  was  enacted, 
that  if  a  magistrate,  condemned  for  this  crime,"^  should  not  have 
property  sufficient  to  refund  all  that  had  been  corruptly  received,  the 
deficiency  might  be  recovered  from  any  other  person  who  had 
shared  in  his  unjust  gains,  or  to  whom  any  portion  of  them  had 
descended.  The  general  sccmity  of  the  government  was  con- 
sulted in  some  provisions  of  the  law  of  treason,  which  also  derive 
their  origin  from  Sylla.  By  these,  all  provincial  governors  were 
forbidden  to  lead  an  army  out  of  their  province,"^  to  carry  on  any 
war  by  their  own  authority,  or  to  enter  any  foreign  country  with- 
out the  order  of  the  senate  and  people,  to  endeavour  to  tamper 
with  the  soldiers  of  any  other  general,  or  to  set  at  liberty  any  of 
the  enemies  of  the  republic.  The  last  of  these,  indeed,  was  an 
offence  of  which  Sylla  could  not  be  accused ;  but  he  who  had 
crossed  over  from  his  province  into  Italy  with  his  army,  who  had 
made  war  upon  the  existing  government  of  his  country,  and  who 
had  seduced  the  soldiers  of  the  consul  Scipio  to  desert  their  leader, 
had  good  reason  to  fear  lest  his  own  example  should  in  turn  be 
employed  to  his  own  disadvantage,  and  wisely  desired  to  prevent 

114  Cicero,  pro  Cluentio,  54.  'i''  Cicero,  pro  Rabirio  Postumo,  4. 

115  Cicero,  ad  Famiiiares,  III.  epist.  X.         'i*  Cicero,  in  Pisonem,  21  ;  pro  Cluen- 
^'®  Cicero,  ad  Famiiiares,  III.  epist.  VI.     tio,  35  ;  in  Verrem,  I.  5. 


LAWS  OF  SYLLA. 


137 


others  from  imitating  that  conduct  by  which  he  himself  had  ac- 
quired the  dictatorsliip. 

Such  are  the  principal  measures  by  which  the  new  sovereign 
of  Rome  proposed  to  reform  the  defects  of  the  existing  order  of 
things.  It  now  remains  to  notice  the  price  which  the  people  had 
to  pay  for  the  benefits  of  his  governuient.  The  property  of  all 
those  whom  he  had  proscribed,  was  declared  to  be  foifeited  to  the 
state,"^  and  was  ordered  to  be  publicly  sold  before  the  calends  of 
June.  All  persons,  even  near  relations,  were  forbidden  to  support 
or  to  assist  any  who  had  been  proscribed  ;  and  the  cliildren  of  the 
proscribed  were  excluded  during  their  lives  fiom  the  enjoyment  of 
any  public  oflice  or  magistracy.  Nor  was  the  forfeiture  of  proper- 
ty confined  to  those  only  whose  names  Sylla  had  actually  inserted 
in  the  lists  of  proscription.  A  clause  in  his  law,  'de  proscriptis,' 
was  intended  to  provide  for  any  omissious  into  which  he  might 
have  fallen,'""  by  including  amongst  those  who  were  to  be  stripped 
of  their  fortunes,  a'l  wdio  had  at  any  time  been  killed  in  any  of  the 
ports,  garrisons,  or  lines  of  the  adversaries.  Yet  even  this  did  not 
carry  the  evil  to  its  full  extent.  Long  after  the  proscription  lists 
had  bean  closed,'-'  and  the  war  had  been  generally  ended,  Sextus 
Roscius,  a  wealthy  citizen  of  the  town  of  Ameria,  in  Umbria,  who 
had  attached  himself  to  the  party  of  Sylla,  was  assassinated  in 
the  streets  of  Rome  ;  his  property  was  sold,  and  was  bought  at  a 
price  far  below  its  valua,  by  L.  Chrysogonus,  Sylla's  freedman, 
A  deputatio;i  was  sent  by  the  magistrates  of  Ameria,  to  acquaint 
Sylla  with  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  to  interced(!  for  the  son  of 
the  murdered  Roscius,  who  was  thus  deprived  of  his  inheritance. 
Bat  Chrysogonus,  by  his  entreaties  and  assurances  that  he  would 
satisfy  tlieir  wishes,  prevailed  with  them  not  to  lay  the  affair  be- 
fore the  dictator;  and  he  found  also  several  persons  among  the 
nobility,  whom  he  persuaded  to  join  with  him  in  the  same  request 
and  the  same  promises.  The  promises,  however,  were  never  ful- 
filled ;  and  the  fortunes  of  Roscius  were  divided  between  an  in- 
dividual of  his  own  name,  who  was  suspected  of  having  procured 
his  murder,  and  Chrysogonus,  who  was  bribed  with  a  share  of 
the  plunder,  to  contrive  and  maintain  the  forfeiture.  It  is  not  like- 
ly tliat  Sylla  was  ever  aware  of  the  particulars  of  this  transaction  ; 
but  his  indifference  to  the  sufferings  of  his  fellow-creatures,  and^ 
his  pride,  which  regarded  mankind  as  unworthy  of  his  notice, 
naturally  emboldened  his  creatures  to  commit  numberless  ci'imes 
in  his  name;  and  the  fortunes  acquired  by  his  freedmen  and  low 
dependents,  as  they  added  the  severest  pang  to  the  sorrow  and  in- 
dignation of  the  people,  so  they  are  alone  sufficient  to  show  how 


"9  Cicero,  pro  Roscio  Amerino,  43  ;  in         •2<'  Cicero,  pro  Roscio  Amprino,43. 
yprrem,  I.   47;  in  Pisonem,  2.     Velleius         '-'  Cicero,  pro  Roscio  Amerino,  passim. 
Paterculus,  II.  28. 


J  38  VICTORIES  OF  POMPEY  IN  AFRICA. 

little  of  real  patriotism,  or  love  of  justice,  was  mingled  with  the 
pretended  reforms  of  Sylla. 

We  are  told  by  Appian,  that  Sylla  also  passed  a  law,'"  by 
which  all  candidates  for  the  pra3torship  were  obliged  previously 
to  have  gone  through  the  office  of  quaestor;  and  no  one  could  be 
elected  consul,  without  having  before  been  praetor.  To  this  it  was 
added  that  a  certain  interval  must  pass,  before  a  man  who  had  filled 
one  magistracy  could  be  again  elected  to  another ;  and  he  could  not 
hold  the  same  office  the  second  time,  till  after  the  expiration  often 
years.  But  this  law  was  dispensed  with  in  favour  of  his  own  ad- 
herents ;  as  we  find,  that  L.  Lucullus  was  appointed  sedile  when 
absent  from  Rome,  and  immediately  afterwards  succeeded  to  the 
praetorship.'^^  Possibly,  Sylla  found  it  necessary  to  grant  this 
indulgence  to  his  own  principal  supporters;  for,  in  one  instance, 
he  had  at  first  seemed  resolved,  in  a  remarkable  manner,  to  enforce 
the  law  without  distinction.  Lucretius  Ofella,  who  had  com- 
manded at  the  siege  of  Praeneste,  oflered  himself  as  a  candidate 
for  the  consulship, '^^  without  having  been  either  praetor  or  quaestor. 
Sylla  commanded  him  to  desist ;  and  on  his  still  continuing  his 
canvass,  ordered  him  to  be  slain  by  a  centurion  in  the  middle  of 
the  forum.  Sylla  then  sunnnoned  the  people  before  him,  and  told 
them  that  Ofella  had  been  put  to  death  by  his  orders.  Appian 
reports,  that  he  addressed  the  assembly,  on  this  occasion,  in  a  style 
characteristic  of  his  deep  contempt  for  those  whom  he  governed. 
"  A  labourer,  when  at  plough,"  said  he,  "  was  annoyed  by  vermin  ; 
and  he  twice  stopped  fiom  his  work,  and  picked  them  off  his  jacket. 
But  finding  himself  bitten  again,  to  spare  himself  any  farther 
trouble,  he.  threw  the  jacket  into  the  fire.  Now,  I  advise  those 
whom  I  have  twice  conquered,  not  to  oblige  me  the  third  time  to 
try  the  fire."  It  was  natural,  however,  that  his  chief  officers 
should  remonstrate  strongly  against  such  a  precedent  as  the  death 
of  Ofella ;  and,  perhaps,  it  was  owing  to  his  knowledge  of  their 
sentiments,  that  he  afterwards  especially  exempted  them  from  the 
restrictions  of  his  general  law. 

During  the  course  of  the  year,  Pompey  had  completely  de- 
victoriesofpompeyin  stioyed  all  oppositlou  to  SvHa's  government  in 
•^^'•^^  Africa.'-^     Hiarbas,  king  of  Mauritania,  and  Domi- 

tius,  his  confederate,  were  defeated  and  slain ;  and  Pompey,  on 
his  return  to  Rome,  enjoyed  the  honour  of  a  triumph,  although  he 
was  not  of  senatorian  rank,  nor  had  ever  filled  any  magistracy. 

When  the  nominal  consulship  of  M.  Tullius  Decula  and  Cn. 
Reduction  of  Noia,  Dolabclla  was  cxpirecl,  Sylla,  while  still  retaining 
u°  c.  671(^"a.c.  81.  the  dictatorship,  caused  himself  and  Q,.  Metellus 
Pius  to  be  nominated  as  consuls  for  the  year  following.     It  ap- 

122  Appian,  100.  '24  Appian,  101. 

123  Cicero,  Academic,  prior,  II.  1.  '25  Livy,  Epitome,  LXXXIX. 


VIOLATIONS  OF  PROPERTY. 


139 


pears,  that  amidst  the  general  submission  of  Italy,  two  towns  re- 
mained unsubdued  up  to  this  time  ;  Nola,  in  Campania,  and 
VolaterraB,  in  Tuscany.  The  first  of  these  had  never  been  com- 
pletely reduced  since  the  Italian  war  :  a  Roman  army  had  been 
employed  against  it  at  the  period  of  Sylla's  first  consulship  ;  and 
again,  when  Cinna  was  driven  from  Rome  by  his  colleague  Oc- 
tavius,  it  was  to  the  camp  before  Nola  that  he  first  applied  for 
support,  and  in  which  his  attack  upon  the  government  was  first 
organized.  Our  knowledge,  however,  of  the  fate  of  this  town, 
after  so  long  a  resistance,  is  limited  to  the  simple  fact  mentioned 
by  the  epitomizer  of  Livy,  that  Sylla  reduced  Nola.  Volaterrge 
had  been  occupied  by  the  remains  of  one  of  the  Tuscan  armies 
defeated  by  Sylla  in  the  late  war ;  '^^  and  numbers  of  Romans, 
who  had  been  proscribed,  escaping  thither,  and  uniting  with  them, 
a  force  was  formed  amounting  to  four  cohorts,  or  about  2400 
men.  The  situation  of  this  town  resembled  that  of  the  hill  forts 
of  India,  or  of  those  remarkable  fortified  heights  which  are  to  be 
seen  rising  in  the  midst  of  the  valley  close  to  Luxemburg.  It 
was  built  on  an  isolated  point,  rising  abruptly  on  every  side  from 
a  deep  and  narrow  valley ;  on  the  top  was  a  flat  surface  of  con- 
siderable extent,  which  the  town  itself  occupied  ;  and  the  ascent 
was  nearly  two  miles  in  length,  and  was  every  where  rough  and 
difficult.  These  natural  advantages  enabled  the  garrison  to  hold 
out  for  two  years  ;  and  their  resistance  led  Sylla  himself  to  take 
the  field  against  them,'"  and  to  preside  in  person  at  the  siege. 
Even  at  last,  they  would  only  surrender  on  a  capitulation,  by 
which  they  were  allowed  to  leave  the  town  unmolested  ;  while 
the  vengeance  of  the  conqueror  fell  only  upon  the  inhabitants, 
whom  he  deprived  of  their  lately-acquired  privilege  of  Roman  citi- 
zenship. It  is  remarkable  that  this  alone,  of  all  his  measures, 
was  maintained  to  be  illegal, '^^  as  exceeding  even  the  power  oif 
the  Roman  people  to  authorize.  The  right  of  citizenship,  accord- 
ing to  Cicero,  could  never  be  taken  away  from  any  one ;  and  it 
is  doubtful  how  far  Sylla's  laws  on  this  subject  were  observed, 
even  during  his  lifetime.  Thus  it  is  satisfactory  to  see,  that  the 
real  and  substantial  rights  acquired  by  the  people  of  Italy,  sur- 
vived the  violence  of  the  storm,  by  which  themselves  and  their 
party  at  Rome  had  been  almost  overwhelmed ;  and  amidst  such 
a  succession  of  crimes  and  miseries,  the  cause  of  true  liberty  had 
yet  gained  an  advantage  which  it  continued  permanently  to 
enjoy. 

It  is,  however,  seldom  at  this  period  of  history,  that  any  thing 
favourable  to  human  happiness  offers  itself  to  our 

jr,\  •     M  r  n  •.•  1    •  Violations  of  property. 

notice.     It  the  privileges  oi  Roman  citizenship  were 

secured  to  the  Italians  beyond  the  power  of  Sylla  to  take  away, 

•26  Strabo,  V.  246.  12s  Cicero,  pro  Ca3cina,  33,  et  seq. 

127  Cicero,  pro  Roscio  Amerino,  7.  37. 


140  SYLLA  RESIGNS  THE  DICTATORSHIP. 

it  was  not  so  with  their  properties,  over  which  he  exercised  the 
most  absolute  dominion.  Large  tracts  of  land  had  been  wiested 
from  different  cities,'-'  as  well  as  from  prosciibed  individuals;  be- 
sides which,  there  were  considerable  portions  which  had  never 
been  enclosed  or  appropriated,  and  of  which  Sylla  now  claimed 
the  right  to  dispose  as  he  thonght  proper.  On  all  these  he  pro- 
ceeded to  settle  the  soldiers  who  had  enabled  him  to  attain  to  his 
present  greatness,  Their  numbers  are  vaiiously  reported  ;  the 
epitomizer  of  Livy  stating  them  at  forty-seven  legions  ;  while 
Appian,  with  far  greater  probability,  limits  them  to  twenty-three. 
To  make  room  for  115,000  new  proprietors,  for  such,  at  the  lowest 
computation,  would  be  the  number  of  soldiers  whom  Sylla  re- 
warded with  a  settlement,  we  may  well  imagine  how  large  a  pro- 
portion of  the  inhabitants  of  Italy  must  have  been  reduced  to 
poverty,  even  when  every  allowance  has  been  made  for  the  pro- 
bable amount  of  waste  and  unclaimed  land,  whicli  formed  a  part 
of  the  distribution.  But  as  one  individual  case  speaks  a  far  clearer 
language  than  any  general  statement,  let  the  reader  consult  the 
first  Eclogue  of  V^irgil,  and  he  will  there  find  a  picture,  drawn 
from  reality,  of  the  dreadful  misery  occasioned  by  these  gifts  of 
victorious  leaders  to  llieir  soldiers. 

Having  thus  interested  so  many  and  such  formidable  sup- 
porters in  maintaining  his  various  regulations,  Sylla  proceeded  to 
secure  to  himself  a  party  in  the  assembly  of  the  people  of  Rome. 
He  gave  liberty  to  more  than  10.000  slaves,'^"  chiefly  belonging 
to  men  of  the  opposite  faction,  who  had  been  proscribed,  or  had 
fallen  in  battle,  and  he  allowed  them  to  be  enrolled  freely  among 
the  tribes.  These  new  citizens,  according  to  the  usual  practice 
of  the  Romans,  adopted  the  name  of  him  who  had  given  them 
their  freedom,  and  were  all  called  Cornelii ;  and  they  of  course 
would  be  most  anxious  to  resist  any  counter-revolution,  which,  by 
rescinding  Sylla's  act,  would  have  restored  them  also  to  their  for- 
mer slavery. 

The  persons  nominated  to  the  title  of  consuls  for  the  following 
year,  were  P.  Servilius,  and  Appius  Claudius.  Sylla's  govern- 
ment was  now  fully  established  ;  and  the  ascendency  of  his  party, 
and  the  validity  of  his  measures,  seemed  no  longer  to  depend  on 
his  continuing  to  hold  the  office  of  dictator.  He  himself  had  no 
fondness  for  the  mere  ostentation  of  power,  so  long  as  he  possessed 
the  reality  ;  and  his  favourite  enjoyments,  the  gratification  of  his 
sensual  and  intellectual  appetites,  might  be  piu'sned  more  readily, 
if  he  relieved  himself  from  the  ordinary  business  of  the  adminis- 
syiia  resigns  the  die-  tratlou  of  the  commou  Wealth.  Accordingly,  having 
u.c'675.  A.c. 79.  asscmblcd  the  people  in  the  forum,'^'  he  made  a 
formal  resignation  of  the  dictatorship,  dismissed  his  lictors,  and 

1  Aopian,  100.  Sallust,  Oratio  Lepidi,         '30  Appian,  100. 
in  Suliam.  '3^  Appian,  103,  104. 


SYLLA  RESIGNS  THE  DICTATORSHIP. 


141 


professing  that  he  was  ready  to  answer  any  charges  against  his 
late  conduct,  continued  to  wallc  up  and  down  for  some  time,  ac- 
companied by  liis  friends,  and  then  withdrew  quietly  to  his  own 
house.  This  is  that  famous  abdication  which  has  been  ever 
viewed  as  so  remarkable  a  point  in  Sylla's  character;  and  which 
has  been  sometimes  adduced  to  prove,  that  ho  was  actuated 
chiefly  by  a  regard  to  the  public  welfare  in  all  that  he  had  done 
to  gain  and  to  secure  the  sovereign  power. 

But  if  the  preceding  pages  have  faithfully  represented  the 
state  of  parties  at  Rome,  and  have  truly  related  the  origin  and 
events  of  the  civil  war,  we  shall  form  a  diflerent  estimate  both  of 
the  act  itself,  and  of  the  motiv^es  which  led  to  it,  Sylla  was  the 
leader  of  the  aristocratical  interest,  and  it  was  his  object  to  raise 
that  interest  from  the  low  condition  to  which  Marius  and  Cinna 
had  reduced  it,  and  to  invest  it  with  a  complete  ascendency  in 
the  commonwealth.  This  he  had  entirely  etiected.  He  had  ex- 
tirpated the  chiefs  of  the  popular  party  ;  he  had  plundered,  and 
almost  destroyed  several  states  of  Italy,  who  were  used  to  support 
the  popular  cause  at  Rome ;  he  had  crippled  the  tribunitian 
power ;  had  given  to  the  nobility  tlie  exclusive  possession  of  the 
judicial  authority  ;  had  enriched  the  most  eminent  families  by  the 
sale  of  the  confiscated  estates,  which  his  principal  partisans  '  had 
purchased  at  a  low  price ;  and  he  had  provided  for  the  security  of 
his  triumph,  by  immense  grants  of  lands  to  the  soldiers,  by  whose 
swords  he  had  won  it.  He  had  raised  to  wealth  and  honours  a 
great  number  of  his  own  personal  dependents;  *^^  and  he  was 
himself  in  possession  of  a  property  amply  sufficient  to  maintain 
him.  in  a  style  of  magnificence,  and  to  give  him  the  free  enjoy- 
ment of  his  favourite  pleasures.  His  pride  had  been  gratified  by 
the  fullest  revenge  upon  his  own  private  enemies,  and  by  the  ab- 
solute control  which  he  had  exercised  in  the  settlement  of  the 
republic,  securing  the  interests  of  his  party  as  he  thought  proper, 
without  allowing  them  to  direct  or  interfere  with  his  measures^ 
If  his  object,  indeed,  had  been  to  convert  the  gov^ernment  into  a 
monarchy,  the  resignation  of  the  dictatorship  might  justly  have 
surprised  us  ;  but  viewing  him  as  the  chief  of  a  party,  whose 
ascendency  he  endeavoured  to  establish,  whilst  he  himself  enjoyed 
a  pre-eminent  share  of  the  glory,  and  power,  and  advantages  of 
their  success,  his  abdication  appears  to  have  been  a  sacrifice  of — 
nothing.  It  is  clear  that  he  was  still  considered  as  the  head  of 
his  party,  and  that  he  resigned  no  more  than  a  mere  title,  with 
the  fatigue  of  the  ordinary  business  of  the  state,  while  he  con- 
tinued to  act  as  sovereign  whenever  he  thought  proper  to  exert 
his  power.  This  appears  from  a  speech,  which  Sallust  ascribes 
to  M.  ^milius  Lepidus,  who  was  consul  the  year  after  iSylla's 

132  Sallust,  Catilina,  51.    Oratio  Lepidi,  in  Sullam. 


142  HIS  MANNER  OF  LIKE  AFTER  HIS  RESIGNATION. 

abdication.  It  is  supposed  to  be  spoken  during  bis  consulship ; 
and  in  it  he  continually  inveighs  against  Sylla,  as  the  actual  ty- 
rant of  the  republic,  without  tbe  least  allusion  to  any  resignation 
which  he  had  made  of  his  authority.  And  another  speech,  pre- 
served among  the  Fragments  of  Sallust,  and  ascribed  to  Macer 
Licinius,  tribune  of  the  people,  a  few  years  afterwards,  speaks  of 
Sylla's  tyranny  as  only  ending  with  his  life.  "  When  Sylla  was 
dead,  who  had  laid  this  bondage  upon  us,  you  thought,"  says 
Macer  to  the  people,  '•  that  the  evil  was  at  an  end.  But  a  worse 
tyrant  arose  in  Catulus."  It  appears,  then,  that  Sylla,  while  re- 
Heving  himself  from  the  labours  of  govenmient,  retained  at  least 
a  large  portion  of  his  former  power,  and  that,  having  completed 
his  work,  he  devolved  the  care  of  maintaining  it  upon  the  other 
members  of  his  party,  while  he  himself  retired  to  enjoy  the  pur- 
suits to  which  he  was  most  strongly  addicted. 

Then  it  was,  when  the  glare  of  the  conqueror  and  the  legis- 
His  manner  of  life  ^^^ov  wcro  uo  longcr  throwu  around  him.,  that  he 
after hu resignation,  sank  iuto  thc  mcie  sclfish  voluptuary,  pampering 
his  senses  and  his  mind  with  the  excitements  of  licentiousness 
and  of  elegant  literature.  His  principal  companions,  according 
to  Plutarch,  were  actors  and  pertbrmers  of  various  kinds,  some  of 
whom,  indeed,  such  as  the  famous  Q,.  Koscius,  were  of  unblem- 
ished reputation  ;  but  others  were  of  the  vilest  class  of  those 
wretches  who  ministered  to  every  appetite  of  their  patrons,  of 
those  men  of  prostituted  talents,  who,  above  all  others,  are  most 
deserving  of  contempt  and  abhorrence.  The  intervals  which 
were  not  passed  in  such  society.  Sylla  employed  in  the  composi- 
tion of  his  own  "  JMemoirs,"  a  work  in  which  he  took  great  in- 
terest, and  in  which  he  brought  down  his  history  to  within  a  few 
days  of  his  death.  It  was  about  a  year  after  he  resigned  the  dic- 
tatorship, that  he  was  attacked  by  the  disorder  which  proved  fatal 
to  him ;  and  which  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  loath- 
His  sickness  and  souic  that  afflict  humauity.  We  have,  in  truth,  no 
u^c.  676.  ACTS.  very  authentic  accounts  of  his  sickness  ;  but  it  was 
the  belief  of  the  Romans  in  the  time  of  Pliny,'^^  that  he  who  had 
shed  such  torrents  of  blood,  was  visited  by  an  awful  retribution 
of  suffering ;  that  vermin  bred  incessantly  in  his  body,  and  that 
thus  he  was  in  time  destroyed.  The  senate  ordered  that  his 
funeral  should  be  celebrated  in  the  Campus  Martius;''^  and  by 
his  own  desire  his  body  was  burnt,  contrary  to  the  general  prac- 
tice of  his  family. '^5  who  were  accustomed  to  commit  their  dead 
to  the  ground.  But  as  he  had  ordered  the  grave  of  Marius  to  be 
opened,  and  his  remains  to  be  scattered  abroad,  he  possibly  de- 
parted from  the  custom  of  his  ancestors,  to  prevent  any  similar 

133  Pliny,    Histor.    Natural.    XI.    33  ;         '34  Livy,  Epitome  XC. 
XXVI.  13  ;  VII.  43.  '35  Cicero,  de  Legibus,  11.  22. 


HIS  CHARACTER.  143 

insults  from  being  hereafter  offered  to  himself  The  members  of 
liis  party,  who  owed  their  present  greatness  to  him,  testified  their 
gratitude  to  their  departed  leader,  by  lavishing  every  kind  of 
magnificence  on  his  funeral.  The  soldiers  who  had  served  under 
him  crowded  to  Puteoli,'^^  where  he  had  died,  and  escorted  the 
body  in  arms  to  Rome.  All  the  ministers  of  the  gods,  all  the 
magistrates  of  the  commonwealth,  in  their  ensigns  of  office,  all 
the  senate,  the  equestrian  order,  and  an  immense  multitude  of  the 
people,  walked  in  the  procession  ;  and  the  ladies  of  the  nobility 
vied  with  each  other  in  offering  perfumes  to  throw  upon  the  fune- 
ral pile.'"  Such  was  the  end  of  SyHa,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his 
age,  676  years  after  the  building  of  Rome,  and  seventy-eight 
before  the  Christian  era. 

His  character  nuist  sufficiently  be  collected  from  the  events  of 
his  life.  Some  anecdotes  are  to  be  found  in  Plutarch 
respecting  his  behaviour  in  his  faniily,  which  we 
cannot  prevail  on  ourselves  to  copy  on  Plutarch's  sole  authority. 
It  appears,  however,  that  he  was  strongly  attached  to  his  wife 
Metella,  although  he  is  said  finally  to  have  divorced  her,  and  to 
have  married  again  only  a  few  months  before  his  death.  The 
predominant  feature  in  his  character  was  an  intense  pride,  and  a 
contempt  for  mankind,  feelings  which  must  ever  be  incompatible 
with  a  virtuous  and  noble  nature.  Indifferent  to  the  ordinary 
duties  and  honours  of  the  republic,  he  found  a  stimulus  during 
his  early  youth  and  manhood  in  literature  and  sensuality ;  and  to 
these  he  gladly  returned  in  his  last  years,  when  he  had  fully 
satisfied  the  passions  which  led  him  to  take  part  in  political  con- 
tests. But  when  circumstances  drew  him  into  public  sitnations, 
his  pride  could  be  content  with  r.o  second  place ;  and  when  he 
found  himself  slighted  and  injured,  the  desireof  ample  vengeance 
and  of  establishing  his  superiority  beyond  all  rivalry,  prevailed 
in  his  mind  over  every  other.  He  found  himself  individually 
opposed  to  a  man  whom  he  envied  for  his  military  glorj',  and 
despised  for  his  low  birth  and  ignorance  :  as  a  patrician,  he  felt 
an  aristocratical  contempt  for  the  popular  party;  as  a  Roman  he 
looked  down  with  habitnal  arrogance  upon  all  foreign  nations. 
It  happened  that  Marins,  his  enemy,  vras  leagued  with  the  popular 
cause  at  Rome,  and  with  the  Italian  states,  which  were  claiming 
an  equality  with  Roman  citizens ;  and  thus  his  pride  as  an  indi- 
vidual, as  a  noble,  and  as  a  Roman,  was  wounded  beyond  endur- 
ance by  their  victory.  But  when  that  victory  was  accompanied 
by  crimes  which  awakened  the  abhorrence  even  of  the  most 
moderate  men,  Sjdla  set  no  bounds  to  his  retaliation,  and  seemed 
bent  upon  effecting  the  utter  extirpation  of  all  the  three  parties 
who  were  united  against  him,  Marius  and  his  personal  enemies, 

'36  Appian,  105,  106.  '3-  Plutarch,  in  Sylla,  .38. 


144  HIS  CHARACTER. 

the  ])opular  interest,  and  tlie  allied  states  of  Italy.  Careless  of 
the  means  by  which  this  end  was  to  he  accomplished,  and  utterly 
inditferent  to  the  multiplied  miseries  with  which  it  must  be  at- 
tended, he  commenced  a  series  of  boundless  cruellies,  in  which  it 
is  impossible  to  find  any  resemblance  to  the  just  severities  of  a 
lawful  government  exercised  upon  flagrant  criminals.  He  did 
not  apply  himself  to  a  calm  review  of  the  causes  which  had  so 
long  disturbed  the  peace  of  his  country  ;  nor,  as  some  tyrants 
have  done,  did  he  forget  in  his  elevation  the  character  of  a  party 
leader,  and  being  placed  above  all,  learn  to  regard  all  classes  of 
citizens  with  an  eye  of  impartiality.  No  doubt  he  reformed  many 
things  that  needed  alteration  ;  but  they  were  the  abuses  of  one 
side  only  that  he  removed,  and  all  that  he  did  was  to  provide  for 
the  security  of  his  party,  except  in  those  points  where  the  common 
sense  of  every  government  sees,  that  in  the  prevention  of  ordinary 
crimes  its  own  interest  and  that  of  society  are  identified.  The 
inscription  which  he  is  said  to  have  dictated  for  his  own  monu- 
ment, well  declares  that  constant  thirst  for  superiority,  or  in  other 
words,  that  unceasing  pride,  which  we  have  called  his  character- 
istic quality.  It  contained,  in  substance,  that  no  friend  had  ever 
outdone  him  in  the  exchange  of  good  offices,  and  no  enemy  had 
done  him  more  evil  than  he  had  rendered  to  him  again  in  return. 
The  character  of  Sylla,  moreover,  exemplifies  a  truth  most 
useful  to  be  remembered,  yet  most  often  contradicted  or  forgotten. 
His  life,  and  the  lives  of  many  others  in  every  age,  and  not  least 
in  our  own,  show  that  a  cultivated  understanding  is  no  warrant 
for  virtuous  principles  and  conduct,  and  that  the  old  adage  of 

"  Ingenuas  didicisse  fideliter  artes, 
ilmoUit  mores,  nee  sink  esse  feros," 

unless  a  very  strained  interpretation  be  put  upon  the  word  fideliter; 
is  widely  at  variance  with  the  evidence  of  facts.  Syila  had  a 
general  taste  for  literature;  he  was  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  writers  of  Greece  ;  he  delighted  in  the  society  of  men  of  talent ; 
and  he  was  himself  long  and  carefully  engaged  in  recording  the 
history  of  his  own  actions ;  yet  no  man  was  ever  more  stained 
with  cruelty,  nor  was  ever  any  more  degraded  by  habitual  and 
gross  profligacy.  Nor  is  this  at  all  wonderfifl,  if  we  consider  that 
the  intellectual  faculties,  like  the  sensual,  are  gratified  by  exercise; 
and  that  the  pleasure  deriv^ed  from  the  employment  of  talent  is 
quite  distinct  from  the  application  of  the  lessons  taught  by  the  un- 
derstanding to  the  government  of  the  affections  and  the  conduct. 
In  all  men,  whose  mental  powers  are  at  all  considerable,  the  in- 
dulgence of  them  is  as  much  an  object  of  mere  natural  appetite,  as 
the  gratification  of  hunger  and  thirst  is  to  the  mass  of  mankind ; 
and  it  is  only  because  it  is  less  common  that  it  is  regarded  as  con- 
ferring on  the  character  a  much  superior  value.     Bad  men,  of  good 


SEDITION,  REBELLION,  AND  DEATH  OF  LEPIDUS.  145 

natural  faculties,  gratify  therefore  with  equal  eagerness  their 
animal  and  iheir  intellectual  desires,  and  are  equally  ignorant  of 
the  govennnent  of  either.  It  is  the  part  of  goodness  to  restrain 
both,  and  to  convert  them  to  their  own  purposes  ;  an  etlbrt  wliich 
is  as  painful  to  pride  in  the  one  case  as  it  is  to  the  ordinary  feel- 
ings of  what  is  called  licentiousness  in  the  other :  and  it  is  the 
presence  or  absence  of  this  effort  which  distinguishes  talent  from 
wisdom,  and  forms  a  perpetual  barrier  between  men  like  Sylla, 
and  those  who  have  deserved  the  respect,  and  admiration,  and 
love  of  posterity. 

It  will  form  a  proper  conclusion  to  this  part  of  our  history,  if 
we  add  here  a  short  account  of  the  disturbances  se.iition,  rebellion, 
that  immediately  followed  the  death  of  Sylla,  and  pldu's!'''  '° 
which  originated  in  an  attempt  made  by  the  popular  party  to 
procure  the  repeal  of  his  various  laws  and  measures.  The  con- 
sulship was  at  this  time  filled  by  M.  Ji^milius  Lepidus  and  Q,. 
Lutatius  Catulus  ;  the  former  of  whom  had  governed  Sicily  some 
years  before  as  praetor, '^^  and  had  rendered  himself  infamous  for 
his  maladministration  ;  the  latter  was  the  son  of  that  Catulus  who 
had  been  the  colleague  of  Marius  in  his  fourth  consulship,  when 
he  overcame  the  Cimbri,  and  had  afterwards  killed  himself  when 
sentenced  to  die  by  the  same  Marius,  at  the  beginning  of  Cinna's 
usurpation.  During  Sylla's  lifetime,  Lepidus  had  attempted  to 
revive  the  popular  cause,  and  had  inveighed  against  the  tyranny 
under  which,  as  he  said,  the  republic  laboured.  Upon  the  death 
of  Sylla  he  endeavoured  to  deprive  his  remains  of  that  magnifi- 
cent ifuneral  with  which  the  aristocralical  party  proposed  to  honour 
them  ;'^'  but  in  this,  as  we  have  seen,  he  failed  ;  and  Catulus,  sup- 
ported by  Pompey,  succeeded  in  paying  the  last  tribute  to  the  late 
dictator's  memory.  Lepidus,  however,  having  now  declared  him- 
self the  enemy  of  the  party  in  possession  of  the  chief  power  in 
the  state,  at  once  proceeded  to  try  his  strength,  and  proposed  that 
Sylla's  acts  should  be  rescinded,'^"  which  was,  in  other  words,  to 
move  for  a  counter-revolution.  Attempting  to  tread  exactly  in  the 
steps  of  Cinna,  he  called  on  the  Italians  to  support  him,'^'  as 
he  was  labouring  to  procure  a  restoration  of  the  privileges  of  Ro- 
man citizenship  for  those  states  which  Sylla  had  deprived  of  them. 
Disputes  and  contests,  we  know  not  of  how  serious  a  kind,  were 
frequently  occurring  between  his  partisans  and  those  of  Catulus  ; 
the  senate,  however,  bound  both  consuls  by  an  oath,  that  they 
would  not  carry  their  dissensions  into  a  civil  war.  Lepidus,  per- 
haps, consented  the  more  readily  to  take  this  oath,  as  he  expected, 
on  the  expiration  of  his  consulship,  to  obtain  the  government  of  a 
province,  and  consequently  the  command  of  an  army ;  and  he 

'33  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  III.  91.  m  Appian,    107.      Sallust,    Oratio  L. 

139  Appian,  105.  Philippi  contra  Lepidum. 

i«  Florus,  III.  23.    Livy,  Epilome,XC. 


14(5  SEDITION,  REBELLION,  AND  DEATH  OF  LEPIDUS. 

considered  himself  as  only  pledged  to  abstain  from  arms  whilst 
he  was  actually  consul.  The  senate,  on  their  part,  anxious  to 
remove  him  from  the  capital,  and  either  trusting  to  the  obligation 
of  his  oath,  or  despising  his  means  of  injuring  them  by  open  re- 
bellion, allowed  him,  on  the  expiration  of  his  office,  to  receive  the 
command  of  the  province  of  Gaul,'*^  with  the  title  and  authority 
of  proconsul.  No  sooner  did  he  find  himself  at  the  head  of  an 
army  than  he  threw  aside  all  reserve  ;  he  endeavoured  to  raise 
partisans  in  Etruria,  the  quarter  of  Italy  in  which  the  latest  re- 
sistance had  been  made  to  the  power  of  Sylla ;  whilst  from  his 
station  in  Gaul  he  might  easily  connect  himself  Avith  those  re- 
mains of  the  Marian  party  which  Sertorius  yet  kept  in  the  field  in 
Spain.  Numbers  also  of  the  lowest  and  most  profligate  inhabi- 
tants of  Rome  flocked  to  join  him  ;  the  same  men  who  had  aided 
the  riots  of  Sulpicius,  and  had  been  ready  agents  in  the  massa- 
cres of  Marius  and  Damasippus.  Lepidus  marched  at  once  to- 
wards the  capital,  and  .approached  almost  as  far  as  the  very  walls 
of  the  city  ;  but  the  senate  were  prepared  for  their  defence.  Ap- 
pius  Claudius,  the  interrex,  the  consuls  for  the  following  year  not 
being  yet  chosen,  and  Q,.  Catulus,  as  proconsul,  were  charged  to 
provide  for  the  safety  of  the  state  ;  and,  by  the  forces  which  they 
collected,  Lepidus  was  easily  checked  and  defeated.  Destitute 
of  any  further  means  to  continue  the  war  in  Italy,  Lepidus 
then  retired  to  Sardinia,'^'  where  he  was  soon  attacked  by  sick- 
ness, and  died  in  the  midst  of  his  plans  for  renew- 

IT    r^    fi77        A    C     77 

ing  the  contest.  M.  Brutus, '^^  one  of  his  officers, 
and  the  father  of  the  famous  assassin  of  Caesar,  was  about  this 
time  taken  and  put  to  death  at  Mutina,  by  Pompey ;  and  tlius  the 
ascendency  of  the  aristocracy  remained  unimpaired,  and  was  pro- 
bably rather  strengthened  than  injured  by  this  rash  and  idle 
attempt  to  overthrow  it.  But  the  present  leaders  of  the  victorious 
party  were  men  who  have  left  behind  them  a  purer  character  than 
most  of  their  countrymen  ;  and  Catulus  has  the  rare  merit  of  sul- 
lying his  triumph  with  no  cruelties, '^^  and  of  remaining  content 
with  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  without  endeavouring  to 
add  any  thing  further  to  the  poweis  and  advantages  of  his  friends, 
or  to  the  depression  of  his  antagonists. 

H2  Snllust  and  Appian,  locis  citatis.  '^^  Livy  and  Plutarch,  ubi  supra. 

I"  Livy,  Epitome,  XC      Plutarch,   in         '«  Fiorus,  III.  23. 
Pompeio,  IG. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PART  I. 

CAIUS   JULIUS    C^SAR.— A    VIEW  OF  THE    INTERNAL   AFFAIRS   OF 
THE  ROx^IAN  EMPIRE.— FROM  U.C.  G76,  A.C.  78,  TO  U  C.  695,  A.C.  59. 

The  nobility  of  the  Julian  family  was  so  ancient  and  so  illustri- 
ous, that  even  after  it  obtained  the  ini[)erial  dignity,  p^^^  ^  c.  m,  a  c 
it  needed  not  the  exaggeration  of  flatterers  to  exalt  ^|' t"  u.  c.  ess,' a.  c. 
it.  Within  thirty  years  after  the  commencement  of  The  juUan  family. 
the  republic,  we  find  the  name  of  C.  Julius  on  the  list  of  consuls  ; 
and  the  same  person,  or  a  relation  of  the  same  name,  is  said  to 
have  been  one  of  the  decemviri,  by  whom  the  laws  of  the  Twelve 
Tables  were  compiled.  During  the  Punic  wars,  and  the  whole 
of  the  sixth  century  of  Rome,  the  family  produced  indeed  no  indi- 
viduals of  distinguished  character ;  but  there  is  a  Sex.  Julius  Cae- 
sar among  the  prajtors  of  the  year  544,  a  L.  Julius  among  those 
of  the  year  569,  and  a  Sextus  Julius,  who  appears  as  consul  in 
596,  seven  years  before  the  third  Punic  war.  In  the  sevejith  cen- 
tury we  have  already  had  occasion  to  mention  three  of  the  Cae- 
sars ;  namely,  Sextus  Julius  Caesar,  who  was  consul  with  L.  Phi- 
lippus,  A. U.C.  662,  during  the  famous  year  of  the  tribuneship  of 
Drusus  ;  L.  Julius  Caesar,  who  was  consul  in  the  year  following, 
who  distinguished  himself  in  the  Italian  war  by  a  great  victory 
over  the  Samnites,  and  who  was  afterwards  murdered'by  the  order 
of  Marius  ;  and  C.  Julius  Caesar,  the  brother  of  Lucius,  eminent 
as  an  orator,  for  his  wit  and  pleasantry,  whose  irregular  offer  of 
himself  for  the  consulship,  in  665,  first  led  P.  Sulpicius  to  act  the 
part  of  a  popular  tribune  in  opposing  him,  and  who  psrished,  to- 
gether with  his  brother,  when  Marius  and  Cinna  first  usurped  the 
government.  But  the  individual  to  whom  the  name  of  Caesar 
owes  its  renown  with  posterity,  was  cousin  in  the  second  degree 
to  these  two  brothers,  and  nephew  to  Sex.  Caesar,  the  colleague  of 
L.  Philippus  in  the  consulship.  His  father  was  C.  Julius  Caesar, 
a  man  of  praetorian  rank,  and  who  is  recorded  by  Pliny  as  a  re- 


148 


OP  THE  EARLY  LIFE  OF  C^SAR. 


markable  instance  of  sudden  death,'  he  having  expired  suddenly 
one  morning  at  Pisa,  while  dressing  himself,  C.  Caesar  married 
Aurelia,^  of  the  family  of  Aurelins  Cotta ;  and  of  these  parents 
was  born  the  famous  Caius  Julius  Caesar,  about  the  year  of  Rome 
653,  in  the  consulship  of  C.  Marius  and  L.  Valerins  Flaccus. 

Some  of  the  incidents  of  his  early  life,  his  marriage  with  the 
on  the  early  iTe  of  daughter  of  Ciuna,  and  his  narrow  escape  from  the 
CiEsar,  proscription  of  Sylla,  have  been  aheady  related.  But 

although  there  are  numerous  anecdotes  to  be  found  of  him  in  the 
stories  of  his  two  biographers,  Suetonius  and  Plutarch,  yet  the  au- 
thority of  both  these  writers  is  so  low,  and  their  accounts  are  at 
such  variance  with  one  another,  that  it  is  useless  to  repeat  that 
which  we  have  such  imperfect  grounds  for  believing.  Without 
pretending  to  arrange  the  order  of  the  several  events,  it  will  be 
enough  to  say,  that  he  commenced  his  military  service  at  an  early 
age  in  Asia,  and  was  present  at  the  reduction  of  Mitylene,^  the 
only  town  which  remained  in  arms  against  Rome  after  the  end  of 
the  first  war  with  Mithridates.  He  studied  eloquence  for  some 
time  at  Rhodes,^  under  ApoUonius  Molo,  from  whom  Cicero,  about 
the  same  period,  was  also  receiving  instructions.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  was  taken  by  some  of  those  pirates,  who  were  then  so 
formidable  on  all  the  coasts  of  Greece  ^  and  Asia,  and  was  detained 
by  them  till  he  collected  from  some  of  the  neighbouring  cities  fifty 
talents  for  his  ransom.  No  sooner  was  he  released  than  he  pro- 
cured a  small  naval  force,  and  set  out  on  his  own  sole  authority 
in  pursuit  of  the  pirates.  He  overtook  them,  and  took  some  of 
their  vessels,  which  he  brought  back  to  the  coast  of  Asia  with  a 
number  of  piisoners.  He  then  sent  word  of  his  success  to  the  pro- 
consul of  Asia,  requesting  him  to  order  the  execution  of  the  cap- 
tives ;  but  that  officer  being  more  inclined  to  have  them  sold  for 
slaves,  Caesar  ciucified  them  all  without  loss  of  time,  before  the 
proconsul's  pleasure  was  officially  known.  Such  conduct  was 
not  likely  to  recommend  him  to  those  in  authoiity ;  and  we  are 
told,  that  on  several  other  occasions  he  wished  to  act  for  himself,^ 
and  even  to  take  part  in  the  war  which  was  now  renewed  with 
Mithridates,  without  any  commission  from  the  government,  and 
without  submitting  himself  to  any  of  the  regular  officers  of  the 
republic.  These  early  instances  of  his  lawless  spirit  are  recorded 
with  admiration  by  some  of  his  historians,  as  affording  proofs  of 
vigour  and  greatness  of  mind. 

He  first  brought  himself  into  notice  at  Rome  by  bringing  a 

1  Pliny,  llistor.  Natur.  VII.  53.  *  Suetonius,  4.     Cicero,  de  Claris  Ora- 

2  Sueionius,  in  C.  Jul   Caesare,  74.  toribus,  91. 

3  Suetonius,  in  C.  Jul.  Caesare,  2.  Livy,         5  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  41,  Suetoni- 
Epitome,  LXXXIX.  us,  4. 

s  Suetonius,  4. 


HIS  FIRST  PUBLIC  APPEARANCE  AT  ROME.  149 

charge  of  corruption  in  his  province  against  Cn.  His  first  puWic  ap» 
Dolahella/  who  had  been  consul  with  M.  Tulhus  ^X™e'he\^pou'?o8 
Decula,  under  the  dictatorship  of  Sylla,  and  had  the  popular  patty. 
since  been  appointed  to  the  province  of  Macedonia,  and  had  ob- 
tained a  triumph  for  some  victories  over  the  neighbouring  barba- 
rians. Dolabella,  however,  was  defended  by  Cotta  and  Horten- 
sius,  two  of  tlie  most  famous  orators  of  that  period,  and  v/as 
acquitted.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  merits  of  this  case, 
Cajsar  probably  was  glad  to  seize  any  opportunity  of  annoying  the 
partisans  of  Sylla;  and  even  in  his  early  youth  he  made  no  secret 
of  his  enmity  to  the  aristocratical  party,  and  obtained  the  credit 
of  boldly  supporting  the  weaker  cause,  by  an  ostentation  of  his 
regard  for  the  memory  of  Marius  and  Cinna.  He  lost  during  his 
quasstorship  both  his  own  wife,*  Cornelia,  the  daughter  of  Cinna, 
and  liis  aunt  Julia,  who  had  been  the  wife  of  the  elder  Marius. 
He  pronounced  an  oration  in  honour  of  each  of  them  ;  and,  at  the 
funeral  of  his  aunt,  he  ordered  that  the  images  of  her  husband 
Marius  should  be  exhibited  amongst  those  of  her  other  deceased 
relations  and  ancestors,  which,  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
Romans,  were  always  carried  in  the  procession  on  such  occasions. 
Marius  having  been  adjudged  a  traitor,  the  sight  of  his  statues 
produced  a  great  surprise  among  the  people,  and  tlie  lower  jtopu- 
lace,  looking  upon  them  as  a  pledge  of  the  revival  of  the  popular 
party,  welcomed  them  as  they  passed  with  the  loudest  acclama- 
tions. But,  whilst  Caesar  was  thus  giving  tokens  of  the  danger 
which  the  aristocracy  had  to  apprehend  from  his  political  career, 
he  almost  lulled  their  fears  by  the  unbounded  infamy  of  his  per- 
sonal character.  We  will  not  and  cannot  repeat  the  picture  which 
ancient  writers,^  little  scrupulous  on  such  points,  have  drawn  of 
his  debaucheries ;  it  will  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  he  was  stained 
with  mimerous  adulteries  committed  with  women  of  the  noblest 
families  ;  that  his  profligacies  in  other  points  drew  upon  him 
general  disgrace,  even  amidst  the  lax  morality  of  his  own  con- 
temporaries, and  are  such  that  their  very  flagitiousness  has  in 
part  saved  them  from  the  abhorrence  of  posterity,  because  modern 
writers  cannot  pollute  their  pages  with  the  mention  of  them. 

With  such  an  outline  of  the  family  and  the  early  life  of  C. 
Caesar,  we  shall  close  his  personal  history  for  the  present.  Ac- 
cording to  the  plan  which  we  have  pursued  on  former  occasions, 
we  shall  attempt  to  describe  the  state  of  the  Roman  empire  im- 
mediately before  that  period  at  which  his  ambition  openly  aspir- 
ed to  enslave  it ;  and  we  trust  to  be  forgiven,  if  we  sacrifice  to 
this  object  some  details  of  particular  facts,  which  are  either  little 

7  Suetonius,  4.     Cicero,  de  Claris  Ora-         »  Suetonius,  4D,  et  seq.  et  Auctores  ibi 
toribus,  92.  citati. 

8  Suetonius,  6.    Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  5. 


150 


OF  SPAIN. 


worthy  of  attention,  or,  from  their  great  notoriety,  are  aheady 
famihar  to  every  reader. 

If  a  merchant  of  Alexandria  had  traversed  the  Mediterranean 
state  of  tiio  Roman  in  the  year  of  Rome  680  ;  if  he  had  been  bound  in 
y^r'68o,B!c!73.  "^  tho  first  instancc  to  Spain  ;  if  thence  he  had  been 
led  by  circumstances  to  visit  the  coasts  of  Italy,  and  to  pass  a 
short  time  at  Rome  itself;  if  then,  while  pursuing  his  voyage 
homewards,  he  had  met  with  the  fate  which  at  that  period  was 
most  likely  to  befall  him,  that  of  failing  into  the  hands  of  pirates  ; 
and  finally,  if  he  had  touched  at  some  places  on  the  coasts  of 
Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  while  his  captors  were  returning  with 
their  prize  to  their  strongholds  in  Cilicia  ;  and  if,  having  efiected 
his  ransom,  he  had  at  last  been  happy  enough  to  reach  Egypt  in 
safety,  and  had  there  recorded  the  story  of  his  eventful  voyage, 
and  of  the  various  scenes  which  he  had  witnessed  ;  with  what 
delight  should  we  have  welcomed  such  a  treasure,  and  how  thank- 
ful should  we  feel  to  that  African  traveller  whose  researches 
should  procure  for  us  so  valuable  a  fund  of  information.  The 
thought,  indeed,  of  the  knowledge  of  antiquity  which  we  desire, 
is  enough  to  make  us  discontented  with  that  which  we  possess. 
But  in  miagining  the  case  of  the  Egyptian  merchant,  our  object 
is  to  bring  before  our  readers  at  one  view  the  state  of  the  different 
extremities  of  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  to  enable  them  to  judge  of 
the  condition  of  the  times,  by  describing  the  scenes  which  would 
have  presented  themselves  to  the  eyes  of  an  individual,  in  whatever 
quarter  of  the  Roman  empire  his  fortune  might  have  placed  him. 

If  a  trading  vessel  had  approached  the  more  southern  parts 
of  Spain,  she  might  have  found  every  thing  tran- 
°^  ''""*  quil  ;  but  if  her  course  had  been  directed  towards 

the  mouths  of  the  Sucro  or  the  Ebro,  she  would  have  probably 
been  stopped  by  the  light  cruisers  of  Sertorius,'"  which  covered 
the  whole  coast  in  order  to  intercept  any  supplies  coming  by  sea 
for  the  armies  of  Pompey  and  Metellus.  On  shore,  the  country 
was  suffering  under  the  miseries  of  a  long  and  dubious  warfare. 
We  have  already  slightly  mentioned  the  beginnings  of  Sertorius's 
career,  and  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  him  hereafter 
more  at  length.  He  had  at  first  been  opposed  in  Spain  by  Q,. 
Metellus  Pius ;  but,  when  that  officer  was  found  unable  to  bring  the 
war  to  a  conclusion,  and  Sertoriushad  been  greatly  reinforced  by 
the  troops  which  had  followed  Lepidus  in  his  attempt  to  revive 
the  popular  cause,  and  which  after  his  defeat  M.  Perpenna  had 
led  into  Spain,"  the  senate  deemed  it  necessary  to  intrust  the 
command  to  a  general  of  the  highest  reputation,  and  accordingly 
fixed  their  choice  upon  Pompey.     Sertorius,  however,  withstood 

10  Plutarch.inSertorio,  21.  Strabo,  III.         "  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  108. 
167,  edit.  Xyland. 


OF  GAUL. 


151 


the  united  efforts  of  his  two  antagonists  with  great  ability  and 
success :  he  availed  himself  of  the  activity  and  ingenuity  of  tlie 
Spaniards,  who  were  warmly  attached  to  him,  and  who  became 
most  excellent  soldiers,  wlien  they  had  received  from  him  some 
portion  of  discipUne  and  military  skill  in  addition  to  their  natural 
excellences.  Tiie  war  which  had  begun  before  the  death  of 
Sylla,  was  still  in  the  year  680  maintained  with  unabated  vigour  ; 
nor  was  it  terminated  till  two  years  afterwards,  when,  Sertorius 
having  been  assassinated  by  some  of  his  officers,  who  wer-e  jeal- 
ous of  his  talents,  but  very  unable  to  supply  his  place,  Pompey 
obtained  an  easy  victory,  reduced  the  whole  of  Spain  to  a  state  of 
obedience,  and  returned  to  Rome  to  enjoy  the  honours  of  a  tri- 
umph, and  to  enter  upon  the  office  of  consul.  In 
the  mean  time  we  find  that  his  army, '^  for  a  con-  u.c.ess. 

siderable  portion  of  the  time  that  it  had  served  in  Spain,  was  very 
irregularly  paid,  and  was  obliged  to  support  itself  at  the  expense 
of  the  country  which  was  the  seat  of  war.  This  was  also  the 
case  with  the  army  of  Sertorius  ;  so  that  the  whole  northeast  of 
Spain,  as  may  readily  be  imagined,  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  the 
greatest  poverty  and  desolation. 

Pursuing  a  coasting  navigation  from  Spain  towards  Italy,  a 
vessel  would  naturally  stop  at  some  of  the  ports  of 
the  province  of  Gaul.     It  appears  that  the  Gauls  on  ^'^  *^*"'' 

both  sides  of  the  Alps  had  taken  up  arms  in  the  cause  of  Lepidus ; 
and  Pompey,  when  marching  into  Spain,  had  inffictcd  on  them 
a  severe  chastisement, '^  and  had  expelled  many  of  the  Transal- 
pine Gauls  in  particular  from  their  cities  and  territories.  During 
the  war  with  Sertorius,  the  province  of  Gaul  was  obliged  to  con- 
tribute largely  to  the  necessities  of  the  Roman  armies,  and  both 
Metellus  and  Pompey,  on  two  several  occasions,  wintered  there,'* 
when  the  country  to  the  south  of  the  Pyrenees  was  too  much  ex- 
hausted to  maintain  them.  Manius  Fonteius  was  about  this 
time  governor  of  the  province,  and  he  made  himself  very  odious 
to  the  natives,  not  only  by  the  rigour  with  which  he  exacted  sup- 
plies of  horses,  corn,  and  money,  for  the  troops  in  Spain,  but  by 
the  duties  which  he  levied  on  their  wines,"  and,  as  they  alleged, 
by  the  partial  and  corrupt  manner  in  which  he  demanded  their 
services  in  making  roads. '«  Fonteius  was  afterwards  brought  to 
trial  at  Rome  for  his  conduct  in  his  province ;  and  while  Cicero, 
in  his  defence  of  him,  denies  strongly  the  charge  of  corruption,  he 
admits  the  severity,  or,  as  he  calls  it,  the  vigour,  with  which  he 
maintained  the  authority  of  Rome  amongst  a  people  always  tur- 
bulent and  disaffected,  and  who  were  so  lately  in  open  rebellion. 

'2  Epistola  Cn.  Pompeii,  apud  Fragm.         '^  Epistola  Cn.  Pompeii,  apud  Sallust. 
Sallust.  Cicero,  pro  Fonteio,  3. 

13  Cicero,  pro   Fonteino,  2  ;  pro   Lege         '^  Cicero,  pro  Fonteio,  5. 
Manilla,  10.  is  Cicero,  pro  Fonteio,  4. 

11 


J52  STATE  OF  PARTIES  IN  ROME. 

From  Gaul  a  short  passage  would  transport  the  voyager  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  and  would  place  him  amongst  all  the 
various  rumours,  and  interests,  and  speculations  which  abound 
in  the  seat  of  goverimient  of  a  great  empire.     At 
°^"^^'  the  period   of  which  we   are    now  speaking,   he 

would  have  found  the  public  attention  seriously  excited  by  an 
Insurrection  of  the     insurrcctiou  of  gladiators,  which  had  broken  out  a 

gla.ha,ors  under  spar-    ^J^^^.j  ^J^^^g    |,gfoj.p_       J^^^^^^^    SCVCUty   perSOUS     of  thiS 

class, '^  mostly  natives  of  Gaul  and  Thrace,  who  liad  been  eitlier 
taken  prisoners  in  war,  or  carried  off  by  slave-traders  from  their 
own  country,  had  effected  their  escape  from  the  place  where  they 
were  kept  in  training  at  Capua.  Having  fallen  in  with  some 
wagons  on  the  road,  which  were  carrying  a  quantity  of  arms 
for  the  use  of  the  gladiators  in  a  neighbouring  city,  they  seized 
the  whole  supply,  and  retired  to  Mount  Vesuvius,  as  to  a  post 
which  they  might  maintain  with  advantage.  Here  they  chose 
three  leaders,  Spartacus,  Ciixus,  and  ^Enomaus  ;  and  having  re- 
pulsed the  first  attempts  which  were  made  to  reduce  them,  their 
numbers  were  rapidly  swelled  by  the  concourse  of  fugitive  slaves 
from  all  quarters,  and  by  many  of  the  poorest  class  of  freemen, 
who  were  allured  by  the  prospect  of  plunder.  They  were  attack- 
ed by  a  regular  force  commanded  by  a  Roman  piajtor  ;  and  hav- 
ing completely  defeated  it,  they  quitted  their  asylum  of  Mount 
Vesuvius  ;  and  receiving  daily  large  additions  to  their  numbers, 
they  plundered  several  of  the  principal  cities  in  Campania,  in- 
tending, when  satiated  with  plunder,  to  march  towards  the  Alps, 
and  thus  to  effect  their  escape  in  safety  to  their  own  countries,  carry- 
ing with  them  the  spoils  of  Italy. 

An  intelligent  and  curious  traveller  would  naturally  have  wish- 
state  of  partes  in  ed  to  gain  some  insight  into  the  state  of  parties 
^°'°^-  in  the  capital,  and  into  the  views  and  feelings  of 

the  people  with  respect  to  public  affairs.  Five  years  had  elapsed 
since  the  death  of  Sylla,  and  the  laws  which  he  had  enacted 
were  still  almost  wh-olly  in  force,  and  the  depression  of  the  popu- 
lar interest  was  consequently  almost  the  same  as  after  his  victory, 
^ince  the  defeat  of  Lepidus,  .one  or  two  tribunes  had  attempted  to 
restore  their  office  to  its  former  powers  and  dignities  ;  but  their  ef- 
forts had  been  ineffectual,  and  one  of  them,  Cn.  Sicin- 
ius,  is  said  to  have  lost  his  life  through  the  violence 
of  his  opponents.  '^  C.  Cotta,  however,  who  was  consul  in  the  year 
678,  finding  the  people  in  a  condition  ef  great  distress,  owing  to  the 
distuibed  state  of  many  of  the  provinces  which  used  to  supply  the 
capital  with  corn,  and  to  tire  extensive  depredations  committed  by 
.the  Cilician  pirates,  deemed  it  expedient  to  try  some  means  of  con- 

'"  Livy,  Epitome,  XCV.     Plutarch,  in         '^  OratioC.  Licinii  Macri,  apud  Fragm. 
<Crasso,S.  Appian,de  Bell.  Civiii,  I.  116.     Sallust. 


ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OP  THE  CILICIAN  PIRATES.  153 

ciliating  them.  Accordingly  he  procured  the  repeal  of  that  law  of 
Sylla,'^  by  which  those  who  had  been  trilniues  of  the  people  had 
been  declared  ineligible  to  any  of  the  higher  magistracies,  and 
he  was  empowered  by  the  senate  to  sell  the  tithes  of  wine  and 
oil,  which  the  Sicilians  always  paid  in  kind,""  not  in  Sicily,  as 
had  hitherto  been  the  practice,  but  at  Rome,  in  order  soniewhat 
to  lower  the  price  of  provisions  in  the  Roman  markets.  A  cer- 
tain distribution  of  corn  v^^as  also  made  among  the  poorer  citizens,'^' 
by  which  each  man  received  five  pecks  at  a  very  low  price. 
But  these  were  only  temporary  experiments;  and  we  find  C. 
Macer  Licinius,  one  of  the  tribunes  for  the  year  680,  lamenting 
the  humbled  and  dispirited  state  of  the  people,  who,  so  soon  as 
they  left  the  forum,  forgot  all  their  political  interests,  and  were 
desirous  only  of  gaiiiing,  undisturbed,  a  subsistence  for  them- 
selve  and  their  families.  These  are  the  circumstances  which  are, 
above  all  others,  most  unfavourable  to  the  cause  of  true  liberty; 
and  they  are  the  natural  result  of  bloody  civil  dissensions,  which 
generally  leave  behind  them  a  disgust  for  political  business,  attend- 
ed with  a  large  portion  of  individual  distress.  In  order  to  rouse 
the  people  from  their  apathy,  the  popular  loaders  are  then  tempt- 
ed to  employ  stimulants  of  the  most  violent  nature  ;  to  exag- 
gerate the  public  grievances,  and  to  misrepresent  and  traduce 
the  party  of  their  antagonists,  thinking  that  nothing  less  than 
an  excessive  indignation  can  repair  the  evils  of  an  excessive 
indifference.  At  Rome,  howev'er,  during  the  period  of  which 
we  are  now  speaking,  the  moderation  and  popular  virtues  of 
many  of  the  principal  individuals  of  the  aiistocracy  obviated  in 
a  great  measure  the  mi.^chief  of  these  invectives.  The  people 
were  taught  to  feel  their  own  power,  and  to  exercise  it ;  but  they 
respected  the  senate,  and  continued  for  some  time  to  submit  to  its 
regulated  influence  and  authority;  till  the  eftbrts  of  some  worth- 
less individuals  again  excited  jealousies  and  dissensions  :  in  the 
course  of  which,  the  senate  and  the  people  were  opposed  to  one 
another  in  a  quarrel  which  was  not  their  own;  and  a  war,  in 
which  no  national  nor  public  interests  were  propeily  involved, 
enabled  one  profligate  adventmer  to  overturn  the  whole  constitu- 
tion, and  to  overwhelm  all  ranks  of  the  commonwealth  together 
under  his  own  despotism. 

We  have  said  that  a  merchant  vessel,  bound  from  Rome  to 
the  eastern  part  of  the  Mediterranean  in  the  year  ongin  and  progress  of 
680,  would,  in  all  probability,  have  fallen  into  the  theVatesofcucia. 
power  of  some  of  the  pirates  by  whotn  the  sea  was  at  this  time 
infested.  At  no  other  period  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  pi- 
racy been  carried  to  such  a  formidable  height ;  and  even  the  ex- 
's Asconius,  in  Ciceron.  pro  Cornelio  21  Qratio  C.  Macri,  apud  Fragm.  Sal- 
Oration.  1.  lust. 
2"*  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  III.  7. 


154  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OF 

ploits  of  the  famous  buccaneers  in  America  are  less  wonderful, 
when  we  consider  that  the  pirates  of  Asia  did  not  confine  their 
ravages  to  a  distant  quarter  of  the  Roman  empire,  where  the  arm 
of  the  government  would  necessarily  act  with  less  vigour,  but 
that  they  insulted  and  annoyed  the  neighbourhood  of  the  capital 
itself.  We  possess  only  imperfect  accounts  of  their  origin  ;  but 
we  learn  that  in  the  wars  between  Greece  and  Persia,'^^  the  Cili- 
cians  usually  formed  a  considerable  part  of  the  king's  navies,  and 
that  the  nature  of  their  country  disposed  them  to  maritime  affairs. 
The  cliain  of  Mount  Taurus,^^  in  its  course  from  the  western 
coast  of  Asia  Minor,  approaches  nearly  to  the  Mediterranean,  to- 
wards the  southeastern  extremity  of  the  peninsula  ;  leaving  be- 
tween itself  and  the  sea  a  district  of  unequal  breadth  and  dissimi- 
lar character,  which  was  divided  into  two  parts,  the  mountainous 
and  the  plain  Cilicia.  Of  these,  the  mountainous  Cilicia  present- 
ed a  number  of  strongholds,  built  on  high  and  steep  cliffs  over- 
hanging the  sea,  and  each,  for  the  most  part,  commanding  either 
a  small  harbour,  or  a  smooth  and  sheltered  beach,  which,  for  the 
purposes  of  ancient,  navigation,  was  hardly  less  convenient. 
With  these  facilities  of  access  to  the  sea,  and  of  escape  from  its 
violence  or  fjom  the  pursuit  of  an  enemy,  were  combined  the 
advantages  of  an  inexhaustible  store  of  timber  in  the  cedar  forests 
of  Taurus,  and  the  stimulus  afforded  by  the  natural  poverty  of  a 
mountain  region,  which  inclined  its  inhabitants  to  a  life  of  plun- 
der. A  people  of  this  description  can  only  be  civilized  by  the 
systematic  efforts  of  a  powerful  government ;  but  the  Cilicians 
had  first  been  included  in  the  empire  of  Persia,  and  after  the 
conquests  and  early  death  of  Alexander,  they  formed  a  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  Syria.  But  neither  the  kings  of  Persia  nor  of  Syria 
were  likely  to  employ  themselves  in  civiliziiig  their  barbarian 
subjects  ;  and  the  character  and  habits  of  the  Cilicians  remained 
unchanged,  till,  in  the  seventh  century  of  Rome,  the  increasing 
weakness  and  the  constant  family  dissensioiis  of  their  sovereigns 
enabled  them  to  indulge  their  inclinations  with  less  restraint. 
The  chiefs  of  the  several  strongholds  along  the  coast,  despising 
the  authority  of  the  Syrian  government,^^  commenced  a  system 
of  plunder  ;  and  the  circumstances  of  the  times  determined  them 
to  follow  peculiarly  the  occupation  of  manstealers.  The  demand 
for  slaves  among  the  great  land  proprietors  of  Italy  so  far  exceed- 
ed the  occasional  supply  produced  by  the  conquests  of  the  repub- 
Hc,  that  the  slave-trade  was  become  a  most  lucrative  branch  of 
commerce  ;  and  the  Cilicians,  being  bold  and  able  seamen,  car- 
ried it  on  with  success,  by  making  descents  on  various  parts  of 

22  Herodotus,  VII.  91  ;  VIII.  68.  Thu-         21  Strabo,  XIV,  766,  et  seq.,  edit.  Xy- 
cydides,  I.  112.  land. 

23  Strabo,  XIV.  766,  et  seq.,  edit.  Xy- 
land. 


THE  PIRATES  OF  CILICIA.  255 

the  neighbouring  coast,  and  surprising  the  persons  of  the  inhabit- 
ants. They  then  carried  their  captives  to  Delos,  which  was  so 
great  a  mart  for  this  traffic,  that  many  thousands  of  slaves  might 
be  landed  there,  sold,  and  exported  again  on  the  same  day. 
Doubtless,  the  well-known  horrors  of  the  "  middle  passage"  were 
experienced  often  by  the  unhappy  wretches  who  were  crowded 
together  in  narrow  vessels,  built  far  more  for  swiftness  than  for 
the  reception  of  passengers,  and  who  were  exposed  to  the  cruelty 
and  merciless  avarice  of  a  crew  of  barbarian  pirates;  whilst  they 
themselves  would  frequently  be  persons  of  some  fortune  and  ed- 
ucation, torn  away,  with  their  wives  and  children,  from  the  en- 
joyment of  all  the  comforts  of  civilized  life.  Nor  did  the  neigh- 
bouring states  of  Cyprus  and  Egypt  attempt  to  prevent  these 
atrocities  ;  but  tliey  are  said  to  have  witnessed  them  with  plea- 
sure through  jealousy  of  the  Syrians,  wlio  were  the  chief  sutfer- 
ers.  But  both  they  who  neglected  to  crush  the  evil,  and  the 
Romans,  who  had  first  given  occasion  to  it,  began  soon  to  feel  its 
effects  themselves.  Gain  and  impunity  encouraged  the  pirates  to 
extend  their  robberies :  property  and  merchandise  of  every  kind, 
and  belonging  to  every  nation,  were  attacked  without  scruple ; 
insomuch  that  the  Romans  were  obliged  to  notice  these  piracies 
as  early  as  the  year  651,  and  M.  Antonius,  the  orator,  who  was 
then  praetor,  received  Cilicia  as  his  province,^^  and  there  obtain- 
ed some  victories,  which  were  held  sufficient  to  entitle  him  to  the 
honour  of  the  smaller  triumph,  or  ovation.  The  war  with  Mith- 
rida.tes  followed  in  about  fourteen  years  ;  and  during  that  war, 
the  Cilician  pirates  offered  their  services  to  the  king  of  Pontus 
against  the  Romans, '^^  and  infested  the  iEgean  so  much  with 
their  light  squadrons,  that  Sylla  often  felt  considerable  annoy- 
ance from  them.  But  after  the  regular  war  was  at  an  end,  the 
pirates  became  more  formidable  than  ever ;  they  were  joined  by 
many  individuals  who  had  been  ruined  during  the  late  contest ; 
and  now  no  longer  wearing  the  semblance  of  auxiliaries  to  a 
regular  government,  they  extended  their  cruises  to  all  parts  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  not  only  made  partial  descents,  but  attacked^ 
and  often  made  themselves  masters  of  fortified  towns  situated  on 
the  coast.  Under  these  circumstances,  P.  Servilius  Vatia,  who 
had  been  consul  in  the  year  674,  was  in  the  year  following  sent 
to  repress  the  pirates  \^''  and  he  appears  to  have  held  the  com- 
mand during  some  years,  in  the  course  of  which  he  defeated 
them  at  sea,  and  also  stormed  so  many  of  their  fortresses  in  Pam- 
phylia  and  the  neighbouring  country  of  Isauria,  that  he  received 
the  surname  of  Isauricus,  and  was  considered  to  have  put  an  end 
altogether  to  the  evil.     These  hopes,  however,  were  soon  disap- 

25  Cicero,   de    Oratore,    I.    18.     Livy,         27  Suetonius,  in  Caesaie,  3.  Strabo,  XII. 
Epitome,  LXVIII.  663,  edit.  Xyland. 

26  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  24.     Appian, 
de  Bell.  Mithridat.  92. 


156        ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  PIRATES  OF  CILICIA. 

pointed.  The  trade  of  piracy  had  been  found  so  profitable,  that 
many  others  of  the  maritime  states  of  Asia  Minor  were  engaged 
in  it  as  well  as  the  CiUcians  f^  and  no  partial  losses  could  put  a 
stop  to  a  system  carried  on  on  so  extensive  a  scale.  A  more 
vigorous  attempt  to  repress  it  had  been  made,  indeed,  about  Ihe 
year  678,  when  M.  Antonius,  the  son  of  the  orator,  and  father 
of  the  triumvir,  received  an  extraordinary  command, ^^  extending 
over  all  the  sea  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean,  that  he  might  be  en- 
abled to  check  the  enemy  at  once  in  every  quarter.  But  Antonius 
seems  to  have  distinguished  himself  by  no'.hing  but  his  op- 
pression and  his  exactions  from  the  allies  of  Rome,  and  his  injus- 
tice towards  neutral  states :  and  the  conduct  of  his  subordinate 
officers  greatly  resembled  his  own.  The  robberies  of  the  pirates 
continued  unabated,  and  the  behaviour  of  the  Roman  command- 
ers only  added  to  the  general  mistny.  It  is,  however,  by  some 
particular  facts  that  we  may  best  convey  a  notion  of  the  extent 
of  the  public  losses  and  dishonour.  In  the  year  680,  the  notoiious 
C.  Verres  was  appointed  to  command  the  province  of  Sicily  as 
propra3tor  ;  and  during  his  administration,  a  piratical  chief  named 
Heracleo,^"  with  a  light  squadron  of  four  vessels,  appeared  on 
the  coasts  of  the  island,  defeated  and  burnt  an  ill-provided  fleet 
which  had  attempted  to  oppose  him,  and  entered  in  a  bravado 
into  the  very  harbour  of  Syracuse,  which,  having  surveyed  at  his 
leisure,  he  again  put  to  sea  without  molestation.  The  communi- 
cation between  Italy  and  Greece  was  intercepted  during  the  whole 
summer  ;3'  several  officers  going  abroad,  with  commissions  from 
the  senate,  on  the  public  service,  were  taken,  and  released  for  a 
ransom;  and  two  praetors,  with  their  lictors,  while  going  abroad 
to  take  the  command  of  their  provinces,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
pirates.  Descents  were  made  on  both  coasts  of  Italy  ;  the  har- 
bour of  Caieta,  which  was  full  of  Roman  vessels,  was  entered  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  a  Roman  praetor,  and  every  thing  in  it  was 
taken  or  destroyed;  the  children  of  M.  Antonius,  the  orator,  at 
the  very  time,  apparently,  that  their  brother  was  commanding 
against  the  pirates,  were  carried  oft'  from  the  house  of  their 
family  at  Misenum,  and  were  ransomed  for  a  large  sum  of 
money.  Nay,  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber  itself  was  not  secure 
from  insult ;  and  a  fleet,  which  one  of  the  consuls  had  been  ap- 
pointed to  command,  was  surprised  and  taken  at  Ostia,  within 
twenty  miles  of  Rome.  While  such  were  the  affi'onts  sustained 
so  near  the  seat  of  government  itself,  it  will  excite  no  sur- 
prise to  hear  that  Cnidus,  Samos,  and  Colophon,  with  400  other 
cities,  were  taken  at  different  times  by  this  daring  enemy  ;^2  ^jid 
that  some  of  the  most  famous  and  richest  temples,  those  of  Juno 

^  Appian,  de  Bell.  Mithridat.  92.  s'  Cicero,  pro  Lege  Manilla,  1.  12. 

"^^  Cicero,  in  Verrem,II.  3,  III.  91.  ^2  Plutarch,  in  Ponipeio,  24. 

^  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  V.  34,  35,  37. 


OPPRESSION  OP  ROMAN  GOVERNORS  IN  THE  PROVINCES.      157 

at  Samos,  at  Argos,  and  at  Laciiiium  in  Italy;  those  of  Apollo 
at  Leucas  and  Actium ;  those  of  Neptnne  at  the  Isthmus  of 
Corinth,  and  at  Ta3narus;  and  that  of  Ceres  and  Proserpine  in 
Samothrace,  were  violated  and  ransacked.  The  revenues  and 
the  commerce  of  Rome  were  alike  intercepted  or  suspended  ;  and 
the  power  of  the  republic  was,  for  awhile,  baffled  or  despised  by 
an  enemy,  without  a  country  and  without  a  government,  who 
possessed  no  other  resources  than  the  plunder  which  they  had 
acquired  by  their  piracies. 

In  describmg  the  progress  of  the  pirates,  we  have  anticipated 
the  mention  of  the  scenes  which  would  have  pre-  oppression  of  Roman 
sented  themselves  to  the  eyes  of  a  voyager  in  the  vlnclT" '" 
seas,  and  on  the  coasts  of  Greece  and  Asia  Minor.  If  any  acci- 
dent had  led  him  to  visit  the  interior  of  those  countries,  he  would 
have  found  the  violences  of  the  pirates  almost  equalled  by  the 
tyranny  of  the  Roman  governors  and  officers.  It  appears  that, 
for  several  years  after  the  triumph  of  the  aristocratical  party  under 
Sylla.  the  crimes  of  the  Roman  magistrates  and  generals,  and  the 
excesses  which  their  examples  encouraged  their  soldiers  to  com- 
mit, were  nnusually  great  ;^2  and  that  the  corrupt  state  of  the  tri- 
bunals at  Rome,  where  the  judicial  power  was  vested  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  senators,  ensured  a  frequent  impunity  to  such  offend- 
ers. When  Cicero  accused  Verres,  in  the  year  683,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  declare,  that  it  was  the  wish  of  the  provinces  that  the 
laws  against  the  maladministration  of  Roman  officers  might  be 
repealed  ;^^  for,  whilst  they  existed,  corrupt  governors  increased 
their  extortions,  that  they  might  have  wherewithal  to  reward  their 
advocates,  and  to  bribe  their  judges,  in  case  they  should  be  brought 
to  trial ;  and  the  most  respectable  of  the  Romans,  and  the  warmest 
supporters  of  the  cause  of  the  nobility,  Q,.  Catulus  and  Cn.  Pom- 
pey,  confessed  and  deplored  the  truth  of  this  statement.  History 
has  preserved  to  us  the  names  of  Cn.  Dolabella,  who  was  tried 
for  his  misgovernment  of  Macedonia  ;  of  another  Cn.  Dolabella, 
who  was  accused  of  corruption  and  cruelty  in  Cilicia;^^  of  M. 
Antonius,  who  has  been  already  mentioned  as  infamous  for  his 
general  misconduct  in  the  extensive  command  which  had  been 
intrusted  to  him ;  of  his  brother,  C.  Antonius,  who  was  brought 
to  trial  for  his  exactions  in  Greece  f^  of  Q,.  Calidius,  who  was 
charged  with  oppression  in  Spain  i^'  of  Manius  Fonteius,  whom 
Cicero  defended  against  the  complaints  of  the  Gauls  ;  and  above 
all,  of  C.  Verres,  who  for  three  years  practised  every  kind  of  cruelty 
and  corruption  in  Sicily.  Besides  these,  were  officers  who  are 
charged  with  no  personal  corruption,  yet  whose  conduct  towards 

33  Cicero,  pro  Lege  Manilla,  13.22.  ^  Q,.    Cicero,  de   Petiiione    Consula- 

34  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  actio.  I.  14,  15.     tfts,  2. 

35  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  I.  38.  3?  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  act.  I.  13  ;  III. 

25,  et  Asconius,  in  act.  I.  in  Verrem. 


158     OPPRESSION  OF  ROMAN  GOVERNORS  IN  THE  PROVINCES. 

foreign  states  was  harsh  and  unjust.  P.  ServiUus  has  been 
already  mentioned  as  having  gained  several  victories  over  the 
pirates  in  PamphyHa  and  Isauria.  Amongst  other  places,  they 
had  occupied  Olympus,  a  city  of  Lycia  ;  and  Servilius  besieged 
and  took  the  town  from'  them.  The  Lycians,  to  whom  it  of  right 
belonged,  had  carefully  abstained  from  imitating  the  example  of 
their  neighbours, ^^  and  had  taken  no  part  in  the  depredations  of 
the  pirates  ;  yet  the  ornaments  of  the  city  were  carried  off  as  spoils 
to  Rome,  and  the  people  of  Olympus  were  deprived  of  a  portion 
of  their  territory. 

.  A  Gaulish  chief,  while  exhorting  his  countrymen  to  maintain 
their  independence  against  the  arms  of  Rome,  is  represented  by 
Csesar  as  describing,  in  two  words,  the  degraded  condition  of  that 
part  of  Gaul  which  was  already  a  Roman  province.^^  He  called 
it  "  subjecta  securibus,"  "  subject  to  the  lictor's  axe  ;"  and  although 
the  last  extremities  of  tyranny  might  have  been  comparatively 
rare,  yet,  in  fact,  the  lives  of  the  provincials  were  subject  to  the 
arbitrary  will  of  the  governors,  without  any  immediate  protection, 
and  too  often  with  only  a  feeble  prospect  of  retribution  upon  their 
oppressor.  When  Verres  was  in  Asia,^°  as  quaestor  to  Cn.  Dola- 
,  bella,  he  was  sent  by  him  on  a  mission  to  Nicomedes,  king  of 
Bithynia,  and  on  his  way  he  passed  through  Lampsacus.  He 
was  there  informed  that  Philodanms,  one  of  the  principal  citizens, 
had  an  unmarried  daughter  of  extraordinary  beauty  ;  and  in  order 
to  effect  the  infamous  design  which  he  instantly  entertained,  he 
caused  one  of  his  creatures  to  be  lodged  at  the  house  of  Philoda- 
mus.  This  man,  whose  name  was  Rubrius,  was  entertained  with 
the  greatest  hospitality,  and  was  desired  to  name  the  persons  whom 
he  wished  to  form  the  company  ;  Philodamus  sending  even  his 
own  son  to  sup  at  the  house  of  a  friend,  that  he  might  have  room 
for  a  greater  number  of  Roman  officers.  Towards  the  close  of 
the  evening,  Rubrius  called  upon  Philodamus  to  introduce  his 
daughter  to  their  party  ;  a  proposal  which,  according  to  the  man- 
ners of  the  Greeks,  was  one  of  the  utmost  insult  and  indelicacy. 
The  father  refused,  and  his  guests,  assisted  by  their  slaves  and 
by  some  of  the  lictors  of  Verres,  proceeded  to  assault  him  in  his 
own  house,  and  to  threaten  the  honour  of  his  daughter.  He  con- 
trived to  inform  his  son  of  his  danger,  and  the  young  man  instantly 
flew  to  the  house,  followed  by  a  crowd  of  the  people  of  Lampsacus, 
who  were  roused  by  the  report  of  so  gross  an  outrage.  In  the 
scuffle  that  ensued,  Rubrius  and  some  of  his  slaves  were  wounded, 
and  a  lictor  was  killed  ;  and  on  the  next  day,  when  it  was  known 
who  was  the  original  author  of  the  attempt,  the  people  crowded  to 
the  house  where  Verres  lodged,  and  were  with  difficulty  pre- 
ss Strabo,  XIV.  762,  edit.  Xyland.  39  De  Bello  Gallico,  VII.  77. 
Cicero,  in  Verrem,  I.  21.  de  Lege  Agrar,  ■">  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  I.  24,  et  seq. 
I.  2. 


CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  THE  GLADIATORS.     159 

vented  from  exercising  on  him  a  summary  vengeance.  He 
escaped,  however,  and  Philodamus  and  his  son  were  brought  to 
trial  before  C.  Nero,  the  governor  of  the  province  of  Asia,  for  the 
death  of  the  hctor.  At  the  earnest  request  of  Verres,  Dolabella 
left  his  own  province  of  Cilicia  to  assist  at  the  trial ;  Verres  him- 
self was  present  also,  and  he  and  Dolabella  used  all  their  influence, 
both  by  vehemence  and  supplication,  to  procure  the  condemnation 
of  the  prisoners.  Nero,  a  weak  and  timid  man,  yielded  to  their 
instances,  and  Philodamus  and  his  son  were  beheaded  in  the 
market-place  of  Lampsacus.  Dolabella  was  afterwards  accused, 
as  we  have  seen,  of  corruption  in  his  own  province,  and  was  con- 
demned to  exile,  which  he  underwent :  but  Yerres  was  elected 
prastor,  and  exercised  jurisdiction  both  in  Rome  and  in  Sicily  ; 
nor  was  he  ever  questioned  for  his  conduct  at  Lampsacus,  till  after 
the  perpetration  of  numberless  additional  crimes,  when  Cicero, 
his  accuser,  mentioned  this  early  enormity  as  preparatory  to  the 
series  of  his  greater  and  more  recent  offences.  Nero,  it  should  be 
observed,  by  whose  sentence  Philodamus  and  his  son  were  put  to 
death,  was  never  brought  to  trial  at  all.  It  is  not  possible  that 
actions  so  dreadful  as  this  should  have  been  of  very  frequent  oc- 
currence ;  still  the  circumstances  which  we  have  related  vv^ere  far 
from  singular;  and  every  province  in  the  empire  could  probably 
at  some  time  have  produced  instances  of  equal,  or  even  of  greater, 
enormity.  But  that  one  such  act  should  have  been  committed 
with  impunity,  shows  how  wretched  was  the  condition  of  those 
countries  that  were  subject  to  the  yoke  of  the  Roman  government. 
Tn  tracing  the  course  of  events  from  the  year  680  to  690,  the 
only  wars  which  will  here  demand  our  attention  conclusion  of  the  w^; 
are  those  with  Spartacus  and  with  the  pirates.  The  u.'c.  esl 
beginnings  of  both  have  been  already  noticed  ;  and  we  have  seen 
that  in  the  year  680,  Spartacus  was  carrying  devastation  over 
some  of  the  finest  districts  of  Italy.  In  the  following  year  a  part 
of  his  forces  was  destroyed  by  Q,.  Arrius,  one  of  the  praetors  ;* '  but 
he  himself,  intending  to  carry  into  execution  his  plan  of  escaping 
over  the  Alps  into  Germany,  was  encountered  by  Cn.  Lentulus, 
one  of  the  consuls,  and  gained  a  complete  victory  over  him  ;  after 
which  he  engaged  and  defeated  another  army,  commanded  by 
the  other  consul,  L.  Gellius,  and  the  lately  victorious  pra3tor,  Q. 
Arrius.  All  obstacles  to  his  march  being  thus  removed,  he  con- 
tinued his  course  as  far  as  Cisalpine  Gaul,  where  he  found  himself 
again  opposed  by  a  third  army,  under  the  command  of  C.  Cassius, 
one  of  the  consuls  of  the  former  year,  and  Cn.  Manlius,  one  of  the 
prgetors.  He  attacked  this  new  enemy  near  Mutina,  and  gained  a 
third  complete  victory  ;  but  it  appears  that  these  repeated  successes 
intoxicated  him  or  his  followers,  and  instead  of  continuing  their 

"  Livy,  Epitom.  XCVI.     Plutarch,  in  Crasso,  9.     Florus,  III.  20. 


160    CONCLUSION  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  THE  GLADIATORS. 

march  to  the  Alps,  which  they  might  have  effected  with  perfect 
safety,  they  returned  towards  the  south,  dazzled  by  fantastic  hopes 
of  the  conquest  and  plunder  of  Rome  itself.  But  finding,  proba- 
bly, that  any  attempt  upon  the  capital  was  impracticable,  Spartacus 
passed  the  winter  without  venturing  on  any  exploit  of  importance, 
maintaining  his  soldiers,  we  may  suppose,  upon  the  phmder  of 
the  country.  Dissensions,  meanwhile,  crept  in  amongst  his  fol- 
lowers, which  proved  his  ruin.  The  Gauls  and  Germans  still 
wished  to  return  to  their  own  country,^'^  and  finding  that  they  could 
not  prevail  on  the  majority  of  the  army  to  join  them,  they  separated 
from  Spartacus,  and  commenced  their  march  to  the  northward  by 
themselves.     The  senate,  on  their  part,  had  com- 

U  C    682 

mitted  the  conduct  of  the  war  to  M.  Crassus,  who 
was  the  praetor ;  and  the  new  geneial,  according  to  the  practice 
which  we  have  before  noticed  among  the  Roman  commanders 
after  a  series  of  disasters,  began  his  career  by  severe  executions 
upon  the  soldiers  of  the  defeated  armies,  and  having  thus  taught 
them  to  dread  him  more  than  the  enemy,  he  first  assaulted  the 
division  of  the  Gauls  and  Germans,  and  put  the  greatest  part  of 
them  to  the  sword.  He  then  engaged  with  the  main  army  under 
Spartacus,  and  having  won  a  second  victory,  obhged  him  to  retreat 
to  the  southern  extremity  of  Italy.  It  was  the  wish  of  the  gladia- 
tors to  effect  their  passage  into  Sicily,  in  the  hope  of  reviving  the 
insurrections  of  the  slaves,  which  had  raged  with  such  violence 
in  that  island  not  many  years  before.  To  accomplish  their  pur- 
pose, they  entered  into  a  treaty  with  some  of  the  Cilician  pirates, 
who  chanced  to  be  cruising  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  but  the  pirates 
are  said  to  have  first  secured  the  money  for  their  transport,^ ^  and 
then  to  have  sailed  away  without  fulfilling  their  part  of  the  en- 
gagement. Spartacus  then  endeavoured  to  construct  rafts  on  the 
Italian  shore,*^  hut  the  active  pursuit  of  Crassus  rendered  this 
impracticable,  and  he  was  soon  blockaded  in  a  small  peninsula 
near  Rhegium.  in  which  he  had  taken  refuge.  He  effected  his  es- 
cape, however,  by  passing  unobserved,  in  a  dark  and  stormy  night, 
through  the  enemy's  lines,  and  with  the  troops  that  still  remained 
to  him,  he  directed  his  march  towards  the  mountains  of  Petilia 
in  Lucania.^5  Hare  the  tidings  of  the  return  of  Pompey  from 
Spain,  made  both  Crassus  and  Spartacus  anxious  to  risk  a  battle 
before  that  dreaded  general  could  take  a  part  in  the  contest.  Ac- 
cordingly a  desperate  action  ensued,  in  which  Spartacus  was  de- 
feated and  slain,  and  his  army  dispersed  or  destroyed  :  but  Pom- 
pey laid  a  claim  to  a  sh  ire  in  the  victory,  because  he  fell  in  with 
some  parties  of  fugitives  who  had  escaped  from  the  battle,  and 
cut  them  to  pieces.     A  considerable  number  of  prisoners  were 

^2  Livy,  Epitom.  XCVIL     Appian,  de         ^*  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  V.  2. 
Bell.  Civil.  I.  118.  43  Plutarch,  in  Crasso,  11.      Appian, 

"  Plutarch,  in  Crasso,  10.  I.  120. 


CONSULSHIP  OF  POMPEY  AND  CRASSUS.  \Ql 

taken,  who  were  crucified  along  the  road  from  Rome  to  Capua, 
and  their  bodies  extended  at  intervals  along  the  whole  of  the 
distance. 

The  war  with  the  pirates  was  not  concluded  till  four  years 
afterwards :  and  some  events  occurred  in  the  inter-  consulship  of  Pompey 

/,,.,.,,  .  .  -i-v  and  Crassus. 

venuig  peiiod,  which  will  requne  our  notice,  rom-  u.  c.  ess. 
pey,  although  we  have  so  often  had  occasion  to  mention  his  name, 
had  as  yet  held  no  public  magistracy,  and  was  therefore  precluded, 
by  one  of  Sylla's  laws,  from  oftering  himself  as  a  candidate  for 
the  consulship.  But  the  extraordinary  circumstances  attending 
his  career,  and  the  services  he  had  rendered  to  tlie  aristocratical 
party  on  so  many  occasions,  disposed  the  senate  to  regard  him 
with  unusual  favour;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  had  always 
possessed  the  affection  of  the  people,  who  seem  to  have  excepted 
him  from  the  general  aversion  which  they  entertained  towards 
the  partisans  of  Sylla.  At  this  time  his  return  from  Spain  was 
looked  forward  to  by  the  popular  party  with  an  anxious  hope  that 
he  would  become  their  leader,  and  enable  them  to  repeal  some  of 
those  laws  which,  as  they  thought,  had  so  greatly  encroached 
upon  their  liberties.  Their  chief  wish  was  for  the  complete 
restoration  of  the  tribunitian  power;  not  only  for  its  own  sake, 
but  as  preparatory  to  effecting  a  reform  in  the  constitution  of  the 
courts  of  justice.^^  The  natural  feehngs  of  the  people  at  large 
were  shocked  by  the  long  series  of  crimes  which  their  officers 
were  continually  committing  in  the  provinces  with  impunity;  and 
so  long  as  the  judges  were  taken  only  from  among  the  men  who 
had  enjoyed  or  were  expecting  to  succeed  to  the  commands  in 
which  these  excessess  were  perpetrated,  it  was  not  likely  that  the 
evil  would  be  effectually  remedied.  Looking  then  upon  Pompey 
as  on  a  young  man  of  popular  qualities,  who  would  be  glad  to 
acquire  a  claim  to  the  lasting  gratitude  of  the  majority  of  his 
countrymen,  the  people  welcomed  his  appearance  with  joy ;  and 
a  decree  of  the  senate  being  passed,^''  allowing  him  to  be  a  can- 
didate for  the  consulship,  although  he  had  not  held  the  previous 
offices  of  quaestor  and  praetor,  he  was  elected  consul,  together  with 
M.  Licinius  Crassus,  who  had  distinguished  himself  by  his  recent 
victory  over  the  gladiators.  Pompey  did  not  disappoint  the  hopes 
which  were  formed  of  him.  After  his  election,^^  when  he  made 
his  first  speech  to  the  people  before  entering  on  his  office,  he 
promised  to  restore  the  tribunitian  power,  and  to  endeavour  to 
remedy  the  grievances  of  the  provinces,  and  the  corrupt  state  of 
the  courts  of  justice.  His  first  declaration  was  received  with  mur- 
murs of  delight;  but  when  he  spoke  of  reforming  the  courts  of 
justice,  he  was  interrupted  by  a  loud  and  general  shout  of  ap- 

4S  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  actio.  I.  15.  *^  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  actio.  I.  15. 

ii  Cicero,  pro  Lege  Manilla,  21. 


162  THE  CENSORSHIP  REVIVED. 

plaiise.  Accordingly  his  consulship  is  memorable  for  Ihe  repeal 
of  Sylla's  laws  respecting  the  tribimeship,^'  and  the  restoration  of 
that  office  to  its  original  privileges;  and  also  for  the  law  of  L. 
Aurelius  Cotta,  one  of  the  prgetors,  which  was  passed  with  the 
sanction  of  Pompey,  and  which  provided  that  the  judges  should 
hereafter  be  chosen  partly  from  among  the  senators,  partly  from 
the  equestrian  order,  and  partly  from  the  tribuni  a3rarii.^°  These 
last,  as  far  as  appears,  were  plebeians,  possessed  of  a  certain 
property,*'  and  on  that  account  were  appointed  to  act  as  agents 
for  the  payment  of  the  legions,  it  being  their  office  to  receive  the 
money  for  that  purpose  from  the  quaestors  of  the  city,  and  to 
negotiate  the  business  of  transmitting  it  to  the  provincial  qusestors, 
that  it  might  by  them  be  issued  to  the  troops.  The  object  of  the 
law  in  adding  this  additional  class  to  those  of  the  senate  and  the 
knights,  was  to  establish  the  courts  of  justice  on  a  less  exclusive 
system  than  before,  while  it  endeavoured  to  obviate  the  evil  of 
corruption  amongst  the  judges,  by  providing  that  they  should  only 
be  chosen  from  among  men  of  competent  fortune.  At  the  con- 
clusion of  the  year,  which  had  been  marked  by  such  welcome 
acts,  Pompey  increased  his  popularity  still  more,  by  declaring  that 
he  would  not  accept  the  government  of  any  province  \^^  and 
accordingly,  when  his  consulship  was  expired,  he  continued  to 
reside  at  Rome  as  a  private  individual. 

The  extreme  disorders  of  the  times  had  filled  men,  according 
The  censorship  re-  to  the  usual  coursc  of  opinious,  with  the  desire  of 
yilrs'  'disconuim!  scciug  the  arm  of  authority  strengthened ;  and  thus 
^'^^^'^^  the  censorial  power,*^  which  was,  on  many  ac- 

counts, justly  obnoxious,  and  which  had  been  discontinued  since 
the  beginning  of  the  late  civil  wars,  was  now  revived  agreeably 
to  the  general  wish  of  the  people.  It  was  exercised  with  great 
severity  by  the  censors,  Cn.  Lentulus  and  L.  Gellius,  who  removed 
sixty-four  persons  from  the  lists  of  the  senate  f^  and  probably 
gratified  the  public  feeling  by  stigmatizing  so  large  a  portion  of 
the  nobility.  They  are  charged,  indeed,  with  having  listened  too 
lightly  to  popular  reports,**  and  with  having  affixed  their  censure 
on  some  characters  without  any  sufficient  knowledge  of  their  de- 
merits. Instances,  too,  occur  of  their  disagreement  with  one 
another,*^  and  of  one  of  them  disapproving  and  acting  in  opposition 
to  the  sentence  of  his  colleague.  But,  on  the  whole,  it  is  probable 
that  the  revival  of  the  censorship  was  beneficial ;  and  faulty  as 

«  Cicero,  de  Legibus,  III.   11.     Livy,  ^2  Velleius  Paterculus,  11.31. 

Epitome,  XCVII.  ^'^  Cicero,  in  Q.  Caecilium,  3. 

*"  Asconius.  in  Ciceronis  pro  Cornelio  *^  Livy,  Epitome,  XCVIII. 

Oration.  I.     Cicero,  ad  Quintum  Fratrem,  **  Cicero,  pro  Cluentio,  47. 

II.  epist.  VI.  Cicero,  Philippica,  i.  8.  *®  Cicero,  pro  Cluentio,  47. 

*'  Facciolati  Lexicon,   in   voce  "  Tri- 
bunus.'' 


LAW  OF  A.  GABINIUS.  |(33 

were  the  old  institutions  of  the  comn:ion\vealth,  they  were  far 
better  than  the  general  lawlessness,  and  tyranny,  and  corruption, 
which  had  of  late  superseded  them. 

The  evils  of  the  piratical  war  still  continued ;  nor  did  the 
consuls  of  the  two  following  years  do  anything  The  v^ur  with  the 
eifectual  to  remove  them.  We  have  seen  that  the  u.c.'eis. 
experiment  had  been  already  tried  of  appointing  one  man,  with 
supreme  command,  to  act  in  every  quarter  of  the  Mediterranean ; 
but  the  misconduct  of  the  individual  selected,  M.  Antonius,  had 
disappointed  the  hopes  which  had  been  entertained  of  its  success. 
There  was,  however,  another  person  in  the  commonwealth, 
whose  personal  character  was  hkely  to  add  weight  to  whatever 
authority  was  intrusted  to  him,  whose  high  military  talents  fitted 
him  to  combat  with  the  enemies  of  the  state,  while  his  integrity 
and  humanity  would  protect  and  conciliate  its  subjects  and  allies. 
Accordingly,  in  the  consulship  of  C.  Piso  and  u.c.686. 
Manius  Acilius  Glabrio,  Aulus  Gabinius.^''  one  of  granting  aii  extraord^ 

,  .,  1       '    ,1  1      ,1       i    'i  nary    commission    to 

the  tribunes,  proposed  to  tiie  people  that  tire  man-  pompey. 
agement  of  the  war  with  the  pirates  should  be  committed  to  a 
single  person  for  the  term  of  three  years ;  and  tliat  the  power  of 
the  officer  thus  chosen  should  extend  over  every  part  of  the  em- 
pire, with  authority  to  raise  such  supplies  of  men  and  money  as 
he  should  think  proper,  and  that  he  should  have  under  him  a 
certain  number  of  lieutenants  of  senatorian  rank,  nominated  by 
the  senate.  Gabinius  was  known  to  be  a  partisan  of  Pompey, 
and  his  character  is  said  to  have  been  bad ;  his  own  motives, 
therefore,  in  proposing  this  measure  may  well  be  suspected ;  but 
the  measure  itself,  if  stripped  of  some  of  its  clauses,  seems  not  to 
have  been  justly  blameable.  The  people  took  it  up  with  eager- 
ness, and  immediately  fixed  upon  Pompey  as  the  individual  to  be 
appointed  to  this  extraordinary  command.  But  the  high  aristo- 
cratical  party  now  began  to  pause  in  lavishing  upon  him  unusual 
honours.  His  late  conduct,  during  his  consulship,  had  shown  that 
he  was  not  insensible  to  the  welfare  of  the  people  at  large,  nor 
indifierent  to  the  charms  of  popularity.  He  could  not,  therefore, 
be  considered  as  an  undoubted  supporter  of  the  nobility  on  all 
occasions ;  and  his  personal  renown  seemed  to  raise  him  above 
their  level.  The  motion  of  Gabinius  was  therefore  generally  op- 
posed in  the  senate,  and  especially  by  Q.  Catulus  and  Q,.  Horten- 
sius  ;^^  and  the  negative  of  two  of  the  tribunes,  L.  Trebellius  and 
L.  Roscius,  was  secured,  according  to  the  old  practice  of  the  aris- 
tocracy, to  stop  the  progress  of  the  law.  Both  parties,  as  usual, 
had  at  the  very  outset  of  the  dispute  resorted  to  violence  :  the  per- 
son of  Gabinius,  we  are  told,  was  threatened  in  the  senate  when 

"  Cicero,  pro  Lege  Manilla,  18.     Dion         '^"^  Cicero,  pro  Lege  ManiliS,  18.     Dion 
Cassius,  XXXVL  10,  edit.  Leunclavii.  Cassius,  31.     Velleius  Paterculus,  IL  11. 


164  POMPEY  SUBDUES  THE  PIRATES. 

he  first  announced  there  his  intended  law  ;  and  the  moh,  in  re- 
turn, beset  the  senate-house,  and  having  laid  hold  on  C.  Piso  the 
consul,  were  with  difficulty  persuaded  by  Gabinius  to  let  him  go 
without  injury.  But  a  more  mischievous  step  was  taken  by  the 
proposer  of  the  measure,  when  he  proceeded  to  imitate  the  con- 
duct of  Tiberius  Gracchus  ;^^  and  finding  Trebellius  obstinate  in 
his  opposition,  submitted  to  the  assembly  the  question  of  his  degra- 
dation from  his  office.  Trebellius,  however,  was  less  jesolute 
than  Octavius  ;  and  before  the  eighteenth  tribe  was  called  on  to 
vote,  he  withdrew  his  negative  upon  the  law.  Yet  the  people 
Hstened  with  re.pect  to  Q,.  Catulus,  when  he,  having  been  ex- 
pressly called  upon  by  Gabinius  to  deliver  his  sentiments,  eudea- 
voured,  in  manly  and  temperate  language,  to  prove  to  them  the 
mischiefs  of  the  intended  measure.  That  he  should  have  pre- 
vailed, indeed,  was  not  to  be  expected,  but  the  aristocracy  disap- 
pointed any  personal  views  which  Gabinius  might  have  had  in 
procuring  so  extensive  a  command  for  Pompey ;  for  although 
Pompey  himself  made  application  in  his  behalf,  the  senate  refused 
to  insert  the  name  of  Gabinius  amongst  those  of  the  fifteen  lieu- 
tenants who  were  to  act  under  his  orders.®" 

It  was  late  in  the  year  when  the  law  of  Gabinius  was  car- 
pompey  reduces  the  I'led  ;« '  hut  Pompoy  employed  the  winter  most 
pirates  to  submission.  (Jiljgently  lu  maldiig  imnjense  preparations  for  the 
war.  He  divided  the  care  of  the  different  parts  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean among  his  several  lieutenants,  resolving  himself  to  superin- 
tend their  proceedings  in  every  quarter,  and  to  bestow  his  peculiar 
attention  wherever  it  should  be  most  needed.  Before  the  winter 
was  well  ended,  he  put  to  sea,  and  deeming  it  important  to  open, 
as  soon  as  possible,  the  comnninication  between  the  capital  and 
those  countries  from  which  it  was  usually  supplied  with  corn,  he 
sailed  first  to  Sicily,  thence  crossed  over  to  Afiica,  and  having 
carefully  scoured  the  coast  there,  he  returned  to  Sardinia,  station- 
ing a  sufficient  fl  et  oft"  the  island,  and  strong  guards  on  diffeient 
points  along  the  shore,  as  he  had  done  in  the  two  provinces  which 
he  had  previously  visited.  These  operations  were  completed, 
according  to  Plutarch, ^^  in  less  than  six  weeks;  and  he  then  re- 
turned to  Italy,  where  he  remained  for  a  short  time,  dispopii!g  his 
forces  for  the  protection  of  both  coasts  of  that  peninsula,  and 
sending  squadrons  and  land  forces  to  secure  the  provinces  of 
Spain,  Gaul,  and  Illyricum.  The  effect  of  all  these  measures 
was  to  hunt  out  the  pirates  from  all  their  haunts  in  the  western 
quarters  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  to  diive  them  gradually  back 
to  the  seat  of  their  main  power  in  Cilicia.     Thither,  accordingly, 

*'  Cicero,  pro  Cornelio,et  Asconii  Com-         ^   Cicero,  pro  Lege  Manilia,  12. 
mentarius.  *'  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  26. 

®"  Cicero,  pro  Lege  Manilia,  19. 


WAR  OF  CRETE.  Ig5 

Pompey  sailed  in  pursuit  of  them  ;^^  and  expecting  to  meet  with 
a  long  and  obstinate  resistance  in  the  strongholds  on  that  coast, 
he  provided  himself  with  every  thing  necessary  for  a  succession 
of  sieges.  But  the  fame  of  his  personal  character  went  before 
him;  and  the  vigour  of  his  military  operations,  combined  with 
the  humanity  which  he  had  shown  to  those  of  the  pirates  who 
first  fell  into  his  hands,  at  once  deterred  the  enemy  from  continu- 
ing to  oppose  him,  and  encouraged  them  to  trust  themselves  to  his 
mercy.  On  his  arrival  off  the  coasts  of  Cilicia,  fortresses  and 
ships  were  successively  surrendered  to  him  without  a  blow.  Nor 
did  he  deceive  the  confidence  thus  reposed  in  him;  but  after  re- 
ceiving the  submissions  of  (he  pirates,  after  delivering  the  prisoners 
whom  he  found  in  their  hands,  and  becoming  master  of  all  their 
resources,  he  took  measures  for  reclaiming  ihe  inhabitants  of  those 
countries  from  that  rude  and  wretched  state  of  life  which  tempted 
them  to  robbery.  The  town  of  Soli,  with  some  others  in  the 
neighbourhood,*^  had  been  lately  deprived  of  tlieir  citizens  by 
Tigranes,  king  of  Armenia,  who  hod  transplanted  them  into  Up- 
per Asia,  to  people  his  new  capital  Tigranoccrta.  Into  the  towns 
thus  deserted,  Pompey  brouglit  some  of  ihe  pirates  who  had  sur- 
rendered, and  settled  them  in  a  situation  where  they  njight  natu- 
rally be  led  to  taste  and  to  value  the  blessii.gs  of  peace  and  civil- 
ization ;  while  he  removed  others  into  some  of  the  districts  in  the 
interior,*^  which,  perhaps,  their  own  incursions,  on  former  occa- 
sions, had  rednced  to  desolation,  and  placed  them  where  the  con- 
stant sight  of  the  sea  might  not  tempt  them  to  resume  their  former 
occupation  of  piracy.  By  this  admirable  conduct  Pompey  ob- 
tained a  glory  very  different  from  that  usually  gained  by  Roman 
generals;  and  in  seven  weeks  from  the  time  of  his  leaving  Italy 
for  the  East,**  he  had  cleaied  every  corner  of  the  sea  fiom  the 
enemy,  and  had  provided  for  the  stability  cf  his  vicloiy  by  those 
measures  of  wisdom  and  goodness  which  alone,  in  public  as  well 
as  in  private  conduct,  can  permanently  insure  a  haj)py  lesult. 

Whilst  he  was  thus  employed  in  Cilicia,  he  received  a  depu- 
tation from  the  people  of  Crete,  who  were  at  this  war  of  crete.  con- 
tinue attacked  by  Q.  Metellus,  a  Roman  proconsul,  Syo,. Meieiiu.'"'^" 
and  who,  refusing  to  submit  to  him,  were  willing  to  trust  them- 
selves to  the  mercy  of  Pompey.  It  appears  that  M.  Antonius,*^ 
amongst  various  other  acts  of  injustice  wiiich  had  signalized  his 
command,  had  commenced  hostilities  against  the  Cretans  without 
any  just  provocation,  from  the  mere  ambition  to  conquer  that  fa- 
mous island,  which  had  thus  long  preserved  its  independence. 

"  Cicero,  pro  Lege  Manilla,  19.     Flo-         *^  Veileius  Paterculus,  11.  .32. 
Tiis,  III.  6.  Appian,  de  Bello  Mithridatico,         "^  Cicero,  pro  Lege  Manilla,  12. 
96.  "  Florus,  IIL  7.    Asconius.  in  Ciccron. 

«<  Dion    Cassius,  XXXV.  2;  XXXVL  Divinat.  in  Caccilium,  17- 
18,     Appian,  96. 


IQQ  CONCIUEST  OP  CRETE  BY  METELLUS. 

He  failed,  however,  in  his  attempt,  and  had  himself  died  whilst 
engaged  in  it.  But  the  Romans,  little  solicitous  about  the  origin 
of  their  wars,  finding  that  one  of  their  officers  had  engaged  them 
in  a  quarrel  with  the  Cretans,  resolved  to  continue  it ;  and  Q,. 
Metellus,  who  had  been  consul  in  the  year  684,  was  sent,  after 
his  consulship,  into  Crete,  as  his  province.  He  carried  on  his 
operations  very  successfully,  and  was  looking  forward  to  the 
speedy  reduction  of  the  whole  island,  when  the  Cretans,  hearing 
of  the  extraordinary  powers  committed  to  Pompey,  and  of  his 
merciful  treatment  to  those  whom  he  had  conquered,  sent  a  depu- 
tation to  him  in  Pamphylia,^^  requesting  him  to  receive  their  sub- 
mission. Crete,  with  every  other  island  in  the  Mediterranean, 
was  included  within  the  limits  of  Pompey's  authority  ;  he  sent, 
therefore,  to  Metellus,  desiring  him  to  abstain  from  further  hostili- 
ties, and  at  the  same  time  despatched  Octavius,  an  officer  of  his 
own,  to  receive  the  oliered  surrender.  Metellus  treated  the  mes- 
sage with  contempt  f^  and  when  Octavius  threw  himself  into 
the  town  of  Lappa,  trusting  that  his  character  as  a  Roman  offi- 
cer would  protect  the  inhabitants,  Metellus  besieged  and  took  the 
place,  and  put  the  Cilicians,  who  formed  the  garrison,  to  death. 
Octavius  then  employed  a  part  of  the  force  under  Pompey's  com- 
mand, which  L.  Sisenna,  one  of  his  lieutenants,  had  brought  over 
from  Greece,  in  defending  some  of  the  remaining  cities  in  Crete 
against  Metellus  ;  but  being  too  weak  to  act  with  effect  in  their 
behalf,  he  was  oljliged  at  last  to  quit  the  island,  and  Metellus 
then  soon  completed  the  conquest  of  every  part  of  it.  His  con- 
duct was  marked  with  the  usual  cruelty  of  the  Romans,  embit- 
tered, in  this  instance,  by  personal  irritation  at  the  preference 
which  the  Cretans  had  shown  for  Pompey.  After  the  ordinary 
succession  of  executions  and  exactions,^"  Crete  was  reduced  to 
the  form  of  a  Roman  province,  and  Metellus  arranged  the  afi'airs 
of  the  island  as  he  thought  proper.  But  the  dispute  which  arose 
from  his  disobedience  to  Pompey's  authority,  was  for  some  time 
an  obstacle  to  his  enjoying  the  honour  of  a  triumph,  till  some 
years  afterwards  the  senate,  being  more  and  more  alienated  from 
Pompey,  thought  proper  to  grant  it.^' 

**  Cicero,  pro  Lege  Manilla,  12.  his  vanity  was  flattered  by  the  preference 
^  Dion  Cassius.  XXXVI.  8.  which  the  Cretans  showed  for  him  ;  but  it 
'"  Florus,  III.  7.     Livy,  Epitome,  C.  is  also  likely  that  he,  who  was  acting  in 
^'  The  conduct  of  Pompey  in  this  trans-  Cilicia  on  such  wise  and  merciful  views, 
action    is  represented  in  a  very  different  was  eager  to  stop  the  cruelties  of  Metellus, 
light  by  some  modern  writers,  who  have  and  to  give  the  Cretans,  a  people  unjustly 
echoed  the  sentiments  of  Plutarch.     They  attacked  by  the  Romans  in  the  outset,  the 
impute  Pompey's  behaviour  to  a  mean  de-  benefit  of  his  own  humane  policy.  Be  this 
sire  of  robbing  Metellus    of  the    glory  of  as  it  may,  as  Pompey's  commission  cer- 
his  conquest  ;  and  Plutarch   dwells  upon  tainly   extended  to    Crete,    Metellus  was 
the  extravagance  of  his  actually  supporting  guilty  of  an  act  of  rebellion   in  resisting 
pirates  against  the  power  that  was  employ-  his  authority,  and  became  himself  the  rob- 
ed in  punishing  them.     It  is  probable  that  ber  and  the  outlaw,  in  persisting  to  attack 


TRIBUNESHIP  OF  C.  CORNELIUS.  Ig7 

In  this  part  of  the  history  of  the  internal  state  of  Rome,  we 
must  again  remind  the  reader  of  the  necessary  imperfection  of 
our  account.  The  varying  objects  pursued  by  parties  and  by  in- 
dividuals at  different  times,  can  only  be  explained  by  so  full  a 
knowledge  of  the  circumstances  and  characters  as  should  either 
remove  or  account  for  that  which  apparently  was  inconsistent ; 
and  the  same  knowledge  could  alone  enable  us  to  judge  correctly 
of  the  merits  of  several  measures,  which  otherwise  we  might  ap- 
prove or  condemn  presumptuously  and  erroneously.  Such  a 
knowledge,  however,  cannot  now  be  obtained,  and  the  conjec- 
tures by  which  we  have  endeavoured  to  supply  it  we  wish  al- 
ways to  propose  with  a  full  consciousness  of  their  uncertainty ; 
for  it  may  happen  that  some  detached  passage  of  an  ancient  au- 
thor may  have  escaped  our  researches,  which,  had  we  known  it, 
would  have  obliged  us  to  alter,  or  to  qualify,  the  theory  which 
we  had  ventured  to  offer.  With  this  caution  we  proceed  to  trace 
the  disorders  from  which,  henceforward,  scarcely  a  year,  during 
the  existence  of  the  commonwealth,  was  exempt. 

Amongst  the  evils  by  which  the  state  was  beset,  that  of  ob- 
taining public  offices  by  undue  means,  was  at  this  Tnbuneshipofc.cor. 
time  severely  felt.''^  Like  many  other  grievances,  ilc.W 
it  was  loudly  complained  of  by  the  people,  and  some  measure 
was  called  for  that  might  remove  or  lessen  it.  C.  Cornelius,  who 
was  one  of  the  tribunes  for  the  year  686,  resolved  to  take  up  the 
subject,  and  proposed  to  bring  in  a  law  which  should  punish  all 
bribery  or  undue  influence  in  elections  in  the  severest  manner. 
The  senate  wishing  the  measure  to  proceed  from  themselves 
rather  than  from  one  of  the  tribunes,  directed  C.  Calpurnius  Piso, 
who  was  then  consul,  to  prepare  a  law  to  the  same  effect  with 
that  of  Cornelius,  except  that  its  penalties  were  somewhat  less 
severe,  Cornelius,  on  his  side,  regarded  this  interference  of  the 
senate  with  jealousy  and  suspicion,  and  the  people,  in  general, 
violently  opposed  the  law  of  Piso  j'^  as  if  its  only  object  were  to 
battle  and  disappoint  their  wish  for  an  effective  check  to  the  evil 
complained  of.  Some  serious  tumults  appear  to  have  arisen  ;  and 
the  consul,  provoked  at  the  opposition  with  Avhich  he  met,  called 
upon  every  citizen,  who  was  a  well-wisher  to  his  country,  to 
assist  in  procuring  the  enactment  of  the  law.  This  was 
deemed  equivalent  to  summoning  them  to  support  the  consular 
authority  by  force,  as  was  usual  in  cases  of  extreme  danger ;  but 
even  this  appeal  failing  of  its  effect,  and  the  election  for  the  ensu- 

places  protected  by  a  superior  officer  of  his  served  for  his  disobedience.     Plutarch,  in 

government.  It  may  be  a  question  whether  Pompeio,  29. 

it  was  owing  to  the  mildness  of  Pompey's  ''^  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVI.  18,  edit.  Le- 

temper,  or  to  the  strength  of  the  aristocrat-  unclav. 

ical    faction,   that    Metellus    was    never  ''^  Cicero,  pro  Cornelio,  I.  Fragm. 

brought  to  trial  and  punished  ashe  de- 

12 


[QQ      PROPOSAL  TO  REGULATE  THE  POWER  OF  THE  SENATE. 

ing  year  drawing  on/^  and  being  preceded  by  the  usual  scenes 
of  violence  and  corruption  during  the  canvass,  the  senate,  by 
their  own  sole  authority,  decreed  that  the  law  should  be  enacted, 
and  voted  a  gnard  to  the  consuls  for  the  maintenance  of  the  public 
peace.  It  had  happened  that  Cornelius  had  been  already  disgusted 
with  the  conduct  of  the  senate  on  another  occasion  during  his 
tribuneship.  The  provinces  and  alUes  of  the  commonwealth 
were  in  the  habit  of  often  sending  deputies  to  Rome,"  sometimes 
to  compliment  the  officers  who  had  exercised  the  government 
amongst  them,  sometimes  to  complain  of  their  tyranny,  and 
somietimes  to  make  interest  among  their  friends  at  Rome,  to  pro- 
cure some  measure  which  they  deemed  expedient  for  their  coun- 
try. It  often  happened  that  the  deputies  were  detained  at  Rome 
for  a  considerable  period ;  and  in  the  want  of  those  resources 
Avhich  modern  commerce  has  devised  to  facilitate  the  obtaining 
money  in  foreign  countries,  they  were  obliged  to  borrow  the  sums 
they  wanted  of  wealthy  individuals,  and  could  only  procure  them 
by  engaging  to  pay  an  exorbitant  interest.  Many  of  the  provin- 
cial cities  were  thus  burthened  with  a  debt ;  and  their  creditors 
were  not  unfrequently  employed  under  the  proconsul  or  prsetorof 
the  province,^*  and  were  then  ready  to  abet  him  in  all  his  pro- 
ceedings, in  order  to  purchase  the  aid  of  his  authority  in  recover- 
ing, by  a  summary  process,  the  money  that  was  due  to  them. 
The  evils  and  the  scandal  of  this  system  were  equally  great,  and 
C.  Cornelius  had  moved  the  senate  to  repress  them,  by  forbidding 
any  Roman  citizen  to  lend  money  to  the  deputies  of  foreign  states 
or  countries.  But  the  senate  did  not  second  his  wishes  ;  and  this 
had  aheady  given  him  a  handle  for  inveighing  against  that  body 
in  the  assemblies  of  the  people.  When,  therefore,  the}  had  again 
thwarted  his  projects  of  reform,^''  by  substituting  a  weaker  mea- 
sure in  the  place  of  his  proposed  law  against  bribery,  he  deter- 
mined to  attack  one  of  the  privileges  which  they  had  gradually 
usurped  in  later  times,  and  which  had  degenerated  into  an  abuse 
He  proposes  a  law  to  of  a  flagrant  uaturc.  This  was  no  other  than  a 
sing  po« em- the  sen-  powcr  of  dispcusiug  with  the  laws  in  particular 
^'^-  cases  :  such,  for  example,  as  that  of  Pompey,  wlio 

had  been  allowed,  by  a  decree  of  the  senate,  to  offer  himself  as  a 
candidate  for  the  consulship,  before  he  had  been  praetor  or  qucEstor, 
in  direct  violation  of  the  existing  laws.  In  former  times,  these 
dispensations,  after  they  had  passed  the  senate,  had,  in  theory  at 
least,  if  not  in  practice,  required  the  sanction  of  the  people  to  give 
them  validity  ;  but  by  degrees  this  sanction  became  so  merely  a 
form,  that  it  was  neglected  altogether  ;  and  the  usual  expression 
in  the  decrees  of  the  senate,  "  that  the  matter  should  be  submit- 

■'*  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVL  19.  '«  Cicero,  in  Verrem,  I.  29. 

'^  Asconius,  Argumentum  in  Ciceron.         "  Asconius,  Argumentum  in  Ciceron. 
pro  Cornelio,  L  pro  Cornelio,  L 


IT  IS  NEGATIVED,  BUT  PASSED  IN  AN  AMENDED  SHAPE.       159 

ted  to  the  approval  of  the  people,"  was  at  last  omitted  as  super- 
fluous. This,  perhaps,  might  have  been  a  change  well  suited  to 
the  altered  circumstances  of  the  commonwealth  ;  but  it  was  ac- 
companied by  another  which  was  nothing  but  an  abuse.  These 
dispensations  were  often  granted  by  some  of  those  members  who 
took  an  active  part  in  pubhc  business,  when  none  but  themselves 
were  present  in  the  senate-house  ;  and  thus  the  privilege  was  en- 
grossed, in  fact,  by  a  few  individuals  of  the  highest  rank  and 
consideration,  who  availed  themselves  of  it  as  of  a  valuable  store 
of  patronage.  To  correct  this  system,  C.  Cornelius  proposed  to 
revive  and  enforce  the  old  principle  of  the  constitution,  that  no 
one  should  be  exempted  from  the  observance  of  any  law,  except 
by  the  authority  of  the  people.  The  aristocratical  party,  resist- 
ing this  alteration,  procured  the  negative  of  one  of  the  tribunes, 
P.  Servihus  Globulus,  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  proposed  law. 
When,  therefore,  the  day  arrived  on  which  the  question  was  to 
come  before  the  people,  and  the  crier  began  to  repeat  aloud  the 
terms  of  the  law,  with  a  clerk  standing  behind  to  prompt  him.  Globu- 
lus forbade  both  the  clerk  and  the  crier  to  proceed,  uis  negatived,  but 
Cornelius  then  took  the  law  from  the  hands  of  the  b'Sr " '""'"'^" 
clerk  and  read  it  himself;  not  intending,  as  his  friends  declared,  to 
propose  it  to  the  people  in  defiance  of  his  colleague's  negative,  but 
merely  to  satisfy  himself  what  the  provisions  were  which  he  was 
not  allowed  to  submit  to  their  decision.'^  However,  the  consul,  C. 
Piso,  who  witnessed  the  fact,  interpreted  it  in  a  dilferent  maimer, 
and  loudly  exclaimed  that  Coiiielius  was  destroying  the  very  es- 
sence of  the  tribunitiaii  power.  The  multitude  received  this 
speech  with  violent  expressions  of  displeasure ;  and  when  Piso 
sent  his  lictors  to  arrest  some  of  those  whom  he  observed  as  most 
outrageous,  the  lictors  were  resisted,  their  fasces  were  broken,  and 
stones  were  thrown  by  some  persotis  at  the  extremity  of  the 
crowd  against  the  consul  himself.  But  Cornelius,  far  from  abet- 
ting these  disorders,  immediately  broke  up  the  assembly,  ai]d  re- 
linquished his  law ;  and  in  order  to  show  his  willingness  to  con- 
ciliate his  opponents,  he  brought  it  forward  again  without  its  ob- 
noxious clauses,  proposing  merely  that  no  dispensation  from  the 
laws  should  be  considered  as  valid,  unless  two  hundred  members 
had  been  present  in  the  senate  when  it  was  granted  ;  and  that 
although  the  sanction  of  the  people  was  necessary  as  a  point  of 
form,  yet  that  it  should  not  be  lawful  for  any  tribune  to  negative  a 

7"*  Cicero,  in  Vatininm,2.  Defendeba-  when  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  was  reading 
tur  non  recitandi  causa  legisse  sed  recog-  the  Scriptufes  to  himself,  as  he  travelled  in 
noscendi.  It  seems  that  persons  were  in  his  ciiariot,  he  evidenily  pronounced  the 
the  habit  of  reading  aloud,  even  when  words  aloud  ;  for  it  is  said,  that  '•  Phjlp 
reading  by  themselves  alone,  and  thus  the  heard  him  reading;"  whereas  now,  the 
action  of  Cornelius  might  have  had  no  natural  expression  would  be,  that  a  man 
other  motive  than  that  which  his  friends  reading  alone  in  a  carriage  was  seen  read- 
represented.     In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  ing. 


170 


CORNELIUS  IS  BROUGHT  TO  TRIAL. 


dispensation  which  had  regularly  passed  the  senate.^'  In  this 
amended  state  the  law  was  too  reasonable  to  be  openly  opposed  ; 
but  the  leading  senators  were  greatly  offended  that  their  particu- 
lar influence  should  be  at  all  diminished.  Another  salutary  mea- 
sure was  brought  forward  and  carried  by  Cornelius,  which  ap- 
pears to  have  been  entirely  free  from  any  factious  design  or  ten- 
dency. It  seems  that  the  praetors  had  a  large  discretionary  power 
in  the  administration  of  justice,  and  that  it  was  usual  for  every 
praetor,*"  when  he  entered  upon  his  office,  to  publish  a  proclama- 
tion, declaring,  generally,  the  principles  on  which  his  decisions 
would  be  founded  during  the  year.  But  from  these  principles  the 
praetors  continually  deviated,  alleging,  we  may  suppose,  that  the 
equity  of  particular  cases  required  them  to  depart  from  their 
general  rule.  Whatever  may  be  the  advantages  or  disadvan- 
tages of  leaving  much  to  the  discretion  of  judges  in  well-ordered 
governments,  and  in  a  tolerably  pure  state  of  public  morals,  we 
may  well  conceive  that  with  such  officers  as  the  Roman  praetors 
are  described  to  have  been  at  this  period,  whatever  discretionary 
power  they  possessed,  was  likely  to  be  abused  for  their  own  pur- 
poses. Accordingly,  Cornelius  was  listened  to  with  general  ap- 
Law  to  abridge  the     probatiou,  Avheu  hc  proposcd  a  law  obliging  the 

discretionary  power  .  .  /•  •  >,  ^        ^v,  •        ■    i 

of  the  praters.  praetors  to  coniorm  m  all  cases  to  the  prmciples 

laid  down  in  their  own  proclamations  :  and  this  measure  also  was 
carried  without  any  open  resistance.  It  is  said  that  he  brought 
forward  several  other  laws  during  his  tribuneship,  which  were 
negatived  by  some  of  his  colleagues  ;  but  the  particulars  are  not 
corneiiuBisbrsmght  mcutioned.  The  reseutmeut,  however,  whlch  his 
u.c™687.  conduct  had  excited,  broke  out  as  soon  as  his  year 

of  office  was  expired.  He  was  accused  of  what,  perhaps,  may 
best  be  expressed  in  English  by  the  general  term  of  "  high  crimes 
The  trial  broken  offby  and  misdemeauours  ;* '  but  on  the  day  appointed 
*""'•  for  the  trial,  P.  Cassius,  the  praetor,  who  was  to  act 

as  judge,  did  not  appear ;  and  a  mob  assembling  at  the  instiga- 
tion, as  it  is  said,  of  Manilius,  one  of  the  tribunes,  assaulted  the 
accusers,  threatening  them  with  death,  if  they  did  not  abandon 
their  accusation,  and,  finally,  obliged  them  to  fly  for  their  lives, 
Cornelius  appears  to  have  had  no  share  in  the  riot ;  but  his  trial 
He  is  tried  a^ain  and  was  again  rcsumod  iu  the  year  following,  and  he 
u^'c'els.'  was  arraigned  chiefly  for  having  read  aloud  his  law 

to  the  people,  after  another  tribune  had  interposed  his  negative 
against  it.  On  this  point,  Q,.  Catulus,  Q,.  Hortensius,  Q.  Metellus 
Pius,  and  L.  Lucullus,  all  came  forward   to  give  their  evidence 

'*  Ne  quis  in  senatu  legjbus  solveretur,         •**  Asconius,  ubi     supra.      Conf.    DioB 
nisi  cc  adfnissent,  neve  quis,  quum  solntus     Cass.  XXXVI.  19. 
esset,  intercederet,  quum  de  ears  ad  popu-         •*•  "  De  Majestate" 
lum  ferretnr.     Asconius,  Argumentum  in 
Ciceron.  pro  Cornelio,  I. 


TRIBUNESHIP  OF  C.  MANLIUS. 


171 


with  a  strong  leaning  against  him ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
Cicero  undertook  his  defence,  and  is  said  to  have  conducted  it 
with  the  greatest  ability  in  two  speeches,  of  which,  unfortunately, 
only  a  few  fragments  remain  to  us.  His  eloquence  was  received 
with  bursts  of  applause  from  the  assembled  people,* *  and  Cor- 
nelius, as  far  as  we  can  learn,  was  acquitted.*^ 

We  have  dwelt  the  longer  upon  the  tribuneship  and  laws  of 
Cornelius,  because  he  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  few  men 
of  his  time  who  advocated  firmly  and  temperately  the  real  inter- 
ests of  the  people  ;  and  because  the  opposition  which  he  met  with 
from  the  aristocracy,  shows  how  much  they  were  inclined  to  resist 
not  only  the  seditious,  but  even  the  fairest  and  most  moderate 
supporters  of  reform,  as  if  every  thing  were  mischievous  which 
did  not  tend  to  maintain  their  exclusive  ascendency.  At  a  crisis 
such  as  that  in  which  Rome  was  now  placed,  there  were  few 
popular  leaders  v/ho  were  disposed  to  imitate  the  temper  and  judg- 
ment of  Cornelius,  and  the  treatment  which  he  met  with  was  like- 
ly still  more  to  diminish  the  number.  Men  of  real  sense  and  pat- 
riotism were  deterred  from  the  task  of  redressing  grievances, 
when  they  found  that  they  could  only  succeed  at  the  price  of 
provoking  a  strong  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  nobility,  and, 
perhaps,  dangerously  exciting  the  passions  of  the  multitude.  But 
profligate  adventurers,  to  whom  sedition  was  in  itself  an  end,  in- 
stead of  being  regarded  with  aversion  even  as  the  means  of  ob- 
taining some  real  good,  were  rejoiced  to  find  the  senate  so  selfish 
and  short-sighted.  They  could  then  say,  with  more  plausibility, 
that  the  aristocracy  were  habitually  the  enemies  and  oppressors 
of  the  poor,  and  that  nothing  could  effectually  benefit  the  com- 
monwealth but  a  total  revolution  in  the  state  of  society. 

In  the  year  687,  C.  Manilius,  one  of  the  tribunes,®*  proposed  a 
renewal  of  one  of  the  laws  which  had  been  passed  Trib..neshipofc. 
during  the  triumph  of  the  popular  party  under  Car-  ManUius. 
bo,  and  which  had  subsequently,  we  may  suppose,  been  annulled 
by  Sylla.  By  this  lav/  the  freedmen  had  been  enrolled  promiscu- 
ously in  all  the  tribes,  instead  of  being  confined,  as  before,  to  the 
four  city  tribes  only.  Manilius  procured  its  revival,  by  proposing 
it  suddenly  at  a  late  hour  of  the  day,  when  the  majority  of  re- 
spectable citizens  had  left  the  forum  f'  but  it  was  instantly  an- 
nulled by  the  senate,  as  having  been  illegally  passed,  and  Mani- 
lius himself  was  induced  to  abandon  any  further  mention  of  it.** 
But  finding  that  he  was  still  threatened  with  the  resentment  of 
the  aristocracy,  he  resolved  to  secure  himself  by  courting  more 

««  Quintilian,  VIII.  3  «  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVI.  20,  edit.  Le- 

^  Quintilian,  VI.    5 — "  ut   Cornelium     unclav. 
ipso  confessionis  fiducia  eripuerit."  '^  Cicero,  pro  Cornelio,  I.  Fragm. 

•*  Asconius,  in  Ciceron.  Orat.  pro  Mi- 
lone,  8  ;  and  Cicero,  Orat  pro  Cornelio,  I. 


172 


FIRST  CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE. 


assiduously  the  favour  of  the  people,  and  by  gaining  the  protec- 
tion of  an  individual,  whose  friends  it  might  not  be  politic  for  the 
The  Maniiian  law.  senatc  to  attack.  This  is  said  to  have  been  the 
origin  of  the  famous  Maniiian  law,  by  which  it  was  proposed  to 
commit  the  sole  management  of  the  war  with  Mithridates  and 
Tigranes  to  Pompey,  and  to  continue  to  him  a  large  portion  of 
the  extraordinary  powers  with  which  he  was  already  invested  to 
act  against  the  pirates.  The  aristocratical  party,  as  may  be  sup- 
posed, warmly  opposed  the  law,  but  it  was  supported  by  Csesar 
and  by  Cicero,  and  finally  carried."  It  is  probable  that  the  mere 
military  part  of  the  command  might  have  been  safely  intrusted  to 
other  hands  ;  but  with  the  peculiar  temptations  which  the  East 
offered  to  phmder  and  extortion,  no  officer  could  have  been  so 
well  chosen  as  Pompey  to  retrieve  the  lost  character  of  Roman 
magistrates,  to  conciliate  the  affections  of  the  people  of  the  pro- 
vinces, and  to  administer  his  extensive  command  with  justice, 
humanity,  and  wisdom.  Nor  would  the  measure,  in  strictness, 
have  been  dangerous,  even  as  a  precedent ;  for  as  Pompey  was 
appointed  to  wield  such  unusual  powers,  on  account  of  his  tried 
moderation  and  integrity,  there  was  little  probability  that  officers 
would  often  be  found  with  similar  qualities  to  entitle  them  to  a 
similar  honour. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year,  P.  Cornelius  Sylla,^^  a  relation 
of  the  late  dictator,  and  P.  Autronius,  were  elected  consuls  for  the 
year  following  ;  but  being  shortly  after  accused  of  bribery,  and 
being  found  guilty,  the  election  was  declared  null  and  void,  and 
L.  Aurelius  Cotta  and  L.  Manlius  Torquatus  were  chosen  in  their 
room.  The  famous  L.  Sergius  Catilina  had  intended  to  offer 
himself  as  a  candidate,  but  he  was  also  at  this  time  under  accu- 
sation for  misconduct  in  his  late  province  of  Africa,^^  and  the 
senate  resolved  that  under  such  circumstances  he  could  not  be 
First  conspiracy  of    clcctcd.     Irritated  at  his  disappointment,  he  entered 

Catiline,  Autronius,        .     ,  •  •  ^i     n      \      ^  ■  i    /-i        t-»- 

andPiso.  into  a  conspnacy  with  P.  Autronius  and  On.  Piso, 

a  young  man  of  noble  birth,  but  needy  and  profligate  :  and  it  was 
resolved  that  the  two  consuls  elect,  Cotta  and  Manlius,  should  be 
murdered  in  the  capitol  on  the  first  of  January,  when  they  would 
first  enter  upon  their  office  ;  that  Catiline  and  Autronius  should 
then  seize  upon  the  consulship,  and  Piso  should  be  sent  with  an 
army  to  secure  the  important  province  of  Spain.  The  design 
was  suspected,  and  its  execution  was,  therefore,  postponed  to  the 
fifth  of  February,  when  it  was  intended  to  assassinate  not  the 
consuls  only,  but  a  great  number  of  the  senators  when  assembled 
in  the  senate-house.  Catiline,  however,  gave  the  signal  for  the 
massacre  before  the  armed  men,  whom  they  had  hired  to  execute 

"  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVI.  20.  ^s  q    Cicero,  de  Petitione   Consulatfts, 

**  Sallust,  Catilina,  18.     Cicero,  pro  P.     3.  Cicero,  Fragm.  Orationis  in  Toga  Can- 
Sylia,  17.  32.  did&.     Sallust,  Catilina,  18. 


SECOND  CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE. 


1T3 


it,  were  collected  in  sufficient  force  ;  and  after  this  second  disap- 
pointment the  attempt  was  reUnquished.  But  aUhough  this  con- 
spiracy is  mentioned  hy  Cicero  and  Salkist  as  a  matter  perfectly 
notorious,  yet  the  authors  of  it  were  suffered  to  remain  unquestioned, 
and  Catiline  ventured,  two  years  afterwards,  to  offer  himself  again 
as  a  candidate  for  the  highest  office  in  the  commonwealth. 

The  year  which  had  begun  with  such  alarming  circumstances 
was  marked  in  its  progress  with  little  that  is  re-  u.c.  688. 

markable.  Catiline's  trial  for  misconduct  in  his  province  came 
on,  but  he  was  acquitted :  an  escape  which  he  is  said  to  have 
owed  to  the  corruption  of  his  judges  and  of  his  accuser,  P.  Clo- 
dius,'"  who  suffered  himself  to  be  bribed  by  Catiline  to  weaken 
purposely  the  force  of  his  own  accusation.  At  this  censorship  of  M.cra,- 
time  also  M.  Crassus  and  Q,.  Catulus  were  acting  ei>^  ami  a.  catuius. 
as  censors  ;  but  they  were  warmly  at  variance  with  each  other  on 
an  important  question  relating  to  the  inhabitants  of  Cisalpine 
Gaul  to  the  north  of  the  Po."  Crassus  wished  to  extend  the 
privileges  of  Roman  citizenship  to  them  as  to  all  the  other  people 
within  the  Alps  ;  but  Catulus,  according  to  the  usual  policy  of 
the  aristocratical  party,  was  adverse  to  the  measure,  and  both 
persisting  in  their  respective  opinions,  resigned  the  censorship. 
It  was  thought  by  many  that  the  streets  of  Rome  were  thronged 
too  much  already,  without  swelling  the  number  of  The  papian  law. 
citizens  still  more ;  and  C.  Papius,^^  one  of  the  tribunes,  proposed 
and  carried  a  law,  by  which  all  foreigners  were  ordered  to  depart 
from  Rone.  This  measure  occasioned,  probably,  great  incon- 
venience and  distress  to  individuals,  without  any  important  bene- 
fits to  the  public  peace.  While  the  number  of  needy  and  profli- 
gate citizens  was  so  great,  and  whilst  such  multitudes  of  slaves 
and  gladiators  were  kept  in  the  city,  ready  at  all  times  to  serve 
the  purposes  of  riot  and  violence,  it  was  of  little  avail  to  drive 
away  the  small  proportion  of  free  foreigners  who  might  possibly 
have  strengthened  the  cause  of  any  sedition. 

In  the  year  following,  L.  Julius  Caesar  and  C.  Marcius  Figulus 
were  chosen  consuls.  Catiline  now  was  preparing  Beginnings  of  the  se- 
to  renew  his  canvass  for  the  consulship,  and  to  cl'tuine""""""'^  "^ 
combine  it  with  the  plan  of  a  second  conspiracy,  u.c  689. 
This  man  must  not  be  classed  among  the  ordinary  leaders  of  the 
popular  party  who  opposed  the  authority  of  the  senate ;  nor  with 
such  men  as  the  Gracchi,  who,  although  their  meditated  changes 
threatened  to  affect  the  tenure  of  property,  yet  proposed  no  more 
than  that  which  an  unrepealed  law  of  the  republic  had  already 
sanctioned,  and  who,  with  all  their  rashness  and  violence,  would 
have  shrunk  from  the  thought  of  shedding  the  blood  of  the  no- 

'"  Cicero,  de  HaruspicumResponsis,  20.         '"  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVII.  33.     Cicero, 
Fragm.  Orat.  in  Toga  Candida.  de  Officiis,  III.  11. 

9'  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVII.  33. 


174  SECOND  CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE. 

blest  of  their  countrymen.  But  Catiline,  from  his  early  youth, 
had  been  stained  with  crimes  :  in  the  proscription  of  Sylla  he  had 
distinguished  himself  by  peculiar  cruelty  and  rapacity,"  and  since 
that  period  the  free  indulgence  of  his  profligate  desires  had  re- 
duced him  to  indigence,  which  he  had  again  repaired  by  his 
extortions  in  his  province,  but  which  was  returning  upon  him 
afresh  from  the  usual  tenour  of  his  life  in  Rome.  He  was  of  a 
patrician  family,  and  found  many  others  amongst  the  nobility 
who  resembled  him  in  profligacy  and  neediness,  and  who  were 
willing  to  share  with  him  all  his  projects  of  revolution  :"  to  these 
were  added  a  multitude  of  worthless  and  desperate  men  from  the 
lower  classes  of  society.  Whoever  disliked  a  life  of  labour,  who- 
ever wished  to  be  relieved  from  the  restraints  of  law,  whoever  were 
involved  in  debts  which  they  could  only  hope  to  wipe  off  by  the 
murder  of  their  creditors  ;  the  envious,  the  rapacious,  and  the  re- 
vengeful, who  form  so  large  a  portion  of  mankind,  all  were  ready 
to  embrace  a  scheme  which  promised  them  plunder,  and  license, 
and  bloodshed.  Political  circumstances  added  others  to  the  num- 
ber of  the  conspirators.  The  inhabitants  of  Tuscany,*^  who  had 
been  deprived  of  their  lands  by  Sylla's  confiscations,  were  eager 
to  recover  their  property ;  many  of  the  soldiers  who  had  received 
these  lands  as  settlements  had  since  become  involved  by  their  ex- 
travagance or  ignorance  of  farming,  and  were  anxious  for  a  sec- 
ond civil  war  that  they  might  receive  fresh  rewards ;  whilst  the 
children  of  those  who  had  been  proscribed,  being  excluded  by 
Sylla's  laws  from  all  the  honours  of  the  commonwealth  during 
their  lives,  were  anxious  to  raise  themselves  from  this  state  of 
degradation.  It  is  mentioned,  too,  that  a  great  many  women  of 
birth  and  talents,*^  but  of  infamous  character,  who,  in  the  decay 
of  their  youthful  beauty  had  no  longer  the  means  of  indulging 
their  extravagant  habits,  and  had  thus  contracted  considerable 
debts,  were  ready  to  use  all  their  arts  and  influence  in  support  of 
the  conspiracy,  and  to  assist  it  more  directly  by  the  use  of  poison 
or  the  dagger  against  their  own  husbands,  whose  rank  or  char- 
acter might  render  them  valuable  friends  to  the  constitution  of 
their  country. 

The  chief  grievance  on  which  Catiline  dwelt  when  endeavour- 
ing to  excite  his  associates  to  overthrow  the  existing  government, 
was  the  monopoly  of  honours  and  riches  amongst  a  few  great 
families,*''  by  which  the  bulk  of  the  people  were  kept  in  a  de- 
graded and  impoverished  condition.  This  complaint  was  utterly 
groundless  in  his  own  mouth,  or  in  the  mouths  of  all  the  patri- 
cian conspirators  of  his  party  ;  they  certainly  were  not  excluded 
by  any  aristocratical  jealousy  from  office  ;  nor  is  it  possible  to 

"  Q.    Cicero,  de   Petitione   Consulat.         ^  Sallust.Catilina,  28. 

2,3.  '«  Sallust,  Caiilina,  24. 

»«  Sallust,  Catjlina,  17.  "  Sallust,  Catilina,  20. 


ELECTION  OP  CICERO  TO  THE  CONSULSHIP.  175 

trace,  in  the  lists  of  consuls  and  prastors  about  this  period,  any 
signs  of  a  predominant  influence  exercised  either  by  a  few  indi- 
viduals, or  by  a  few  particular  families  of  the  aristocracy.  But 
it  is  true  that  the  nobility,  as  a  body,  were  unwilling  to  see  the 
highest  posts  in  the  commonwealth  occupied  by  men  of  inferior 
birth  and  fortune,  and  wished  to  make  the  constitution  too  nearly 
resemble  an  oligarchy.  The  same  C.  Piso,  who  was  consul  when 
C.  Cornelius  was  tribune,  and  who  had  been  so  strongly  opposed 
to  him,  is  said  to  have  declared  to  the  assembled  people,^^  when, 
in  his  quality  of  consul,  he  was  presiding  at  the  election  of  consuls 
for  the  ensuing  year,  that  if  M.  Palicanus,  a  man  of  humble  origin 
and  a  popular  tribune,  should  be  chosen  by  the  votes  of  the  comi- 
tia,  he  never  would  return  him  as  duly  elected.  This  no  doubt 
was  an  extreme  case  ;  yet  the  lists  of  consuls  sufficiently  prove 
that  no  one  could  easily  attain  that  dignity,  unless  he  were  of 
noble  blood  and  distinguished  connexions ;  and  at  the  time  of 
Catiline's  conspiracy,  Cicero's  pretensions  to  the  consulship,  for 
which  he  was  now  a  candidate,  were  much  discouraged  by  the 
high  aristocratical  party.^"  His  character,  however,  Election  of  m.  cicero 
was  so  pure,  his  eloquence  so  popular,  and  his  po-  '"""^  consulship. 
litical  principles  so  much  inclined  to  support  the  senate,  that  these 
merits  atoned  for  his  want  of  family ;  and  as  Catiline's  projects 
excited  considerable  alarm,  the  nobility  perceived  the  necessity  of 
having  a  consul  able  and  willing  to  check  them,  and  thus  M. 
Cicero  and  C.  Antonius  were  elected  to  fill  the  consulship  for  the 
following  year. 

Thus  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of  obtaining  a  place  of  lawful 
power,  Catiline  turned  more  zealously  to  his  schemes  of  revolu- 
tion ;  and  whilst  he  was  increasing  the  number  of  his  partisans 
at  Rome,  he  provided  depots  of  arms  in  different  parts  of  Italy,  and 
having  found  means  to  borrow  money  on  his  own  credit  and 
that  of  his  friends,  he  transmitted  it  to  Fassulee  in  Tuscany,  to 
the  care  of  one  C.  Manlius,  who  was  to  commence  the  intended 
insurrection  in  the  country.  At  the  same  time  he  contrived  re- 
peated attempts  against  the  life  of  Cicero ;  and  in  the  midst  of 
these  designs  he  actually  proposed  to  offer  himself  once  more,  at 
the  ensuing  elections,  as  a  candidate  for  the  consulship.  His 
plans,  however,  had  been  constantly  communicated  to  different 
persons,  and  from  a  very  early  period  of  the  conspiracy  had  been 
denounced  to  the  consul  Cicero.  One  of  his  asso-  Thede?isnsofcatiiine 
ciates,  Q,.  Curius, ""'  had  long  been  engaged  in  a  cllH^sTocic^ero/ 
criminal  connexion  with  a  woman  of  the  name  of  Fulvia,  who 
resembled,  in  the  general  profligacy  and  extravagance  of  her 
manner  of  living,  those  females  whom  we  have  already  mentioned 

«•  Valerius  Maximu3,  TIL  8.  '*"»  Sallust,  Catilina,  23. 

9'  Sallust,  Catilina,  23. 


176  THE  AGRARIAN  LAW  OF  P.  RULLUS. 

among  the  accomplices  of  Catiline  ;  but  who,  from  some  feelings 
of  humanity  or  private  connexions,  or  some  regard  for  the  consti- 
tution of  her  country,  was  a  stranger  to  all  the  plans  of  the  con- 
spirators. Curius  was  a  man  of  good  family,  but  indigent ;  and 
having  no  means  left  of  gratifying  Fulvia's  habits  of  expense,  he 
found  himself  a  less  welcome  visiter  to  her.  But  so  soon  as  he 
had  become  acquainted  with  the  views  of  Catiline,  and  had  heard 
the  splendid  allurements  which  he  held  out  to  his  partisans,  he 
endeavoured  to  regain  her  favour  by  assuring  her  that  in  a  short 
time  he  should  be  enabled  to  testify,  in  the  amplest  manner,  the 
affection  which  he  bore  her.  Some  doubts  expressed  by  Fulvia 
as  to  his  sincerity,  led  him  in  his  own  defence  to  disclose  the 
means  to  which  he  was  looking  for  his  enrichment ;  and  Fulvia, 
struck  with  horror  at  this  communication,  lost  no  time  in  making 
several  persons  acquainted  with  it.  Afterwards,  when  Cicero  be- 
came consul,  he  gained  her  over  entirely  to  the  interests  of  the 
commonwealth,  and  empowered  her  to  make  Curius  such  pro- 
mises as  tempted  him  to  give  regular  information  of  all  that  passed 
at  every  meeting  of  the  conspirators.  Through  this  channel  he 
also  gained  timely  notice  of  the  designs  formed  against  his  own 
life ;  and  took  care  to  keep  a  strong  body  of  his  friends  and  de- 
pendents near  his  person,  that  they  might  defend  him  either  from 
assassination  or  from  open  violence. 

Such,  however,  were  the  imperfections  of  the  Roman  laws, 
Events  of  the  early     that,  witlithc  fullcst  kuowlcdgc  of  tile  cxisteuce 

part  of  Cicero's  con-  i  ^        ^  c         ^  t_i 

suiship.  and  constant  progress  oi  a  treasonable  conspu'acy, 

the  consul  was  obliged  to  wait  for  some  overt  act  of  rebellion 
before  he  could  venture  to  act  officially  against  the  guilty.  In 
the  mean  time  the  people  in  general  were  ignorant  of  the  dangers 
which  threatened  the  state  ;  and  whilst  Catiline  was  carrying  on 
his  projects  of  revolution  in  secret,  several  other  matters  of  far  less 
importance  successively  engaged  the  attention  of  the  public.  P. 
Servilius  Rullus,  one  of  the  tribunes,""  proposed  to  gratify  the 
Theaerarianiawof  lowcr  ordcrs  by  a  ucw  agrarian  law,  framed  on  a 
^•^""'^^-  scale  far  more  extensive  than  any  that  had  preceded 

it,  and  conferring  powers  unusually  great  on  the  commissioners 
by  whom  it  was  to  be  carried  into  etlect.  The  general  object  of 
the  law  was  to  provide  the  poorer  citizens  with  settlements  of 
land  in  Italy  ;  and  for  this  purpose  a  commission  of  ten  persons 
was  to  be  appointed,  who  should  be  enabled  to  sell  national  pro- 
perty of  every  description  in  every  part  of  the  empire,  and,  with 
the  money  arising  from  the  sale,  should  purchase  lands  in  Italy, 
and  settle  upon  them  colonies  of  Roman  citizens.  With  some- 
thing more  than  the  usual  arbitrary  jurisdiction  intrusted  to  com- 
missions of  this  nature,  the  commissioners  were  constituted  sole 

""  Cicero,  Orationes  de  Lege  Agraria. 


THE  AGRARIAN  LAW  OF  P.  RULLUS.  I77 

judges  of  what  was  national  property,  and  were  authorized  to  fix 
the  place  of  sale  wherever  they  should  think  proper,  a  door  being 
thus  opened  on  the  one  hand  I0  the  greatest  oppression,  and  on 
the  other  to  the  most  shameful  corruption.  The  commission, 
moreover,  was  to  exist  for  five  years,  and  during  its  existence 
none  of  its  members  could  be  subjected  to  trial  for  misconduct;'"^ 
and  two  hundred  of  the  equestrian  order  were  to  be  chosen  yearly 
as  a  sort  of  guard  of  honour,  that  the  commissioners  mighi  travel 
every  where  with  kingly  state,  and  with  more  than  kingly  power ; 
for  it  seems  they  were  empowered  every  where  to  enforce  their 
authority  by  punishments  inflicted  at  their  own  discretion,  while 
there  was  no  other  power  which  could  protect  from  their  jurisdic- 
tion, or  reverse  their  sentences.  It  was  proposed  further  that 
these  sovereign  magistrates  should  be  chosen  by  a  majority  out  of 
seventeen  tribes  only  j'"^  that  the  tribes  who  were  to  elect  should 
be  chosen  by  lot.  and  the  comitia  should  be  held  by  the  framer  of 
the  law,  that  is,  by  Rullus  himself;  so  that,  according  to  the  well- 
known  influence  exercised  over  the  result  of  an  election  at  Rome 
by  the  officer  who  presided  at  it  and  received  the  votes,  Rullus 
might  calculate  fairly  on  being  placed  himself  on  the  commission. 
This  agrarian  law  is  not  the  only  instance  in  history  in  which  a 
popular  party  has  incurred  general  odium  by  attempting,  under 
the  colour  of  an  extraordinary  commission,  to  confer  immoderate 
powers  upon  its  own  leaders.  Cicero  instantly  perceived  the 
advantage  which  was  afforded  him ;  and  whilst  he  professed  to 
approve  the  principle  of  agrarian  laws,  he  attacked  this  particular 
measure  as  a  mere  device  to  invest  ten  persons  with  absolute 
sovereignty  over  the  whole  empire ;  and  as  Rullus  had  not  ac- 
quired such  an  ascendency  over  the  people  as  to  make  them  deaf 
to  all  insinuations  against  the  purity  of  his  views,  the  eloquence 
of  Cicero  was  listened  to  with  delight ;  one  of  the  other  tribunes 
promised  to  negative  the  law'"^  if  it  should  be  submitted  to  the 
votes  of  the  people  ;  and  Rullus,  thus  finding  the  popular  feeling 
turned  against  him,  abandoned  his  measure  without  further  trial. 
The  aristocratical  party  were  contented  with  having  exposed 
the  folly  of  their  adversaries'  scheme,  and  with  having  completely 
defeated  their  attempt.  It  is  ever  the  case  in  party  warfare  that 
the  public  good  is  sacrificed,  while  the  contending  factions  appeal 
almost  exclusively  to  the  most  contemptible  of  all  arguments,  those 
which  derive  their  force  from  the  weakness  or  contradictions  of 
an  opponent.  The  proposed  law  of  Rullus  was  extravagant  and 
absurd  ;  but  was  there  no  other  practicable  plan  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor,  which  Cicero,  the  professed  friend  of  the  principle  of 
agrarian  laws,  might  have  most  seasonably  devised,  to  remove 

'"*  Cicero,  Orationes  de  Lege  Agraria,         '"'  Cicero,  de  Lege  Agrarici,  IL  7,  8. 
IL  12,  13.  10*  Cicero,  pro  Sulla,  23. 


178       REPEAL  OF  THE  LAW  OF  SYLLA  PROPOSED. 

some  portion  of  the  really  existing  sufferings  of  the  lower  orders, 
and  to  conciliate  their  affections  to  the  nobility  at  a  period  so 
fraught  with  danger  to  the  commonwealth  ?  When  the  tempta- 
tions of  the  capital,  and  the  distressed  state  of  the  country  had 
drawn  to  Rome  so  large  a  portion  of  the  free  population  of  Italy  ; 
when  Samnium  and  some  of  the  neighbouring  districts  were 
almost  a  wilderness,  and  Etruria  was  overrun  with  banditti ;  above 
all,  when  a  conspiracy  was  known  to  exist  which  struck  at  the 
very  foundation  of  the  present  order  of  things,  sound  policy  surely 
demanded  that  the  chief  magistrates  of  the  state  should  them- 
selves propose  some  expedient,  which,  by  relieving  the  indigent, 
and  restoring  Italy  in  general  to  a  more  healthful  condition,  might 
deprive  the  enemies  of  society  of  their  principal  resources.  A  se- 
vere but  necessary  tax,  levied  upon  all  establishments  of  slaves 
above  a  certain  number,  might  have  gradually  resupplied  the 
country  with  a  population  of  free  labourers  ;  or,  as  the  agrarian 
laws  were  the  ordinary  method  of  providing  for  the  poor  at  Rome, 
the  product  of  such  a  tax  might  have  been  employed  in  the  pur- 
chase or  rent  of  lands  to  be  distributed  among  the  poorer  citizens  ; 
and  such  a  step,  abhorrent  as  it  may  be  to  our  notions,  might  per- 
haps have  alleviated  the  public  distresses,  and  certainly  would 
have  enabled  the  nobility  to  resist  the  attacks  of  seditious  adven- 
turers with  a  greater  consciousness  of  innocence,  and  a  better 
claim  to  the  support  of  the  people  at  large. 

After  the  defeat  of  the  proposed  agrarian  law,  an  attempt  was 
Proposal  for  thn  re-     uiadc  by  somc  of  thc  Dooular  party  to  procure  the 

peal  of  the  law  of  .  ^     ,  i   -i  i  /■     i  i  ri     n 

syiia  respecting  the     rcstoratiou  ot  thc  Children   01  those  whom  feyJla 

children  of  the  pro-       ,-•  .,■,  ,  .,,  -y     -..         .   . 

ecribed.  had  proscribd  to  the  common  rights  and  dignities 

of  citizens,  by  rendering  them  eligible  to  public  offices.  On  this 
occasion  Cicero  again  displayed  his  eloquence  with  success  in  op- 
posing the  law.  He  alleged  that  the  existing  order  of  things  was 
so  much  built  upon  the  laws  of  Sylla,'"^  that  the  sons  of  those 
who  had  suffered  under  his  government  could  not,  without  dan- 
ger, be  relieved  from  the  disabilities  under  which  they  laboured. 
Of  the  justice  of  this  argument  we  have  no  adequate  means  of 
judging  ;  it  admitted,  at  least,  that  the  exclusion  of  so  many  in- 
nocent individuals  was  an  evil ;  but  whether  their  influence, 
could  they  have  exerted  it,  would  have  tended  to  reform  or  to 
revolutionize  the  actual  order  of  things,  we  cannot  easily  deter- 
mine. From  the  general  profligacy  of  the  times,  however,  we 
may  conjecture  that  a  depressed  party,  invested  suddenly  with 
power,  was  not  likely  to  exercise  it  with  moderation,  or  with  any 
regard  to  the  public  welfare. 

The  next  proceeding  of  the  popular  party  was  more  clearly 

'"*  Quinctilian,  XL  1,§85. 


TRIAL  OF  C.  RABIRIUS.  ^.yg 

deserving  of  censure.  It  has  been  already  noticed, 
that  C.  Csesar  had,  on  one  or  two  occasions,  ex-  ^riai of  c.  RaWrius. 
pressed  with  some  ostentation  his  aliection  for  the  party  of  Marius, 
and  he  now  attempted  to  vindicate  the  memory  of  L.  Saturninus, 
who,  having  been  for  a  long  time  the  associate  of  Marius,  was  af- 
terwards opposed  by  him  as  the  reluctant  instrument  of  the  senate, 
and  having  been  taken  in  actual  rebellion,  had  been  murdered  by 
the  armed  citizens,  who  broke  into  his  place  of  confinement. 
Ca;sar,"'«  it  is  said,  instigated  T.  Altius  Labienus,  at  this  time  one 
of  the  tribunes,  and  afterwards  distinguished  in  Gaul  as  one  of 
Caesar's  lieutenants,  and  in  the  civil  war  as  a  partisan  of  Pompey,  to 
accuse  C.  Rabirius,  an  aged  senator,  as  the  perpetrator  of  this  mur- 
der. The  cause  was  first  tried  before  L.  Csesar  and  C.  Csesar,'"^ 
who  were  appointed  by  lot  to  act  as  special  commissioners  in  this 
case,  by  virtue  of  the  praetor's  order ;  and  the  accused  was  ar- 
raigned according  to  the  old  law  of  murder,  by  which,  if  he  had 
been  found  guilty,  he  would  have  been  condennied  to  be  hanged. 
But  this  mode  of  proceeding  was  stopped  by  Rabirius  appealing 
to  tlie  people,  or  by  the  interference  of  Cicero  as  consul,'"^  as  his 
speech  seems  to  imply,  and  his  procuring  the  removal  of  the  cause 
before  another  tribunal.  The  people,  however,  it  is  said,  were 
likely  to  condemn  the  accused,  when  Q,.  Metellus  Celer,"*'  one  of 
the  praetors,  obliged  the  meeting  to  break  up  by  tearing  down  the 
ensign,  which  was  always  flying  on  the  Janiculum  whilst  the 
people  were  assembled,  and  without  which,  according  to  ancient 
custom,  they  could  not  lawfully  continue  their  deliberations.  In 
this  manner  Rabirius  escaped,  for  Labienus  or  his  instigators  did 
not  think  proper  to  bring  forward  the  business  again,  whether 
despairing  of  again  finding  the  people  equally  disposed  to  con- 
demn the  accused,  or  whether  the  progress  of  the  conspiracy  of 
Catiline  began  now  to  turn  men's  attention  more  entirely  to  a  dif- 
ferent subject. 

The  comitia  for  the  election  of  consuls  were  on  the  point  of 
being  held,  when  Cicero  acquainted  the  senate  with  some  of  the 
facts  of  which  he  was  in  possession  relative  to  the  conspiracy,  and 
persuaded  them  to  order  the  postponement  of  the  elections,  that 
the  state  of  affairs  might  previously  undergo  a  full  discussion."" 
On  the  following  day,  when  the  senators  were  assembled,  Cicero 
taxed  Catiline  openly  Math  the  criminal  designs  imputed  to  him, 
and  called  on  him  to  justify  himself.  But  when  he  had  said  in 
reply,  that  there  were  two  parties  in  the  commonwealth,  the  one 
weak  both  in  its  head  and  its  body,  the  other  strong  in  body  but 
headless,  and  that  he  was  resolved  to  supply  it  with  a  head,  the 
senate  expressed  their  indignation  by  a  general  murmur,  and  the 

"6  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  12.  '"9  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVII.  42. 

>"  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVII.  42.  »'•>  Cicero,  pro  L.  Mursna,  25. 

'*'*  Cicero,  pro  Rabirio,  4,  5. 


lyO  CATILINE'S  AGENTS  TAKE  UP  ARMS  IN  ETRURIA. 

decree,  usual  in  all  dangerous  emergencies,'"  was  passed,  "  That 
the  consuls  should  provide  for  the  safety  of  the  republic."  Cicero, 
however,  did  not  avail  himself  as  yet  of  the  ample  powers  thus 
committed  to  him  ;  he  contented  himself  with  defending  his  own 
person  on  the  day  of  the  election,  by  going  down. to  the  Campus 
Martins  attended  by  a  strong  escort,'"^  and  having  seen  Catiline 
once  more  rejected,  and  D.  Junius  Silanus  and  L.  Mursena  chosen 
consuls,  he  continued  to  learn  all  Catiline's  plans  from  the  infor- 
mation of  Cnrius,  and  to  take  the  proper  precautions  to  obviate 
every  attempt  that  might  be  made  of  a  nature  directly  hostile. 

In  the  mean  time,  C.  Manlius,  according  to  the  instructions  of 
The  agents  of  cati-  CatiUnc,  had  taken  up  arms  in  Etruria."^  and  two 
Ewu^a.*^ '''"^™^ '"  others  of  the  conspirators  had  been  despatched  to 
excite  insurrections  in  Picenum  and  Apulia.  To  oppose  these 
movements,  two  of  the  praetors  and  two  proconsuls,  who  had  late- 
ly returned  from  their  provinces,  and  who,  having  claimed  the  hon- 
our of  a  triumph,  were  both  waiting,  with  their  armies  not  yet  dis- 
banded, in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rome,  were  sent  into  the  difier- 
ent  quarters  where  the  danger  was  most  threatening,  while  guards 
were  stationed  in  different  parts  of  Rome  itself,  and  the  public  mind 
was  studiously  alarmed  with  reports  of  the  atrocious  designs  of  the 
conspirators.  Catiline  finding  himself  the  object  of  universal  sus- 
picion, offered  successively  to  commit  himself  to  the  custody  of  sev- 
eral individuals  of  distinction,  and  amongst  others  even  to  that  of 
the  consul;"*  but  no  one  would  undertake  such  a  charge,  Cicero 
being  anxious  to  oblige  him  to  leave  Rome,  and  the  others  being 
probably  unwilling  to  incur  so  great  a  responsibility,  and  supposing, 
perhaps,  that  Catiline's  accomplices  in  the  city  were  numerous 
enough  to  effect  his  rescue,  and  that  they  who  held  him  in  custo- 
dy would  be  the  first  marked  out  for  destruction.  It  appears  that 
Cicero  having  full  information  of  the  extent  of  the  conspiracy,  and 
knowing  that  there  were  many  persons  engaged  in  it  whom  he 
could  not  venture  to  punish  without  driving  them  first  into  some 
act  of  open  treason,  was  desirous  that  it  should  not  merely  be 
checked  for  a  time,  and  allowed  again  to  prosecute  its  plans  in 
secret,  so  as  to  keep  the  country  in  perpetual  alarm,  but  that  it 
should  be  brought  at  once  to  its  execution ;  for  he  trusted  to  the 
precautions  which  he  had  taken  to  insure  the  commonwealth 
from  any  danger  which  the  explosion  might  occasion  ;  and  after 
it  had  taken  place  he  knew  that  the  consular  authority  might  be 
freely  used  to  deliver  society  effectually  fi'om  those  who  had  so 
long  been  plotting  against  it. 

The  measures  of  Catiline  were  greatly  embarrassed  by  this 
policy  ;  his  accomplices  in  Rome  were  restrained  and  awed  by  the 

•"  Cicero,  in  Catilinam,  I.  2.  '"  Sallust,  Catilina,27.  30. 

"*  Cicero,  pro  Muraerici,  26.  ""  Cicero,  in  Catilinam,  I.  8. 


CICERO  DENOUNCES  CATILINE  IN  THE  SENATE.  13]^ 

vigilance  of  the  government,  and  could  not  be  roused  to  action  ;  so 
that  he  resolved  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  forces  already  in 
arms  in  Etruria,  and  try  his  fortune  in  the  field.  He  called  together 
his  principal  associates, '"^  late  at  night,  at  the  house  of  M.  Porcius 
Lseca :  he  complained  of  their  inactivity ;  proposed  to  tliem  in 
greaterdetail  his  plans  for  the  general  insurrection  in  the  country, 
and  declared  his  own  intention  of  joining  the  army  of  C.  Manlius 
without  delay,  if  Cicero  could  by  any  means  be  removed  before 
his  departure.  Upon  this  two  Roman  knights,"^  C.  Cornelius  and 
L.  Vargunteius,  engaged  to  go  early  the  next  morning  to  the  con- 
sul's house,  to  procure  an  interview  with  him,  and  to  assassinate 
him  in  his  own  chamber.  But  Curius  did  not  fail  to  give  informa- 
tion as  usual  of  what  had  been  undertaken  ;  and  when  the  intended 
assassins  arrived  at  Cicero's  doors  they  were  refused  admittance. 
Notwithstanding  this  disappointment,  there  were  other  parts  of  the 
conspirators'  plans  which  might  be  avoided  with  greater  difficulty, 
and  Cicero  assembled  the  senate  on  the  following  cioero denounces ca- 
dav,  the  eighth  of  November,  in  the  Temple  of  Jupi-  anT force,^*^ him '^ to 
ter  Stator,  on  the  ascent  of  the  Palatine  hill,  a  place  kTarrn'V'h^  Euurii:!'" 
of  unusual  security  from  its  situation  and  the  nature  of  its  build- 
ings. It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Catiline  ventured  to  appear  in 
the  senate  to  defend  himself  against  the  imputations  under  which 
he  laboured,  and  was  attacked  by  Cicero  in  a  vehement  invective, 
in  which  he  was  told  instandy  to  leave  Rome,  where  all  his  trea- 
sons were  now  fully  known,  and  would  be  no  longer  tolerated. 
His  attempted  excuses  were  drowned  by  a  general  cry  of  indigna- 
tion ;  he  at  once  left  the  senate,  and  on  die  very  same  night 
quitted  the  city,'"'  and  hastened  to  join  his  associate  Manlius  in 
Tuscany.  But  on  his  way  thither  he  wrote  letters  to  several 
persons  of  high  rank  at  Rome,  still  asserting  his  innocence,  and 
saying  that,  oppressed  as  he  was  by  the  violence  of  his  enemies, 
he  was  going  to  retire  to  Marseilles,  and  there  live  in  banishment, 
rather  than  involve  his  country,  on  his  account,  in  civil  disorders. 
In  the  want  of  those  regular  channels  of  information  by  which 
events  are  so  speedily  and  so  surely  known  in  our  days  from  one 
end  of  a  country  to  the  other,  this  statement  might  continue  to  be 
believed  by  a  large  portion  of  the  people,  long  after  Catiline  was 
really  at  the  head  of  an  insurgent  army,  and  might  furnish  his 
partisans  with  grounds  for  attacking  the  administration  of  Cicero, 
and  possibly  might  establish  a  common  point  on  which  the  leaders 
of  the  regular  popular  party  would  not  refuse  to  co-operate  with 
them. 

After  leaving  Rome,  he  waited  for  a  short  time  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Arretium,"^  in  order  to  organize  the  insurrection  in 

"5  Cicero,  in  Gatilinam,  I.  4.     Sallust,         '"'  Cicero,  II.  1.     Sallust,  Catilina,  32. 
Catilina,  27.  >'8  Sallust,  Catilina,  36.  44.  56. 

''^  Cicero,  in  Catilinam,  I.  4. 


]32    ANTONIUS  MARCHES  AGAINST  THE  CONSPIRATORS. 

that  quarter,  and  then  proceeded  to  the  camp  of  Manhus  near 
Feesulse,  attended  by  his  hctors,  as  if  he  were  a  lawful  magistrate 
of  the  commonwealth.  The  better  to  maintain  this  character,  he 
would  not  receive  any  of  the  slaves  who  offered  to  enlist  in  his 
army  ;  although  his  agents  in  Apulia  and  Picenum  were  at  this 
very  time  endeavouring  to  rekindle  the  war  of  Spartacus,  by  ex- 
citing the  slaves  every  where  to  assert  their  freedom  and  rise  in 
arms.  But  still  his  forces  were  so  considerable,  that  the  senate, 
after  declaring  him  and  Manlius  public  enemies,  directed  the  con- 
suls to  levy  soldiers,  and,  intrusting  Cicero  with  the  care  of  the 
city,  commissioned  his  colleague,  C.  Antonius,  to  oppose  Catiline 
Antoniug  is  ordered  iu  thc  ficld.  Thc  situatiou  of  Autoulus  on  this  oc- 
con^plrttorf "''""'  caslou,  greatly  rcsemblcd  that  of  Marius,  when  he 
was  ordered  by  the  senate  to  act  against  his  old  associate,  L.  Sa- 
turninus.  We  have  already  mentioned  that  Antonius  had  been 
accused  and  condemned,  some  years  before,  for  corruption  and 
oppression  in  Greece,  and  that  he  had  been  expelled  from  the 
senate  by  the  censors,  L,  Gellius  and  Cn.  Lentulus,  in  the  year  of 
Rome  683.  From  that  time  the  profligacy  of  his  life  had  connect- 
ed him  with  Catiline,  and  other  persons  of  similar  character  ;  and 
in  the  elections  of  the  preceding  year,  Catiline  had  coalesced  with 
him  against  the  pretensions  of  Cicero  ;  and  his  success  was  re- 
garded by  Catiline  as  a  most  favourable  circumstance,  even  in 
the  midst  of  his  own  disappointment."^  Worthless  as  Antonius 
personally  was,  it  was  of  iuiportance  to  conciliate  him  to  the  cause 
of  the  existing  constitution,  whilst  he  held  the  office  of  consul ; 
lest,  if  he  openly  quarrelled  with  his  colleague,  he  might  lend  the 
sanction  of  the  consular  name,  as  Cinna  had  done  before  him,  to 
the  projects  of  the  enemies  of  the  government.  Cicero,  therefore, 
when  the  consuls,  as  usual,  were  to  receive  by  lot  the  care  of  some 
province  for  the  year  following  their  consulship,  gave  up  to  An- 
tonius the  government  of  Macedonia,"^"  which  had  fallen  to  him, 
and  was  contented  to  receive  in  exchange  the  less  desirable  pro- 
vince of  Gaul ;  and  by  this  attention,  and  by  avoiding  every  thing 
that  could  give  him  offence,  he  induced  Antonius  to  rest  contented 
with  the  existing  state  of  affairs,  and  kept  him  so  distant  from 
the  conspiracy,  that  he  could  with  the  less  scruple  obey  the  senate 
in  acting  against  it.  The  departure  of  Catiline  had  still  left,  how- 
ever, a  dangerous  band  of  conspirators  within  the  walls  of  Rome,'*' 
who  were,  agreeably  to  his  instructions,  to  set  fire  to  the  city  in 
several  places  on  a  particular  day,  and  to  murder  the  principal 
magistrates  and  supporters  of  the  government  during  the  confu- 
sion ;  while  Catiline  was  to  be  ready  with  his  army,  in  the  neigh- 

"»  Sallust,  Cafilina,   21.  2G.     Asconii         '*<>  Cicero,  in  L.  Pisonem,  2.    Plutarch, 
Argumentum  in  Ciceron.     Orat.  Fragm.     in  Cicerone,  12. 
:n  Toga  Candida.  '*'  Sallust,  Catilina,  39.  43. 


ATTEMPT  TO  CORRUPT  THE  ALLOBROGES  AMBASSADORS.      133 

bourhood,  to  cut  off  all  who  should  escape  the  massacre  and  attempt 
to  fly  from  Rome,  and  thus  should  put  the  finishing  stroke  to  the 
revolution.  Of  the  conspirators  left  behind  in  the  capital,  the 
principal  were  P.  Lentulus  Sura,  who  had  been  consul  in  the  year 
682,  and  had  been  expelled  from  the  senate,  like  C.  Antonius,  by 
the  censors,  in  the  year  following,  C.  Cethegus,  a  man  also  of  noble 
family,  but  of  infamous  life,  L.  Cassius  Longinus,  P.  Autronius, 
L.  Statilius,  and  P.  Gabinius.  Many  other  persons  were  connect- 
ed with  these  :  and  it  is  said  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
young  nobility  favoured  their  views,  and  were  ready  to  assist  them 
by  murdering  their  own  parents,  when  the  time  fixed  for  the  mas- 
sacre should  arrive.  In  the  meantime,  attempts  were  made  to 
throw  upon  Cicero  the  odium  of  the  war  which  had  just  broken 
out ;  and  the  signal  for  the  execution  of  the  plot  was  to  be  given 
by  one  of  their  party,  L.  Bestia,  who  was  then  tribune  of  the  people, 
and  who  was  to  inveigh  against  the  tyranny  of  the  consul  in  a 
speech  to  be  delivered  in  the  forum.     But  the  whole     Attempt  to  corrupt 

.•I  -1  1    i    1        T  1   •  the  ambassadors  of 

conspu'acy  was  tnnely  and  completely  discovered  m  the  Aiiobroges. 
a  very  remarkable  manner.  There  happened  to  be  at  Rome  some 
deputies  from  the  Aiiobroges,  a  people  of  Transalpine  Gaul, '22 
who  had  been  some  years  before  added  to  the  Roman  dominions, 
and  who  had  suffered  as  usual  from  the  oppression  of  the  pro- 
vincial magistrates.  About  six  or  seven  years  before  this  period, 
they  had  especially  complained  of  the  exactions  of  Marius  Fonte- 
ius,  and  he  had  been  brought  to  trial  on  their  accusation ;  and 
although  he  was  warmly  defended  by  Cicero,  yet  it  was  admitted 
that  his  government  had  been  rigid,  and  that  the  Aiiobroges  were 
now  in  a  state  of  great  distress,  and  had  incurred  a  heavy  public 
debt.  Their  deputies  were  sent  to  Rome,  in  the  hopes  of  obtain- 
ing some  relief  from  the  senate  ;  but  finding  that  they  had  little 
to  expect  from  this  body,  they  were,  after  a  time,  reduced  to  des- 
pair, when  one  of  the  conspirators,  who  had  formerly  traded  in 
Gaul,  and  was  personally  known  to  most  of  the  chiefs  of  the  coun- 
try, addressed  them  in  the  forum,  and,  learning  the  hopeless  state 
of  their  affairs,  proposed  to  them,  by  degrees,  that  they  should  join 
in  the  conspiracy,  telling  them  its  views,  and  the  names  of  some 
of  the  principal  members,  and  promising,  if  they  could  excite  their 
countrymen  to  take  up  arms  against  the  republic,  that  they  should 
be  perfectly  freed  from  all  their  difficulties.  The  offer  was  tempt- 
ing ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  knowledge  of  so  important  a  se- 
cret might  enable  them  to  purchase,  without  any  hazard,  an  ample 
reward  from  the  government ;  aiM  they  accordingly  disclosed  the 
whole  transaction  to  Q,.  Fabius  Sanga,  to  whom  their  countrymen 
usually  applied  to  further  their  interests  when  they  had  any  bu- 
siness at  Rome,  and  who  lost  no  time  in  laying  the  information 

'"  Cicero,  in  Catilinam,  III.  2.     Sallust,40. 

13 


1Q4  POPULAR  FEELING  ON  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  PLOT. 

before  Cicero.  The  consul  directed  the  Allobroges  to  keep  up 
their  correspondence  with  the  conspirators,  and  to  feign  comph- 
ance  with  their  wishes,  that  they  might  be  able,  at  the  proper  time, 
to  furnish  him  with  some  written  proofs  of  the  reality  of  the  plot ; 
for  which  purpose,  they  were  instructed  to  demand  that  the  terms 
of  their  agreement  should  be  given  them  in  writing,  with  the 
signatures  of  the  principal  conspirators,  in  order  that  their  coun- 
trymen in  Gaul  might  know  on  whom  they  were  to  depend.  Not 
only  was  this  request  complied  with,  but  the  deputies  were  further 
desired  by  Lentulus  to  visit  the  camp  of  Catiline  on  their  way 
home,  and  there  to  confirm  with  him  the  alliance  which  they  had 
contracted  with  his  associates ;  and  T.  Volturtius,  a  citizen  of 
Croton,  who  was  to  accompany  them,  was  charged  by  Lentulus 
with  a  letter,  without  any  signature,  which  he  was  to  deliver  to 
■Catiline.  All  these  things  being  duly  reported  to  Cicero,  he  order- 
ed two  of  the  piasters  to  keep  guard  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the 
Milvian  bridge  on  the  night  fixed  for  the  departure  of  the  depu- 
Arrest  of  the  ambM-  tlcs.'^^  Tlic  tralu  of  tlic  Allobrogcs,  accompauicd 
inspirators/  ^'^  '^  by  Volturtius,  arrived  at  the  bridge  about  two  or 
three  hours  after  midnight,  on  the  morning  of  the  third  of  Decem- 
ber :  they  were  instantly  stopped  by  the  guards,  and,  on  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  praetors,  surrendered  themselves ;  all  their  papers 
were  secured,  and  themselves,  together  with  Volturtius,  were 
taken  to  Cicero's  house  a  little  before  sunrise.  Messages  were 
immediately  despatched  to  Lentulus,  Cethegus,  Statilius,  and  Ga- 
binius,  to  require  their  attendance  ;  and  they  all  without  any 
suspicion  obeyed  the  sunmions.  The  senate  was  ordered  to  meet 
in  the  temple  of  Concord  ;  and  there  Volturtius,  the  Allobroges, 
and  the  arrested  conspirators  were  successively  brought  forward. 
The  first  was  encouraged  to  declare  freely  all  that  he  knew  ;  and 
upon  his  direct  evidence,  together  with  that  of  the  Allobroges, 
confirmed  by  their  own  seals  and  handwriting,  the  conspirators 
either  confessed  their  crmie,  or  did  not  any  longer  venture  to  deny 
it.  They  were  then  committed  to  custody,  Lentulus  having  first 
resigned  the  office  of  praetor  with  which  he  was  invested. 

Scarcely  was  the  meeting  of  the  senate  dissolved,  when  Cicero 
assembled  the  people  in  the  forum,  and  there  related  to  them,  in 
detail,  the  objects  of  the  conspiracy,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  had 
Feeling  of  the  popu-  bceu  fully  dctccted.  With  whatever  disappointment 
<rfthe"piot.  "''°  ^^  the  mere  profligate  rabble  might  have  heard  this 
statement,  yet  the  majority  of  the  people,  even  of  those  who  on 
ordinary  occasions  opposed  the  aristocratical  interest,  regarded  the 
wickedness  of  the  plot  with  horror,  and  felt  thankful  to  Cicero, 
whose  ability  had  discovered  and  destroyed  it.  Every  one  was 
incensed  at  the  project  of  setting  fire  to  the  city,'^*  which  would 

'23  Cicero,  in  Catilinam,  III.  2.  '24  Sallust,  Catilina,  48. 


PUNISHMENT  OP  THE  CONSPIRATORS  DEBATED. 


185 


have  been  as  ruinous  to  thft  poor  as  to  the  rich  ;  and,  for  a  mo- 
ment, all,  but  the  most  unprincipled  of  the  community,  sympa- 
thized with  each  other  in  the  preservation  of  the  commonwealth, 
A  slight  attempt  was  made  by  some  of  the  dependents  of  Lcntu- 
lus  to  effect  his  rescue,  and  to  call  on  the  slaves  to  join  them,  and 
to  hire  the  most  notorious  leaders  of  the  lower  people  to  excite  a 
disturbance  amongst  them.  But  Cicero's  vigilance  bafliled  these 
designs  ;  and  the  fate  of  the  conspirators  depended  on  the  deci- 
sion of  the  senate,  which  assembled  on  the  fifth  of  December,  to 
determine  on  their  punishment. 

D.  Junius  Silanus,  who  was  at  this  time  consul  elect,  gave  it 
as  his  opinion  that  the  conspirators  should  be  put  Debate  on  the  punish- 
to  death  ;  but  C.  Caesar,  not  pretending  to  extenuate  Zn.  °  ^  conspira- 
their  guilt,  but  insisting  only  that  death  was  by  the  constitution 
of  Rome  an  illegal  punishment,  proposed  that  their  property 
should  be  confiscated,  and  that  they  should  be  condemned  to  per- 
petual imprisonment  in  some  of  the  free  towns  of  Italy.  His  speech 
is  said  to  have  produced  a  considerable  impression ;  but  Gi.  Catulus, 
L.  Lucullus,  C  Piso,  and  Cicero  himself, '^^  yyitj^  most  of  the  sena- 
tors of  consular  dignity,  still  supported  the  opinion  of  Silanus.  It 
was  reserved,  however,  for  M.  Porcius  Cato  to  move  the  resolution 
which  was  finally  carried  ;  and  in  which  he  combined  the  high- 
est panegyrics  on  the  conduct  of  the  consul,  with  a  vote  that  the 
conspirators  should  be  put  to  death,  according  to  the  ancient  cus- 
toms of  the  republic,  as  having  been  guilty  of  manifest  treason. 
In  compliance  with  this  decree  of  the  senate,  Cicero  ordered  Len- 
tulus  and  his  accomplices  to  be  carried,  on  the  very  same  evening, 
to  a  secret  under-ground  cell  in  the  public  prison,  where  they  were 
successively  strangled. 

On  no  occasion  were  the  faults  of  the  Roman  constitution 
more  mischievously  displayed  than  in  these  pro-  Reflections  on  their 
ceedings.  So  ill  framed  were  the  laws,  that  the  execution. 
worst  criminals  could  not  legally  receive  that  punishment  which 
our  natural  sense  of  justice,  no  less  than  the  maxims  of  state 
policy,  declares  to  be  the  only  adequate  chastisement  of  the  worst 
kinds  of  wickedness.  Thus,  although  justice  and  the  public 
safety  alike  demanded  the  execution  of  the  conspirators,  yet  these 
claims  could  only  be  satisfied  by  an  assumption  on  the  part  of  the 
senate  of  a  power  to  dispense  with  the  laws,  and  by  another  ap- 
peal to  abstract  principles  in  order  to  justify  a  departure  from  the 
ordinances  of  the  existing  constitution.  The  advantage  thus  of- 
fered to  a  popular  leader  was  not  lost  upon  Caesar  :  he  had  now 
obtained  a  point  on  which  the  sincere  but  ill-judging  friends  of 
liberty  might  be  induced  to  sympathize  with  the  vilest  supporters 
of  sedition,  and  which  might  effectually  terminate  that  short-lived 

'^*  Cicero,  ad  Atticum  Epistolar.  XII.  epist.  XXI. 


186  REFLECTIONS  ON  THEIR  EXECUTION. 

harmony  between  honest  men  of  all  parties,  which  had  been  pro- 
duced by  the  first  discovery  of  the  conspiracy.  It  mattered  no- 
thing that  no  traces  of  a  sanguinary  or  tyrannical  spirit  were  to  be 
found  in  Cicero's  proceedings  ;  that  after  the  execution  of  five 
persons,  all  guilty  of  the  most  heinous  crime  on  the  clearest  evi- 
dence, the  justice  of  the  government  was  satisfied ;  and  that  its 
triumph  was  not  stained,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Gracchi,  by  any  after 
acts  of  unwarrantable  and  disgraceful  cruelty.  Ca3sar's  ambition 
required  that  he  should  excite  the  resentment  of  the  people  against 
the  senate ;  and  here,  as  on  every  other  occasion,  he  sacrificed  to 
it  the  welfare  of  his  country. 

The  fate  of  Catiline  himself '^^  goQ^  followed  the  punishment 
of  his  associates."^"  His  force  had  at  one  period  amounted  nearly 
to  twelve  thousand  men,  but  of  these  not  more  than  a  fourth  part 
were  regularly  armed,  so  that  he  did  not  choose  to  venture  a  bat- 
tle ;  but  having  occupied  the  line  of  the  Apennines,  he  manoeu- 
vred his  troops  with  considerable  ability,  sometimes  threatening 
to  march  towards  Rome,  and  at  other  times  to  retreat  into  Gaul, 
and  never  allowing  the  enemy  to  bring  him  to  action.  But  the 
news  of  the  detection  of  his  accomplices  in  the  city  soon  caused  a 
considerable  desertion  amongst  his  followers,  and  despairing  of 
success  from  any  offensive  operations,  he  fell  back  upon  the 
neighbourhood  of  Pistorium  by  forced  marches,  through  moun- 

''^  Sallust,  Catilina,56,  et  aeq.  their  designs  t)y  fire  and  assassination, 
'*■'  The  conspiracy  of  Catiline,  as  de-  rather  than  by  open  force.  But  if  Catiline 
scribed  by  Sallusl  and  Cicero,  is  consider-  could  have  once  made  himself  master  of 
ed  by  some  persons  to  contain  many  im-  the  city,  no  one  can  doubt  but  that  he 
probabilities.  It  is  incredible,  say  they,  would  have  found  a  majority  in  the  co- 
that  a  man  like  Catiline, unconnected  with  mitia  ready,  either  from  fear  or  sympathy 
the  regular  popular  party,  should  have  se-  in  his  projects,  to  elect  him  consul  or  dic- 
riously  hoped  to  efiect  a  revolution  ;  nor  tator  ;  and  when  thus  invested  with  the 
can  it  be  believed  that  any  of  the  nobility  title  of  a  legal  magistrate,  and  in  posses- 
should  have  submitted  themselves  to  the  sion  of  the  seat  of  government,  he  would 
guidance  of  such  a  leader.  Even  if  he  probably  have  persuaded  a  very  great  part 
had  succeeded  in  setting  fire  to  the  city  of  the  community  to  remain  neutral,  while 
and  destroying  the  principal  senators,  the  his  own  active  supporters,  the  profligate 
praetor  of  the  nearest  province  would  pre-  young  nobility,  the  needy  plebeians,  the 
sently  have  marched  against  l.im,  and  discontented  Italian  allies,  and  the  restless 
would  have  crushed  him  with  little  difficul-  veterans  of  Sylla's  armies,  would  have 
ty.  But  they  who  argue  thus,  forget  that  enabled  him  to  defy  the  efforts  of  any 
Cataline  was  a  patrician  of  noble  family  ;  neighbouring  praetor  who  might  have  been 
that  he  had  been  prcetor  ;  and  that  he  was  disposed  to  attack  him.  He  might  have 
considered  by  Cicero  as  his  most  dangerous  held  the  government  as  easily  as  Cinna 
competitor  for  the  consulship,  when  he  was  and  Carbo  had  done  ;  and  although  Pom- 
a  candidate  for  that  office.  He  had  been  pey  mig^ht  have  imitated  successfully  the 
known  in  Sylla's  proscriptions  as  a  man  conduct  of  Sylla,  in  returning  from  Asia 
who  scrupled  at  nothing  ;  and  there  was  to  revenge  the  cause  of  the  aristocracy, 
a  large  party  in  Rome  to  whom  such  a  yet  the  chance  of  resisting  him  was  not  so 
character  was  the  greatest  recommenda-  hopeless  as  to  dismay  a  set  of  desperate 
tion,  and  who  would  gladly  follow  any  one  conspirators,  who,  in  their  calculations, 
who  possessed  it.  That  this  party  was  in-  would  have  been  well  contented  if  the 
considerable  in  point  of  political  power  is  probability  of  their  failure  was  only  a  lit- 
true  ;  and  they  accordingly  hoped  to  effect  tie  greater  than  that  of  their  success. 


CiESAR  PRAETOR,  CATO  TRIBUNE.  jg-y 

tain  roads,  hoping  that  thence  he  might  effect  his  escape  into 
Gaul  without  being  discovered.  But  finding  that  his  retreat 
was  cut  off  by  the  army  of  the  prcetor,  Q,.  Metellus  Celer,  who 
suspecting  his  designs  had  liastened  to  place  himself  on  his  pro- 
posed line  of  march,  Catiline  altered  his  plans,  and  prepared  to 
fight  with  the  consul  C.  Antonius,  who,  with  a  considerable  force, 
had  been  following  him  during  his  retreat.  It  happened  that  An- 
tonius either  was,  or  pretended  to  be,  indisposed,  so  that  the  com- 
mand devolved  on  M.  Petreius  his  lieutenant,  an  experienced 
soldier,  assisted  by  P,  Sextius,'^^  one  of  the  quaestors,  who  was 
warmly  attached  to  Cicero,  and  was  heartily  desirous  of  destroy- 
ing the  remains  of  the  conspiracy.  Accordingly  the  army  of  the 
republic  did  its  duty,  and  the  rebels,  after  a  despe-  Defeat  and  death  of 
rate  resistance,  were  totally  defeated,  C.  Manlius,  catiUne. 
Catiline's  lieutenant,  was  killed  before  the  battle  was  decided,  and 
Catiline  himself,  when  he  saw  that  the  rout  of  his  followers  was 
complete,  is  said  to  have  rushed  into  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  and 
there  to  have  been  slain.  Nothing  has  been  recorded  of  him  to 
lessen  the  abhorrence  which  the  general  wickedness  of  his  life, 
and  the  peculiar  atrocity  of  his  designs  against  his  country,  have 
justly  deserved,  and  have  ever  abundantly  met  with. 

From  this  time  forwards  the  correspondence  of  Cicero  with  his 
different  friends,  furnishes  us  with  so  many  mate-  c^sar  prstor,  cato 
rials  for  our  history,  that  it  becomes  necessary,  un-  lheea?iyitfro?cato^ 
less  we  would  greatly  exceed  our  limits,  to  notice  ^-  "^^  ^^i- 
only  such  as  are  of  the  greatest  importance.  When  C.  Cassar 
endeavoured  to  save  the  accomplices  of  Catiline  from  their  de- 
served fate,  he  was  already  prsetor  elect  for  the  following  year ; 
and  M.  Cato,  who  so  successfully  opposed  him,  was  in  like  man- 
ner about  to  enter  on  the  ofR.ce  of  tribune  of  the  people.  Of  the 
family  and  early  life  of  the  former  we  have  already  spoken  ;  and 
as  we  have  now  mentioned  the  name  of  his  great  opponent,  we  may 
take  this  opportunity  of  giving  a  slight  sketch  of  his  extraction  also, 
and  of  the  beginnings  of  his  public  career,  M,  Porcius  Cato  was 
the  great  grandson  of  Cato  the  censor,  and  the  son  of  M,  Cato  and 
Livia,  the  sister  of  M.  Livius  Drusus,  and  the  divorced  wife  of  Q,. 
Servilius  Caepio,  who  perished  in  the  war  with  the  Italian  allies. 
His  father  died  when  he  was  a  child,  and  he  was  brought  up  in 
the  house  of  his  uncle  M,  Drusus, '^^  where  he  is  said  to  have 
given  very  early  proofs  of  that  resolute  and  even  stubborn  char- 
acter which  marked  him  through  life.  After  the  assassination  of 
Drusus,  he  appears  to  have  passed  his  time  under  the  care  of  a 
tutor  named  Sarpedon  ;  and  his  half  brother  ^,  Caepio,  after  hav- 
ing lost  his  father,  seems  to  have  been  placed  in  the  same  hands. 
The  lively  affection  which  Cato  entertained  for  his  brother  v/as  a 

"'  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  5.  ^^^  Plutarch,  in  Catone,  1,  &c. 


188  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  EARLY  LIFE  OP  CATO. 

Striking  contrast  to  the  general  coldness  of  his  nature,  and  even 
after  his  constitutional  apathy  had  been  confirmed  by  the  precepts 
of  the  Stoic  philosophy,  he  gave  vent  to  the  most  violent  expres- 
sions of  grief  at  the  death  of  Ca3pio,  and  celebrated  his  funeral 
with  a  sumptuousness  which  was  most  opposite  to  his  usual 
habits.  But  with  this  single  sacrifice  to  the  common  feelings  of 
humanity,  he  was  in  other  respects,  even  in  his  early  youth,  so 
stern  and  reserved,  that  he  is  said  rarely  to  have  been  seen  to 
laugh,  and  so  determined  not  to  follow  the  vicious  or  absurd 
fashions  of  his  age,  that  he  ran  into  the  opposite  extreme  of  an 
indecent  singularity,  choosing  in  his  dress  the  colour  that  was 
most  unusual,  and  walking  about  with  his  personal  appearance 
so  neglected  as  to  be  utterly  unworthy  of  his  rank  in  the  com- 
monwealth.'^" Yet  he  was  not  without  feelings  of  anger,  which 
he  displayed  towards  Q..  Cgecilius  Metellus  Scipio,'^'  who  had 
married  the  lady  to  whom  he  himself  was  engaged,  and  whom 
he  attacked  in  consequence  in  a  violently  satirical  poem, 
after  he  was  persuaded  by  his  friends  to  abandon  his  intention  of 
obtaining  redress  in  a  court  of  law.  He  was  carefully  just  in  his 
conduct ;  and  it  is  mentioned  of  him,  that  when  he  was  travel- 
ling through  Asia  as  a  private  individual,'^-  he  contented  him- 
self often  with  the  entertainment  of  common  inns,  instead  of 
taxing  the  hospitality  of  the  principal  inhabitants,  which,  it 
seems,  was  the  usual  practice  of  the  Roman  nobility  in  their 
journeys  through  the  provinces.  When  the  inns  could  not  accom- 
modate him,  he  applied  to  the  magistrates  to  receive  him,  but  as 
he  used  no  imperious  or  threatening  language,  he  frequently  was 
treated  with  neglect.  This  is  an  odious  picture  of  the  ordinary 
tyranny  of  the  Roman  government,  and  the  debasement  of  char- 
acter which  such  a  system  produced  among  those  who  suffered 
from  it ;  nay,  even  Cato  himself  is  said  to  have  been  much  of- 
fended when  he  was  not  treated  with  attention,  and  to  have 
warned  the  magistrates  that  other  Romans  would  not  imitate  his 
forbearance,  but  would  exact  by  force  a  better  reception.  It  is  a 
wretched  state  of  society  when  good  men  are  proud  of  themselves 
merely  for  abstaining  from  acts  of  positive  injustice. 

In  preparing  himself  to  enter  upon  his  political  career  at 
Rome,  Cato  had  resolved  to  support  the  ancient  constitution  of  his 
country,  and  to  resist  what  he  regarded  as  the  growing  corrup- 
tions of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  From  the  pursuit  of  this  ob- 
ject he  was  never  diverted  by  any  considerations  of  friendship, 
interest,  or  fear ;  but  he  did  not  follow  it  always  with  a  cool  and 
enlightened  judgment ;  and  his  personal  animosities  and  preju- 
dices sometimes  influenced  him,  insensibly  perhaps  to  himself,  in 

>3o  Plutarch,  in  Catone,  6.  '^^  piutarch,  in  Catone,  12. 

'^'  Plutarch,  in  Catone,  7. 


PROCEEDINGS  DP  Q.  METELLUS  NEPOS.  jgg 

opposing  with  excessive  vehemence  those  whom  he  deemed  .the 
enemies  of  the  commonwealth.  The  debate  concerning  the  ac- 
compHces  of  Catihne  was  well  calculated  to  display  the  predomi- 
nant features  of  Gate's  character  :  his  civil  courage  and  contempt 
of  popularity  in  braving  the  odium  which  was  likely,  owing  to 
Cassar's  speech,  to  fall  upon  those  who  voted  for  the  death  of  the 
criminals  ;  his  zealous  support  of  the  old  authority  of  the  senate, 
and  his  abhorrence  of  those  who  sought  to  overturn  it.  But  a 
very  short  time  before  he  had  given  a  proof  of  his  zeal,  the  wisdom 
of  which  was  more  questionable,  in  joining  to  prosecute  L. 
Murgena,  one  of  the  consuls  elect,  for  bribery  during  his  election, 
a  charge  which  he  could  not  substantiate,  and  which  was  likely 
to  divide  unseasonably  the  friends  of  the  constitution  at  a  moment 
when  their  close  union  was  so  necessary.  On  the  whole,  how- 
ever, the  senate  looked  forward  to  his  services  with  sanguine 
hope  during  the  ensuing  year ;  and  the  support  of  one  firm  tri- 
bune was  particularly  needed,  as  Q,.  Metellus  Nepos,  a  friend  of 
Pompey  and  a  warm  enemy  of  the  aristocracy,  who  was  one  of 
Gate's  colleagues  in  the  tribuneship,  was  expected  to  employ  his 
year  of  office  in  promoting  measures  most  unwelcome  to  the 
party  of  the  senate. 

The  first  measure  which  was  adopted,  on  Gate's  recommenda- 
tion, displayed  a  more  politic  and  conciliating  temper  than  he  usual- 
ly appeared  to  possess.  Already  the  poorest  classes  of  the  people 
began  to  murmur  at  the  execution  of  Gatiline's  ac-  Proceedings  of  Q.Me- 
complices,  and  to  complain  that  the  senate  was  the^nJ^ocracy^^'^^' 
prompt  enough  in  repressing  seditions,  but  never  bestowed  a 
thought  on  relieving  the  sufferings  of  the  poorer  citizens.  Q,. 
Metellus  was  disposed  to  support  these  discontents  by  charging 
Gicero  with  the  illegal  murder  of  Roman  citizens  without  trial ; 
and  G.  Gaesar,  the  idol  of  the  populace,  was  ready  to  unite  his  in- 
trigues and  his  eloquence  to  further  the  same  purposes.  Gato, 
therefore,  advised  the  senate  to  pass  a  corn  law,'^^  by  which  the 
sum  of  1250  talents  was  to  be  annually  employed  in  purchasing 
corn  for  the  maintenance  of  the  poor  ;  and  the  thankfulness  with 
which  this  bounty  was  received  ought  to  have  encouraged  the 
senate  to  devote  their  attention  seriously  to  the  discovery  of  some 
plan  for  the  permanent  improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  lower 
classes  of  the  community.  As  for  the  attacks  made  by  Metellus  upon 
Gicero's  consulship,  they  had  no  other  immediate  effect  than  to  draw 
from  the  senate  some  strong  resolutions,'^^  by  which  every  person 
who  should  presume  to  question  the  justice  of  the  late  executions 
was  declared  an  enemy  to  his  country.  Metellus  after  this  did 
not  venture  to  proceed  any  further  ;  but  he  proposed  a  law  for  the 

"3  Platarch,  in   Catone,  26  ;  in   Cae-         '"  Dion   Cassius,  XXXVII.   49.  edit, 
sare,  8.  Leunclav. 


190  CLODIUS  IS  DETECTED  IN  CAESAR'S  HOUSE. 

recall  of  Pompey  with  his  army,  to  remedy  the  existing  griev- 
ances of  the  state ;  and  when  this  measure  was  frustrated  by  the 
opposition  of  Cato,  he  left  Rome,  and  withdrew  to  Pompey's 
army,'^^  as  if  apprehending  personal  danger  from  the  violence  of 
his  opponents.  At  the  same  time  C.  Caesar  was  suspended  by 
a  decree  of  the  senate  from  the  discharge  of  his  office  as  prae- 
tor ;'^«  but  on  his  submitting  to  their  authority,  and  refusing  the 
proffered  aid  of  the  populace  to  reinstate  him  by  force,  he  was 
soon  afterwards  restored  by  another  decree,  and  received  many 
compliments  in  the  senate  on  his  dutiful  behaviour.  The  year 
then  appears  to  have  passed  on  in  tolerable  tranquillity,  except 
that  apprehensions  were  entertained  by  many  lest  Pompey,  ex- 
asperated at  the  pretended  affi-onts  offered  to  Metellus,  should  be 
tempted  to  follow  the  example  of  Sylla,  and  cross  over  with  his 
army  into  Italy  to  interfere  by  force  with  the  government.  But 
Pompey  was  greatly  wronged  by  these  suspicions.  He  was  am- 
bitious, indeed,  of  exercising  a  commanding  influence  in  the  com- 
monwealth, and  was  gratified  by  seeing  one  of  his  lieutenants, 
M.  Calpurnius  Piso,  elected  consul,  when  he  sent  him  home  from 
the  army  to  be  a  candidate  for  that  dignity,  and  had  avowedly 
exerted  all  his  interest  in  his  favour.  This,  however,  was  the 
utmost  extent  of  his  wishes  ;  and  far  from  entertaining  any  trea- 
sonable or  revengeful  designs,  he  no  sooner  landed  in  Italy  in  the 
winter  of  this  year,'^^  than  he  disbanded  his  army  and  repaired  to 
Return  of  Pompey  to  Romc,  attended  only  by  a  few  of  his  friends.  As  he 
Ro"*^-  was  not  allowed  to  enter  the  city  whilst  laying  claim 

to  a  triumph,  the  people,  in  compliment  to  him,  were  assembled 
without  the  walls,  and  he  there  addressed  them  for  the  first  time 
after  an  absence  of  six  years.  All  parties  were  waiting  with 
anxiety  to  hear  his  sentiments  on  the  state  of  the  republic,  and  all, 
according  to  Cicero,  were  alike  disappointed. ^^^  But  it  may  well 
be  doubted  whether  it  were  really  a  just  subject  of  blame  in  Pom- 
pey, that  his  speech  did  not  espouse  sufficiently  the  interests  of 
any  particular  party  to  satisfy  their  expectations,  or  excite  their 
applause. 

A  short  time  before  the  end  of  the  year  691,  an  affair  had 
p.  ciodius  is  detected  talvcu  placc  wliicli,  at  the  moment  of  Pompev's  ar- 

In  CsEsar's  house  dur-       .        ,      ■^  .  '  -ii  i  iT 

ing  the  celebration  of  rival,  was  attractuig  particularly  the  public  atten- 

the  mysteries  of  the     ,.  -r,      r^-,     t  >-»     ,    i  /.      , 

BonaDea.  tiou.      P.  Clodius  Pulchcr,  a  young  man  of  the 

highest  nobility,  whose  father  and  grandfather  had  both  been 
consuls,  was  detected  in  disguise  in  the  house  of  C.  Cassar,'^^ 
during  the  celebration  of  certain  mysteries,  which  were  annually 
performed  at  the  houses  of  some  of  the  higher  magistrates,  and 

"5  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVII.  49.     Flu-         '=''  Cicero,   ad  Atticum,  I.   epist.  XIV. 
tarch,  in  Catone,  29.  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  40. 

'2*  Suetonius,  in  Julio  Csesare,  16.  ^^^  Ad  Atticum,  I.  epist.  XIV. 

133  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  I.  epist.  XII. 


CJESAR  RECEIVES  SPAIN  AS  HIS  PROVINCE.  igj 

from  which  every  person  of  the  male  sex  was  most  carefully  ex- 
cluded. Clodius  was  a  man  of  infamous  life,  and  the  cause  com- 
monly alleged  for  this  act  of  profanation,  was  an  adulterous  intrigue 
in  which  he  was  said  to  be  engaged  with  Cassar's  wife.'"  The 
matter,  however,  was  taken  up  very  earnestly,  and  being  mention- 
ed in  the  senate  by  Q,.  Conificius,  was  submitted  to  the  pontifices, 
and  by  them  pronounced  to  be  an  act  of  sacrilegious  wickedness.'** 
Upon  this  decision  a  motion  was  founded  in  the  senate  to  bring 
Clodius  to  trial,  and  this  gave  occasion  to  some  warm  debates. 
The  offender,  from  various  causes,  was  provided  with  powerful 
supporters  :  his  family  interest,  probably,  was  extensive,  and  he 
had  violently  opposed  Lucullus,  and  had  encouraged  the  dis- 
content of  his  soldiers  against  him,'^^  whilst  acting  as  that  gen- 
eral's lieutenant  in  the  war  with  Mithridates,  by  which  conduct 
he  had  recommended  himself  both  to  the  populace  and  to  the  parti- 
sans'of  Pompey,  to  whom  Lucullus  was  equally  odious.  Besides, 
there  was  probably  a  large  portion  of  the  young  nobility  and  of 
the  profligate  citizens  of  all  ranks,  who  naturally  sympathized 
with  Clodius  from  similarity  of  character,  and  who  would  regard 
him  as  an  injured  man,  when  threatened  with  a  prosecution  for 
an  act  of  irreligion.  Accordingly,  when  it  was  proposed  to  the 
people  that  Clodius  should  be  brought  to  trial,  and  that  the  praetor 
should  himself  select  a  certain  number  of  judges  to  decide  the 
cause  with  him,'*^  M.  Piso,  the  consul,  opposed  the  measure, 
and  the  popular  party  were  so  clamorous  against  it,  that  it  was 
deemed  advisable  to  withdraw  it.  Q,.  Fufius,"*  one  of  the  tribunes, 
then  moved  that  Clodius  should  still  be  tried,  but  He  is  wed  and  acquit- 
that  the  judges,  instead  of  being  named  by  the  prse-  u.c.692. 
tor,  should  be  chosen  as  usual  by  lot  from  the  different  orders  in 
whose  hands  the  judicial  power  was  then  placed.  This  proposal 
was  approved  by  the  people,  and  the  trial  from  thenceforward, 
according  to  Cicero,  became  a  mere  mockery.  The  judges,  thus 
indiscriminately  chosen,  were  men  not  inaccessible  either  to  fear 
or  to  corruption.  Thp  rabble  (by  which  term  must  be  understood 
not  the  poorest,  but  the  most  profligate  of  the  people,  consisting 
in  a  great  degree  of  the  young  nobility)  was  clamorous  for  the 
acquittal  of  Clodius,  and  money  was  distributed  so  liberally  by 
his  friends,  that  sentence  was  pronounced  in  his  favour  by  a  ma- 
jority of  six  votes  out  of  fifty-six. 

The  trial  of  Clodius  came  on  in  the  spring  of  the  year  692, 
and  C.  Caesar  about  the  same  time  set  out  for  Spain,  cacsar  receives  spam 
which  was  allotted  to  him  as  his  province  on  the  conduct'^iurfng  his 

,  •  i-  i_  •  J.         1   •  TT     1        1     1  •  II-       command  there. 

expiration  of  nis  praetorship.     He  had  divorced  his  u.  c.  ess  3. 
wife  on  account  of  the  suspicion  which  her  character  had  incurred 

HO  Plutarch,  in   Caesare,    9.     Velleius     .    i«  Plutarch,  in  Lucullo,  34. 
Paterculus,  II.  45.  !«  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  I.  epist.  XIV. 

ill  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  I.  epist.  XIII.  i"  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  I.  epist.  XVI. 


192        STATE  OF  AFFAIRS  IN  ROME  DURING  HIS  ABSENCE. 

from  the  circumstances  of  the  late  profanation  of  the  mysteries  ; 
but  ever  careful  not  to  compromise  his  popularity,  he  had  taken 
no  part  against  Clodius,'^^  and  professed  not  to  believe  that  he 
was  guilty.  His  debts  were  so  enormous, '^^  that  he  could  not 
leave  Rome  till  some  of  his  friends,  amongst  whom  M.  Crassus  is 
particularly  mentioned,  became  his  sureties  with  his  creditors  for 
very  considerable  sums.  When  he  was  thus  enabled  to  enter 
upon  the  government  of  his  province,  he  displayed  the  same  abili- 
ty, and  the  same  unscrupulous  waste  of  human  lives  for  the  pur- 
poses of  his  ambition,  which  distinguished  his  subsequent  career. 
In  order  to  retrieve  his  fortune,  to  gain  a  militaiy  reputation,  and 
to  entitle  himself  to  the  honour  of  a  triumph,  he  attacked  some  of 
the  native  tribes  on  the  most  frivolous  pretences, '^^  and  thus  enrich- 
ed himself  and  his  army,  and  gained  the  credit  of  a  successful 
general,  by  the  plunder  and  massacre  of  these  poor  barbarians. 
Probably,  also,  the  spoils  which  he  collected  on  this  occasion  en- 
abled him  to  solicit  and  procure  from  the  senate  an  abatement  of  the 
taxes  paid  by  the  province  of  Spain, '^^  a  favour  which  of  course 
gained  him  numerous  friends  amongst  the  wealthy  inhabitants  of 
the  sea-ports  of  that  country.  But  while  thus  employed,  his  eyes 
were  constantly  fixed  on  the  state  of  things  at  Rome.  The  prospect 
appeared  favourable  to  his  ambition  ;  and,  accordingly,  after  an  ab- 
sence of  about  twelve  months,  he  returned  home  to  claim  a  triumph 
for  his  victories,  and  to  offer  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  consulship. 
The  remainder  of  the  year  692  had  passed  away  unmarked 
state  of  afiairs  in  ^Y  ^^W  thing  of  considcrablc  importance  ;  and  L. 
fence. '^"^'°°^'"'''  Afraulus  and  d.  Metellus  Celer  were  chosen  con- 
^■^■^^^-  suls  for  the  year  following.     Metellus,  although  the 

brother  of  the  late  tribune,  Metellus  Nepos,  had  yet  shown  his 
attachment  on  several  occasions  to  the  aristocratical  party :  he 
had,  during  his  pra3torship,  been  the  means  of  saving  C.  Rabi- 
rius,  when  tried  for  the  murder  of  Saturninus ;  and  when,  after 
his  praetorship,  he  was  appointed  to  the  province  of  Gaul,  he 
had  behaved  with  great  zeal  in  supporiing  the  government, 
and  in  opposing  Catiline  in  the  field.  Afranius  owed  his  eleva- 
tion entirely  to  the  interest  of  Pompey,  who,  according  to  Cice- 
ro,'^'  spent  a  large  sum  of  money  in  securing  votes  in  his  fa- 
vour. He  is  described  as  a  man  totally  destitute  of  political  in- 
fluence,'^^  and  so  insignificant  as  to  have  been  of  little  or  no  ser- 
vice in  forwarding  the  views  of  his  patron.  It  appears  that 
Pompey  at  this  time  severely  felt  the  jealousy  with  which  he 
was  regarded  by  the  aristocracy.  His  successive  appointments 
to  the  command  against  the  pirates  and  against  Mithridates  had 

145  Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  10.  ^^8  Hirtius,  de  Bello  Hispaniensi,  42. 

149  Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  11.  Suetonius,  '49  Ad  Atticum,  I.  epist.  XVI.  §  7. 

18.  ^^^  Cicero,  ubi  supra.      Dion  Cassias, 

i«  Dion  Casaius,  XXXVII.  53.  XXXVII.  51,  52. 


AGRARIAN  LAW  OF  L.  FLAVIUS.  I93 

been  carried  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  nobles ;  and  in  those 
commands  he  had  given  the  greatest  offence,  first  to  Q,.  Metellus, 
when  he  interfered  to  save  the  Cretans  from  his  cruelties,  and 
afterwards  to  L.  LucuUus,  when  he  deprived  him  of  the  hon- 
our of  finishing  a  war  which  he  had  so  long  been  engaged  in 
conducting.  But  Both  Metellus  and  Lucullus  were  men  of  great 
influence  in  the  senate  ;  and  now  that  Pompey  was  returned 
from  Asia,  they  exerted  themselves  to  prevent  the  ratification  of 
his  various  acts,'^'  it  being  requisite  that  all  measures  adopted 
by  a  general  in  settling  the  state  of  the  conquered  provinces 
after  a  war,  should  receive  the  sanction  of  the  senate's  au- 
thority. Mortified  at  this  treatment,  and  thinking  it  an  aff"ront 
that  his  measures  should  be  separately  canvassed,  and  confirmed 
or  annulled  according  to  the  pleasure  of  others,  he  connected 
himself  with  the  party  in  opposition  to  the  senate,  not  intending, 
if  we  may  judge  from  his  general  character,  to  follow  the  steps  of 
Marius  or  Cinna,  but  rather  fancying  that  he  might  avail  himself  of 
the  support  of  the  popular  party,  just  so  far  as  to  force  the  aristoc- 
racy to  cease  from  opposing  him,  and  that,  by  a  dexterous  manage- 
ment of  the  two  contending  interests  in  the  state,  he  might  be  ac- 
knowledged by  the  general  deference  of  all  to  be  the  first  person 
in  the  commonwealth,  without  raising  himself  by  violence  to  a 
situation  of  actual  supremacy.  Amongst  other  things,  he  was 
particularly  desirous  to  procure  settlements  of  lands  for  the  sol- 
diers who  had  served  under  him ;  a  reward  which,  if  we  may 
trust  Plutarch's  repprt,'"  he  had  on  former  occasions  procured  for 
those  who  had  followed  him  in  his  early  campaigns,  and  a  mea- 
sure which  was  sure  to  confer  on  a  general  the  highest  populari- 
ty. Accordingly,  L.  Flavins,  one  of  the  tribunes.  Agrarian  law  of  l. 
as  early  as  the  month  of  January,  brought  forward  •"'avius. 
an  agrarian  law,'^^  it  having  been  judged  expedient  to  extend 
the  proposed  grant  of  lands  to  the  poorer  citizens  in  general,  as 
well  as  to  the  soldiers  of  Pompey,  in  order  to  make  the  resolution 
more  acceptable  to  the  people  at  large.  It  was  intended  that 
the  lands  to  be  thus  distributed  should  be  purchased  by  the  reve- 
nue arising  from  Pompey's  new  conquests,  which  accordingly  for 
the  next  five  years  was  to  be  appropriated  to  this  object.'"  This 
law,  like  every  other  of  the  same  nature,  was  warmly  opposed  by 
the  aristocracy,  headed  by  the  consul  Metellus ;  and  on  the  other 
hand  it  was  supported  by  Pompey,  as  might  be  imagined,  with 
all  his  interest.  Cicero  declared  himself  favourable  to  the  princi- 
ple of  it,  but  proposed  various  modifications  to  prevent  it  from 
injuring  the  rights  of  individuals ;  and  these  alterations,  he 
tells  us,  were  favourably  listened  to  by  the  people.     The  alarm 

151  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  40.     Floras,         i53  Cicero.ad  Atticum,  I.  epist.  XVIII. 
IV.  2.  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVII.  52. 

152  In  Lucullo,  34.  ^i  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  I.  epist.  XIX. 


194  THE  FIRST  TRIUMVIRATE. 

of  a  war  in  Transalpine  Gaul,  which  threatened  the  state  about 
the  beginning  of  March,  drew  off  the  public  attention  from  the 
law ;  but  when  the  prospect  of  affairs  cleared  up  abroad,  the  in- 
ternal disputes  were  renewed ;  and  it  appears,  that  they  contin- 
ued through  a  great  part  of  the  year,  and  that  the  resistance  of  the 
aristocracy  was  so  determined,  that  although  L.  Flavins  on  one 
occasion  ordered  the  consul,  Q..  Metellus,  to  be  sent  to  prison  for 
obstructing  the  progress  of  the  law,'"  yet  he  was  finally  unable 
to  gain  his  object ;  and  Pompey  could  neither  obtain  settlements 
for  his  soldiers,  nor  prevail  upon  the  senate  to  pass  the  desired 
confirmation  of  his  acts  in  Asia. 

In  this  state  of  affairs  Caesar  returned  from  Spain  about  the 
Caesar  returns  from  middle  of  Juuc,  wishiug  at  oucc  to  obtalu  a  tri- 
spain.  umph,  and  to  ofier  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the 

consulship.  But  as  the  time  of  the  elections  was  drawing  near, 
and  no  officer  was  allowed  to  enter  the  city  whilst  wailing  the 
permission  of  the  senate  to  triumph,  he  petitioned  that  he  might 
be  admitted  as  a  candidate  in  his  absence.  '^^  This,  however, 
being  opposed  in  the  senate,  and  particularly  by  Cato,  CsBsar  gave 
up  all  thoughts  of  his  triumph,  and  entering  the  city  immediately 
commenced  his  canvass.  He  had  already  effected 
The  first  triumvirate.  ^^^^  famous  coalitlou  betweou  Pompey,  Crassus, 
and  himself,  which  has  been  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the 
triumvirate,  or  '•  Commission  of  Three,"  an  appellation  borrowed 
from  the  usual  number  of  persons  employed  by  the  senate  as  com- 
missioners for  executing  any  particular  service,  and  bestowed  in 
mockery  upon  the  three  individuals,  who  were  purposing  to  dis- 
pose of  the  whole  government  of  the  commonwealth  with  no 
authority  but  their  own  ambition.  The  secret  conditions  of  this 
miion  cannot  of  course  be  otherwise  known  than  from  the  subse- 
quent conduct  of  the  parties  who  formed  it ;  but  we  may  conjec- 
ture that  Caesar  was  anxious  to  secure  a  military  command  on  an 
extensive  scale,  which  he  might  enjoy  during  several  years,  that 
he,  too,  as  Pompey  had  done,  might  possess  a  veteran  army  at- 
tached to  his  person ;  and  that  he  might  employ  it,  as  Pompey 
had  not  done,  in  procuring  for  himself  whatever  he  might  choose 
to  demand.  Pompey,  on  his  part,  offended  with  the  aristocracy, 
seeing  that  he  might  obtain,  through  Caesar's  support,  that  ratifi- 
cation of  his  acts  in  Asia,  and  those  settlements  for  his  soldiers, 
which  had  been  so  long  denied  him ;  and  too  vain  to  imagine 
that  his  own  exploits,  or  his  consideration  among  the  people,  could 
ever  be  rivalled;  contemplating,  besides,  the  immediate  prospect 
of  enjoying  an  undivided  supremacy  at  Rome  for  some  years, 
during  the  absence  of  Caesar,  and  too  willing  to  calculate  that  the 

155  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVII.  52.  Cicero,        '^e  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  18.  Plutarch, 
ad  Atticum,  II.  epist.  I.  in  Caesare,  13. 


CONSULSHIP  OF  C^SAR  AND  BIBULUS. 


195 


danger,  which  is  at  a  distance,  may  be  timely  dispelled  by  some 
unforeseen  contingencies  ;  Pompey,  for  all  these  reasons,  listened 
to  the  advances  of  Csesar  with  readiness  and  without  suspicion. 
Crassus  was,  like  Ca3sar,  ambitious  of  obtaining  a  military  com- 
mand ;  and,  perhaps,  flattered  himself  that,  while  the  personal 
character  of  his  two  associates  might  direct  their  jealousy  chiefly 
against  one  another,  he  might  be  able,  by  his  immense  wealth, 
to  secure  himself  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  greatness  hereafter,  even 
without  their  co-operation.  But  with  whatever  views  these  con- 
federates were  actuated,  their  coalition  was  as  dangerous  to  the 
state  as  the  exorbitance  of  the  prizes  which  they  secured  to  them- 
selves, and  the  violence  used  in  order  to  obtain  them,  were  actually 
destructive  of  the  existing  constitution  of  their  country. 

Supported  by  such  powerful  assistants  in  addition  to  his  own 
popularity,  Ceesar  was  elected  consul  without  difii-  consulship  of  casar 
culty  ;  the  aristocratical  party  succeeding,  however,  u"c.  694."^' 
in  giving  him  as  a  colleague  M.  Calpurnius  Bibulns,  on  whose 
attachment  to  their  cause  they  could  fully  depend.  But  it  seems 
that  the  contending  interests  in  the  republic  Avere  very  unequally 
matched.  On  the  aristocratical  side  there  was  neither  unanimity 
nor  vigour.  Q.  Catulus  was  lately  dead,  and  his  high  character 
and  long  habits  of  acting  as  the  head  of  a  party,  rendered  his  loss 
particularly  severe.  Those  who  had  succeeded  to  his  station,  L. 
Lucullus,  Q,.  Hortensius,  and  others  of  less  renown  with  posterity, 
were  mostly  engrossed,  if  we  may  believe  Cicero,'"  with  their 
own  private  luxuries,  and  allowed  their  public  duties  to  lie  ne- 
glected. M.  Cicero  was  in  many  respects  so  situated,  as  to  regard 
the  dissensions  of  his  countiymen  with  unusual  impartiality. 
His  birth  placed  a  barrier  between  him  and  the  high  nobility, 
which  they  were  never  able  entirely  to  forget ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  principles  on  which  he  had  always  acted,  and  which  he 
had  more  particularly  enforced  in  his  consulship,  rendered  him  an 
object  of  aversion  to  the  violent  popular  party,  and  removed  him 
from  any  participation  in  the  ambitious  schemes  of  the  triumvi- 
rate. But,  according  to  his  own  statement, '^^  the  impolicy  of  his 
friends,  in  holding  a  tone  of  unseasonable  severity,  had  so  alien- 
ated from  the  cause  of  the  republic  many  of  those  whom  it  had 
been  his  endeavour  in  his  public  conduct  to  conciliate,  that  he 
considered  the  state  of  affairs  utterly  unpromising,  and  during  the 
eventful  year  which  was  now  about  to  commence,  he  absented 
himself  almost  entirely  from  the  business  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  most  active  defender  of  the  aristocratical  cause  was  M.  Cato, 
who,  although  he  filled  no  magistracy,  nor  enjoyed  any  political 
rank,  yet,  by  his  birth,  his  unshaken  integrity,  and  his  great  cou- 

157  Ad  Atticum,  II.  epist.  I.  iss  ^^  Atticum,  II.  epist.  I.  ;  I.  epist. 

XVII.  XVIII. 


J  96  THfe  AGRARIAN  LAW  OF  CvESAR. 

rage,  had  rendered  himself  a  person  of  considerable  importance. 
Towards  Caesar  he  entertained  a  fixed  animosity,  which  he  re- 
tained to  the  very  end  of  his  life  ;  and  the  notoriety  of  this  feeling 
deprived  his  opposition,  perhaps,  of  some  of  the  weight  to  which 
it  otherwise  would  have  been  entitled.  But  had  Cato's  influence 
been  much  greater  than  it  was,  it  could  have  availed  little  against 
the  united  power  of  Pompey,  Cassar,  and  Crassus,  supported  as  it 
was  at  present  by  the  whole  strength  of  the  popular  party,  and 
arming  itself  unscrupulously  with  all  those  violent  means  which 
had  been  practised  in  former  times  by  L.  Saturninus,  P.  Sulpi- 
cius,  Marius,  or  Sylla. 

We  have  said  that  Pompey  had  been  unable  to  carry  the 
„  If    asrrarian  law  of  L.  Flavins  during  the  preceding 

The  agrarian  law  of  &  rr,,         r-  r      ■  r  i    •  i-    •  •  i      r-i 

cssar.  year.     The  first  fruits  oi  his  coahtion  with  Usesar 

were  seen  in  the  agrarian  law  proposed  by  the  new  consul  early 
in  the  year,  and  by  which  it  was  proposed  to  grant  settlements  to 
20,000  citizens  in  Campania,  •"  one  of  the  richest  districts  in  Italy, 
which  had  been  let  out  under  the  Roman  government  since  the 
second  Punic  war,  and  which  no  former  author  of  an  agrarian 
law,  except  the  tribune  Rullus,  during  the  consulship  of  Cicero, 
had  ever  ventured  to  give  up  to  distribution  among  the  people. 
The  division  of  these  lands  among  the  settlers  was  to  be  com- 
mitted to  twenty  commissioners,  who  were  to  be  invested  with 
full  powers  to  manage  it  as  they  thought  proper.  It  appears  from 
Dion  Cassius,'^°  that  Caesar  had  at  first  designed  to  do  little  more 
than  bring  forward  anew  the  law  of  Flavins ;  and  that  he  sub- 
mitted it  to  the  senate,  endeavouring  to  procure  their  concurrence 
in  it.  But  finding  that  body  obstinate  in  opposing  it,  on  no  other 
grounds,  it  is  said,  but  because  it  was  an  innovation,  he  resolved 
to  propose  it  to  the  people  in  a  more  popular  form,  and  to  carry  it 
by  their  authority  alone.  Bibulus,  his  colleague,  with  three  of 
the  tribunes,  did  all  in  their  power  to  oppose  it ;  and  despairing 
of  success  by  any  other  means,  they  endeavoured  to  break  up  the 
assembly  from  time  to  time,  by  reporting  that  thunder  had  been 
heard, '^'  an  occurrence  which,  according  to  the  law  of  Rome, 
should  have  immediately  suspended  the  business  of  the  forum. 
But  P.  Yatinius,  a  tribune,  entirely  devoted  to  Caesar,  had  declared 
on  entering  upon  his  oflice,'^'^  that  he  would  regard  none  of  those 
obstructions  which  the  augurs  might  throw  in  the  way  of  his 
measures,  by  reporting  their  observations  on  the  state  of  the 
heavens ;  and  as  he  now  was  busily  engaged  in  supporting  the 
agrarian  law,  he  provided  an  armed  rabble  to  abet  him  in  his  pro- 
ceedings, and  thus  defying  the  opposition  of  his  colleagues,  and 
ordering  Bibulus  on  one  occasion  to  be  sent  to  prison,  and  at 

159  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  44.     Cicero,         '^^  Cicero,  ia  Vatinium,  7.  Dion  Cas- 
ad  Atticum,  II.  epist.  VII.  sius,  XXXVIII.  61. 

160  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVIII.  59.  '«2  Cicero,  in  Vatinium,  6. 


THE  PROVINCE  OP  GAUL  GIVEN  TO  C^SAR.  197 

another  time  driving  him  out  of  the  forum  hy  violence,  he  pro- 
cured by  these  means  the  enactment  of  the  law. 

It  was  after  several  similar  riots,  in  which  Bibulus  found  his 
life  endangered,  that  he  confined  himself  entirely  to  his  own 
house, '^3  and  contented  himself  with  issuing  strong  protests  and 
invectives  against  the  measures  of  his  colleague.  Caesar  thus 
finding  himself  relieved  from  all  opposition,  proceeded  to  fulfil  the 
conditions  of  his  union  with  Pompey,  by  procuring  from  the?  peo- 
ple a  law  ratifying  all  his  acts  ;'^^  and  he  seized  the  opportunity 
of  gratifying  the  equestrian  order  bv  another  law, 

r        4^1  T    r     r  ii         r  r    i-i      '  1         Other  laws  of  Csesar. 

tor  the  reliet  ot  the  larmers  01  ttie  revenue,  who 
having,  in  their  eagerness  to  obtain  the  contract,'"  offered  too 
large  a  sum  for  the  rent  of  the  taxes  in  the  newly  conquered  pro- 
vinces, had  afterwards  petitioned  the  senate  that  this  agreement 
might  be  relaxed  a  little  in  their  favour.  Their  petition  had  been 
first  presented  towards  the  end  of  the  year  692,  and  Irad  been 
constantly  rejected;  Catoonall  occasions  speaking  against  it  with 
great  vehemence.  It  was  now  granted  by  the  people  through  the 
influence  of  Ca3sar  ;  and  thus  the  affections  of  a  powerful  body  of 
men  were  alienated  from  the  aristocracy,  at  a  time  when  their 
assistance  was  most  needful. 

These,  however,  were  all  of  them  measures  with  regard  to  which 
good  and  wise  men  might  fairly  differ,  however  much  they  con- 
demned the  violent  means  by  which  they  were  carried.  It  now 
remained  that  the  triumvirs  should  provide  more  directly  for  their 
own  aggrandizement.  Accordingly,  P.  Yatinius  moved  before  the 
people,  that  the  provinces  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  and  ^he  province  of  caui 
lUyricum  should  be  given  to  Caesar  for  five  years,  given  to  cssar. 
with  an  army  of  three  legions, '®®  although  the  disposal  of  such 
commands  was  vested  by  the  law,  as  it  then  stood,  in  the  senate 
alone.  The  people,  as  may  be  supposed,  readily  agreed  to  the 
grant ;  and  the  senate,  wishing,  perhaps,  to  increase  the  weight 
of  Caesar's  employments  abroad,  and  to  remove  him  further  from 
the  city,  added  to  his  government  the  province  of  Transalpine 
Gaul,  and  voted  him  another  legion.  Meantime  Pompey  had  con- 
nected himself  more  closely  with  Cassar,'^^  by  marrying  his 
daughter  Julia ;  and  Cassar,  on  his  part,  married  Calpurnia,  the 
daughter  of  L.  ]?iso,  intending  that  his  father-in-law,  Piso,  and  A. 
Gabinius,  an  old  partisan  of  Pompey,  should  succeed  in  the  follow- 
ing year  to  the  consulship.  At  the  same  time,  the  adoption  of 
P.  Clodius  into  a  plebeian  family  had  been  effected  through  the 
influence  of  Pompey  and  Caesar,'^^  in  order  that  he  might  be  able 

163  Cicero,  inVatinium,9  ;  adAtticum,  '^^  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  22.     Cicero, 

II.  epist.  XIX.  XX.  XXI.  in  Vatinium,  15. 

1S4  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVIII.  62.  i"  pimarch,  in  Ceesare,  14. 

165  Cicero,  ad   Atticum,  I.  epist.  XVII.  '^^  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  II.  epist.  XII.  ; 

XVIII. ;  pro  Plancio,  14.  pro  Domo,  16.     Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  20. 


198  THE  PROVINCE  OF  GAUL  GIVEN  TO  C^SAR. 

to  be  elected  tribune  of  the  people.  It  is  probable  that  he  was 
considered  generally  as  a  useful  instrument  to  keep  the  aristocrat- 
ical  party  in  a  state  of  depression  and  alarm  :  and  Caesar,  it  is  said, 
offended  by  the  manner  in  which  Cicero  spoke  of  the  triumvirate, 
was  disposed  to  co-operate  with  Clodius  in  those  measures  which 
were  more  particularly  aimed  against  him  personally.  But  the 
transactions  which  led  to  Cicero's  exile  belong  more  properly  to 
the  subsequent  year  ;  and  the  story  of  Csesar's  consulship  may  be 
closed  by  observing,  that  after  seeing  Piso  and  Gabinius  elected 
consuls  according  to  the  Avish  of  the  triumvirate,  and  leaving 
Clodius  in  possession  of  the  tribuneship,  and  bent  on  effecting  the 
destruction  of  Cicero,  he  set  out  from  Rome  early  in  the  spring  of 
the  year  695,  to  commence  his  long  career  of  conquests  in  Gaul.'^' ' 
At  this  point  our  narrative  of  the  internal  affairs  of  the  com- 
monwealth may  be  allowed  to  pause,  while  the  reader's  attention 
is  directed  to  a  farther  detail  of  the  events  which  had  previously  oc- 
curred'in  Spain,  to  the  operations  of  Caesar  in  Gaul,  and  to  those  of 
Crassus  in  Parthia.  The  latter  expedition,  indeed,  did  not  take 
place  till  a  period  somewhat  later  than  that  which  we  have  now 
reached ;  but  as  it  is  quite  distinct  from  the  course  of  events  at 
Rome,  it  may  be  a  little  anticipated,  in  order  that  the  thread  of  our 
story  may  not  be  interrupted,  as  we  proceed  from  the  exile  of 
Cicero  to  the  actual  beginning  of  the  civil  war. 

169  Caesar,  de  Bello  GalUco,  I.  6, 7. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CAIUS  JULIUS  CESAR.— A  SKETCH  OF  THE  ROMAN  HISTORY  FROM 
THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  CESAR  TO  THE  COMMAND  .IN  GAUL  TO 
HIS  DEATH.-FROM  U.C.  695  TO  710,  A.C.  59  T0J4. 

The  proceedings  of  the  triumvirate,  and  the  supreme  influence 
which  its  members  had  exercised  during  the  consul-  From  u.c.  695  to  710. 
ship  of  Caesar  were  sufficient  proof  that  the  effects  of  coSiuon  between  the 
Sylla's  victory  were  ah-eady  lost,  and  that  the  aristoc-  popSwty'!"'^  *^* 
racy  was  unable  to  resist  the  enemies  by  whom  it  was  again 
assailed.  That  coalition  between  the  popular  party  and  individ- 
uals of  great  personal  distinction,  which  had  before  taken  place 
when  Marius  united  himself  with  Sulpicius,  had  now  been  re- 
peated ;  and  as  there  was  now  no  Sylla  to  assert  by  arms  the 
authority  of  the  senate,  it  had  been  repeated  with  more  entire 
success.  The  part  of  Sulpicius  had  been  hitherto  performed  by 
Vatinius ;  it  was  now  to  devolve  on  P.  Clodius,  who  having  en- 
tered on  his  tribuneship  in  the  month  of  December  Trbuneship  of  p.  cio- 
694,  and  being  supported  not  only  by  the  influence  agamafcicero.  *^^'^°* 
of  the  triumvirs,  but  by  the  consuls  elect,  Piso  and  Gabinius,  who 
would  use  all  the  authority  of  their  office  in  his  favour,  and  by  the 
terror  of  Caesar's  military  force,  was  likely  to  pursue  his  career  with 
little  impediment.'  His  chief  object  was  to  effect  the  ruin  of  Cicero, 
as  by  so  doing  he  would  at  once  gratify  a  personal  enmity  of  his 
own,  and  would  deprive  the  senate  of  the  most  eloquent  and,  with 
all  his  faults,  the  most  popular,  and  one  of  the  most  upright  of  their 
defenders. 

During  the  earlier  months  of  Caesar's  consulship,  Cicero  had 
absented  himself  from  Rome,*^  but  he  had  returned  thither  in  June, 
soon  after  the  passing  of  the  law  of  Vatinius,  which  conferred  on 
Caesar  the  command  in  Gaul,  and  the  unusual  power  of  nomina- 
ting his  own  lieutenants.  He  already  apprehended  the  effects  of 
the  enmity  of  Clodius,  and  was  at  first  inclined  to  accept  the  offer 
made  him  by  Caesar,  that  he  would  accompany  him  as  his  lieu- 
tenant into  Gaul.^    But  encouraged  by  the  apparent  popularity 

1  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  17.  3  Epist.  ad  Atticum,  II.  epist.  XVIII. 

2  Epist.  ad   Atticum,   II.  epist.  IV. — 
XVII. 

14 


200  TRIBUNESHIP  OF  CLODIUS. 

which  he  enjoyed,  and  receiving  from  Pompey  the  strongest  as- 
surances that  Clodius  would  not  think  of  attacking  him,  and  that 
if  he  should  do  so  he  would  sacrifice  his  own  life  rather  than  that 
Cicero  should  be  injured,  he  was  persuaded  to  remain  in  Rome 
and  abide  the  issue.^  Accordingly  Clodius,  as  we  have  already 
mentioned,  entered  on  his  tribuneship  in  December,  and  immedi- 
ately professed  his  intention  of  visiting  upon  Cicero's  head  the 
execution  of  Lentulus,  Cethegus,  and  the  other  accomplices  of 
Catiline.  He  was  sure  of  the  support  of  the  consuls  Piso  and  Ga- 
binius  ;  and  he  boasted  also  that  he  was  acting  with  the  entire 
concurrence  of  the  triumvirate.  Mobs,  consisting  of  slaves  and 
the  lowest  of  the  people,^  were  openly  armed  and  organized  to 
overawe  every  attempt  of  Cicero's  friends  to  defend  him  by  legal 
means  ;  and  when  the  senate  and  the  equestrian  order,  and,  as 
Cicero  asserts,^  the  great  majority  of  respectable  citizens,  put  on 
mourning,  and  assumed  the  dress  of  suppliants,  to  testify  their 
grief  and  the  deep  interest  which  they  felt  in  his  cause,  the  con- 
suls ordered  the  senate  to  resume  their  usual  habit ;  and  Gabin- 
ius  in  particular,  in  a  speech  addressed  to  the  multitude,  told  them 
that  the  senate  was  nothing  in  the  commonwealth,  and  that  the 
equestrian  order  should  soon  be  made  to  suffer  for  the  part  they 
had  taken  in  abetting  Cicero's  proceedings  during  the  late  con- 
spiracy. It  is  added  that,  by  his  own  sole  authority,  Gabinius 
commanded  L.  Lamia,  a  citizen  who  had  been  zealous  in  Cicero's 
defence,  to  leave  Rome,  and  not  to  come  within  two  hundred  Ro- 
man miles  of  the  city  j^  an  exercise  of  power  which  is  mentioned, 
indeed,  as  illegal  and  tyrannical,  but  which  still  shows  to  what  an 
extent  the  consuls  could  carry  their  orders,  and  enforce  obedience. 
The  professed  measure  on  the  part  of  Clodius,  which  filled 
Cicero  with  such  lively  alarm,  was  a  law  proposed  by  him  for  the 
punishment  of  all  persons  guilty  of  putting  a  Roman  citizen  to 
death  without  trial.*  It  is  said  that  when  this  law  was  brought 
before  the  assembly  of  the  people  (who  were  summoned  by  Clodius 
to  meet  without  the  city,  because  Csesar  could  not  otherwise,  as 
commander  of  an  army,  be  present  at  the  discussion),  Caesar 
spoke  in  favour  of  its  principle,  but  wished  that  it  should  not  affect 
any  past  transactions.  This  exception,  however,  would  have  so 
defeated  Clodius's  main  object,  that  it  was  not  admitted,  and  the 
law  passed  in  its  original  form,  which  denounced  punishment 
against  any  past  as  well  as  against  any  future  violation  of  its 
provisions.  But  still,  although  Cicero  might  have  been  brought 
to  trial  under  this  act,  yet  the  natural  prejudice  against  ex  post 
facto  laws,  together  with  the  strong  considerations  that  might  have 
been  urged  in  his  defence,  and  the  popularity  and  interest  which 

*  Epist.  ad  Atticum,  epist.  XX.  ''  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  12,  13. 

5  Cicero, pro  Sextio,  15  ;  in  Piaonem, 5.         ^  Dion   Cassius,    XXXVIII.    67,    edit. 

*  Pro  Sextio,  12.  Leunclav. 


POMPEY'S  BEHAVIOUR  TO  CICERO. 


201 


he  possessed,  might  have  rendered  his  condemnation  a  matter  of 
great  uncertainty.  His  own  conduct,  therefore,  as  he  himself 
afterwards  confessed,  was  the  main  occasion  of  his  ruin  ;^  for  by 
soHciting  protection,  by  assuming  the  dress  of  a  suppliant,  and  ap- 
pealing to  the  compassion  of  the  people,  he  in  a  manner  anticipa- 
ted his  own  accusation,  and  rendered  the  motion  of  bringing  him 
to  trial  for  the  measures  adopted  in  his  consulship  less  startling 
and  extravagant  to  others,  by  seeming  himself  fully  to  expect  it. 
While  he  was  going  round  the  city  with  his  friends,  all  wearing 
the  same  air  of  dejection  and  entreaty  ,he  was  frequently  met  and  in- 
sulted by  parties  of  the  armed  rabble  which  acted  under  Clodius's 
orders,'"  and  he  thus  compromised  his  own  dignity  without  any 
advantage  to  his  interests.  He  particularly  laboured  to  obtain  the 
support  of  Pompey,  from  whom  indeed,  both  on  public  and  private 
grounds,  he  had  a  right  to  look  for  it.  But  Pompey  Behaviour  of  Pompey 
had  entangled  himself  so  deeply  in  the  plans  of  the  Awards  cicuro. 
enemies  of  the  aristocracy,  that  he  could  not  act  freely  on  either 
side.  With  the  usual  fate  of  those  men  whose  principles  are  not 
firm  enough  to  keep  them  steadily  in  the  path  of  duty,  but  are 
yet  sufficiently  powerful  to  check  them  in  their  deviations  from  it, 
and  to  hinder  them  from  ever  attaining  the  rewards  of  wickedness, 
Pompey  already,  it  is  probable,  repented  of  his  share  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  triumvirate,  and  found  that  the  confirmation  of  his 
acts  in  Asia  had  been  too  dearly  purchased  by  the  loss  of  the  good 
opinion  of  the  better  part  of  his  countrymen,  and  the  degradation 
to  which  he  was  reduced  of  being  a  tame  spectator  of  the  ruin  of 
his  friend,  and  of  the  outrages  of  a  man  like  Clodius.  Thus  beset 
with  shame  and  difficulties,  he  avoided  a  personal  interview  with 
Cicero,  who  came  himself  to  his  Alban  villa  to  solicit  his  assist- 
ance ;  and  when  L.  ,Lentulus,  L.  Torquatus,  M.  Lucullus,  Q,. 
Fabius  Sanga,"  and  many  other  persons,  applied  to  him  to  the 
same  effect,  he  referred  them  to  the  consuls,  saying  that  he,  as  a 
private  individual,  did  not  like  to  enter  into  a  contest  with  a  tri- 
bune who  had  an  armed  force  at  his  disposal ;  but  if  the  consuls 
should  act  in  defence  of  the  commonwealth,  with  the  authority  of 
the  senate,  he  would  take  up  arms  to  join  them.  We  have  seen 
Marius,  in  his  sixth  consulship,  obliged  by  the  senate  to  act  against 
his  own  associate  Saturninus  ;  and  Pompey,  it  is  probable,  would 
gladly  have  obeyed  a  similar  call  to  return  to  his  own  natural 
situation  as  defender  of  the  commonwealth.  But  the  call  was  not 
given  ;  the  consuls,  it  is  said,  had  bound  themselves,  for  their  own 
private  interests,  to  abet  all  the  proceedings  of  Clodius  -j^^  and  thus 
Pompey  remained  inactive  in  his  villa,  and  Cicero,  despairing  of 

9  Epist.  ad  Atticum,  III.  epist.  XV.  '^  Cicero,  in  Pisonem,  31. 

Plut    arch,  in  Cicerone,  30.  '2  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  10. 


202  CICERO  WITHDRAWS  FROM  ROME. 

Cicero  withdraws  any  effectual  support,  and  unwilling,  as  he  tells  iis,*^ 
a'dMreeofbam^h-  to  be  the  occasiou  of  bloodshed,  withdrew  by  night 
Iklnst  him'*^  ^'  from  Rome,  and  went  into  voluntary  exile.  His 
departure  relieved  his  enemies  from  every  difficulty  ;  and  the  pun- 
ishment which  a  judicial  sentence  would  hardly  have  pronounced, 
was  easily  intlicted  by  a  legislative  attainder.  Clodius  proposed  a 
law  forbidding  him,  in  the  usual  language,  the  use  of  fire  and  water 
within  four  hundred  miles  of  Italy,^^  denouncing  penalties  against 
any  person  who  should  harbour  him  within  those  limits  ;  and 
forbidding  any  one  to  move  for  his  recall  either  in  the  senate  or 
before  the  people.  This  was  carried  immediatel)^,  cfnd  not,  if  we 
ma}?-  believe  Cicero, '^  by  the  votes  of  the  Roman  people,  but  in 
an  almost  empty  forum,  by  the  voices  of  that  rabble  which  was 
the  mere  instrument  of  Clodius's  violence.  In  addition  to  this,  the 
property  of  Cicero  was  ordered  to  be  confiscated  ;  his  house  on 
the  Palatine  hill  was  burnt  to  the  ground,  its  site  was  consecrated 
to  religious  purposes,  and  a  statue  of  Liberty  was  erected  on  the 
place  whereon  it  had  stood.'® 

It  has  been  often  remarked,  that  it  is  the  natural  tendency  of 
A  change  of  circum-  violont  mcasures  to  produce  a  reaction;  and  this 
pkcffn  wl'faVor.'but  effcct  socms  to  havc  followed  from  the  banishment 
byme'v'iofenceofcTo'^  of  Clccro.  Scarccly  had  he  left  Italy,  before  the 
dius.  senate  began  to  exert  itself  to  procure  his  recall. 

Pompey  also  was  at  last  roused  by  an  affront  offered  to  him  by 
Clodius,  of  a  nature  peculiarly  irritating.  Tigranes,  the  son  of 
the  king  of  Armenia,  was  amongst  the  prisoners  brought  to  Rome 
by  Pompey  on  his  return  from  Asia,  and  having  remained  ever 
since  in  captivity,  was  at  this  time  under  the  custody  of  Ij.  Fla- 
vins, one  of  Pompey's  old  adherents,  and  now  one  of  the  praetors. 
Clodius  was  bribed,  as  it  is  said,  to  take  Tigranes  out  of  the 
hands  of  Flavins,  and  to  cause  him  to  be  set  at  liberty.'''  This 
happened  in  May,  little  more  than  a  month  after  Cicero's  retreat 
from  Rome  ;  and  Pompey  from  this  time  began  to  appear  in  the 
senate,  and  to  complain  of  the  late  proceedings  of  Clodius.  On 
the  first  of  June  the  senate  passed  a  resolution  in  favour  of  Cicero's 
recall,  without  a  single  dissentient  voice  ;'^  but  Sextus  iElius,  one 
of  the  tribunes,  interposed  his  negative,  and  for  the  present  pre- 
vented it  from  being  attended  with  any  effect.  Clodius,  mean- 
while, was  not  wanting  either  in  art  or  audacity  in  his  endeavours 
to  rid  himself  of  those  persons  whose  opposition  he  most  dreaded. 
About  the  beginning  of  August,  one  of  his  slaves  dropt  a  dagger 

13  Pro  Sextio,20,  et  seq.  '6  Cicero,  pro    Sextio,  24.     Dion  Cas- 

14  Cicero,  pro  Domo,  19  ;  ad  Atticum,     sius,  XXXVIII.  70. 

III.  epist.  IV.  XII.  XV.  "  Dion  Cassius,  XXXVIII.  78.  Cicero 

15  Pro  Sextio,  24.  ad  Atticura,  III.  epist.  VIII. 

1^  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  31. 


SKETCH  OP  THE  REVOLUTIONS  OF  CYPRUS.       203 

near  the  senate  house, '^  and  on  being  seized,  and  examined  before 
the  consul  Gabinius,  it  was  said  that  he  had  received  orders  from 
his  master  to  assassinate  Pompey,  who  was  at  that  time  in  the 
senate.  Whether  this  plot  was  real  or  fictitious,  Pompey  took 
alarm  at  it,  and  during  the  remainder  of  Clodius's  tribuneship  he 
confined  himself  to  his  house,'^''  the  armed  rabble  which  acted 
under  Clodius  rendering  it  unsafe  for  him,  it  is  said,  to  appear  in 
public.  The  other  individual  whom  Claudius  most  ^  catois  sent  to 
feared  was  M.  Cato,  and  him  he  contrived  to  remove  Cyprus. 
from  Rome,  by  forcing  him  to  accept  a  public  commission  which 
would  employ  him  abroad  for  a  considerable  time.^'  Its  nature 
will  deserve  our  notice,  as  exemplifying  the  wide  extent  of  the 
evils  which  the  power  of  Rome  at  this  period  enabled  a  profligate 
demagogue  to  inflict. 

The  island  of  Cyprus  was  early  filled  with  Greek  colonies, 
and  was  first  conquered  by  Amasis,  king  of  Egypt,  sketch  of  the  revoiu- 
about  five  hundred  and  forty  or  fifty  years  before  ''""^  °^  "'^'  "'''"'*• 
the  Christian  era.'^^  When  Egypt  was  overrun  by  Cambyses, 
the  Cyprians  submitted  to  the  Persian  dominion,  and  remained 
attached  to  that  empire,  although  sometimes  enjoying  a  practical 
independence,  till  its  final  overthrow  by  the  arms  of  Alexander. 
In  the  division  of  his  conquests  which  followed  upon  his  untimely 
death,  Cyprus  was  again  united  to  the  new  Egyptian  monarchy 
established  by  Ptolemy  the  son  of  Lagus  ;"  and  although  its 
possession  was  often  disputed  by  the  kings  of  Syria,  yet  it  still 
continued  among  the  dependencies  of  the  crown  of  Egypt,  and 
appears  to  have  formed  what  would  in  modern  language  be  called 
an  appanage,  being  bestowed  as  a  separate  principality  on  some 
member  of  the  royal  family.  At  the  time  of  which  we  are  now 
speaking,  it  was  ruled  in  this  manner  by  a  brother  of  the  reign- 
ing king  of  Egypt,  who  himself  also  bore  the  name  of  Ptolemy. 
It  is  said  that  Clodius,  when  a  young  man,  having  fallen  into  the 
power  of  the  Cilician  pirates,  during  the  period  of  .their  greatness, 
applied  to  the  king  of  Cyprus  for  money  to  pay  his  ransom,^* 
and  that  Ptolemy  sent  so  small  a  sum  that  the  pirates  refused  to 
accept  it,  and  afterwards,  from  what  motives  we  know  not,  re- 
leased their  prisoner  gratuitously.  Clodius,  it  is  added,  had  long 
resented  the  behaviour  of  Ptolemy  on  this  occasion,  and  now 
gladly  availed  himself  of  his  present  power  to  propose  a  law,  de- 
claring the  island  of  Cyprus  forfeited  to  the  Roman  republic. 
The  only  possible  colour  for  such  an  act  was  a  pretended  will  of 
the  late  king  of  Egypt,  by  which  he  was  said  to  have  assigned 
his  dominions  to  the  Roman  people.  But  the  reality  of  this  in- 
strument was  so  questionable,  that  the  senate  had  never  chosen 

19  Asconius.in  Oration,  pro  Miloae.  22  Herodotus,  Euterpe,  cap.  ultim. 

20  Cicero,  pro  Se.xtio,  32.  23  Strabo,  XIV.  782,  edit.  Xyland. 

21  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  28.  24  Strabo,  ubi  supra. 


204        PROCEEDINGS  AND  BEHAVIOUR  OF  CATO  IN  CYPRUS. 

to  act  upon  it,  and  the  present  king  of  Egypt  had  lately  been  ac- 
knowledged as  a  lawful  sovereign,  so  that  his  brother,  the  ruler  of 
Cyprus,  holding  his  crown  by  the  same  title,  was  in  equity  equally 
included  in  this  acknowledgment.  It  was  sufficient,  however, 
that  the  island  was  a  tempting  prize,  and  that  the  power  of  the 
Romans  enabled  them  to  seize  it  with  impunity.  Its  fertility, 
indeed,  and  abundant  resources  of  every  kind,  were  highly  cele- 
brated, and  it  was  the  boast  of  the  inhabitants  that  they  could 
build  and  send  to  sea  a  ship  of  the  largest  size,  without  applying 
to  foreign  countries  for  the  supply  of  a  single  article  required  in 
her  construction  and  equipment.^^  The  law  for  the  forfeiture 
being  passed,  Clodius  proposed  by  a  separate  law  to  intrust  M. 
Cato  with  the  execution  of  it,  and  he  was  accordingly  despatched 
with  praetorian  authority  to  carry  into  effect  a  measure  which  he 
is  said  to  have  abhorred  for  its  injustice.  He  was,  besides,  ordered 
to  procure  the  restoration  of  certain  individuals  who  had  been 
exiled  by  the  government  of  Byzantium  f^  and  these  two  employ- 
ments were  expected  to  detain  him  for  a  considerable  time  at  a 
distance  from  Rome. 

They  were,  however,  both  executed  without  any  difficulty. 
Proceedings  and  be-  Ptolcmy,  hearing  of  the  sentence  of  deposition 
c7p?uJ.°^  ^^*°  '"  issued  against  him,  swallowed  poison  in  despair  ;" 
and  Cato  being  informed  of  his  death,  sent  the  famous  M.  Brutus, 
his  nephew,  immediately  to  Cyprus,  to  secure  the  king's  property, 
while  he  himself  first  went  to  Byzantium  to  discharge  his  com- 
mission there.  As  soon  as  this  was  effected  he  rejoined  his 
nephew  in  Cyprus,  and  superintended  the  sale  of  the  confiscated 
treasures  with  an  excessive  and  almost  ridiculous  minuteness, 
allowing  nothing  to  be  sold  except  in  his  own  presence,  and  doing 
his  utmost  to  procure  a  good  price  for  every  article. '^^  Whilst  he 
was  thus  engaged,  Munatius  Plancus,  one  of  his  most  devoted 
friends,  arrived  in  Cyprus  to  join  him  ;  but  happening  to  call  on 
Cato  when  he  was  transacting  business  with  his  principal  officer, 
he  was  refused  admiltance.  He  complained  of  this  afterwards  to 
Cato,  and  received  from  him  a  very  rough  answer,  being  told  that 
Canidius,  the  officer  with  whom  Cato  had  been  engaged,  was  the 
person  most  deserving  of  confidence  from  his  experience  and  in- 
tegrity, and  that  Cato  therefore  preferred  his  company.  Not  con- 
tent with  having  said  this  to  Munatius  himself,  Cato,  with  char- 
acteristic indelicacy,  repeated  it  afterwards  to  Canidius,  and  Muna- 
tius then,  feeUng  himself  offended,  absented  himself  from  Cato's 
table,  and  did  not  go  to  him  when  sent  for  to  assist  him  in  the 
despatch  of  business.     This  behaviour  shocked  Cato's  notions  of 

25  Ammianus    Marcellinus,     XIV.  21,  27  Plutarch,  ia  Catone,  36.    Ammianua 

edit.  Vales.  Marcellinus,  ubi  supra. 

25  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  26.     Plutarch,  in  23  Plutarch,  37. 
Catone,  34. 


PROCEEDINGS  AT  ROME  IN  BEHALF  OF  CICERO.  205 

discipline,  and  he  threatened  to  fine  himfot  his  disobedience  ;  but 
Munatius  immediately  quitted  the  island,  and  remained  for  some 
time  in  a  state  of  alienation  from  his  former  friend.  Afterwards, 
however,  they  both  were  invited  to  an  entertainment  at  the  same 
house,  and  Cato  arriving  after  the  guests  had  taken  their  places, 
at  the  table,  asked  his  host  to  which  couch  he  ought  to  go  ;  when 
being  told  to  choose  any  place  that  he  liked,  he  said  thai  he  would 
then  fix  himself  near  Munatius,  and  accordingly  he  lay  on  the 
sofa  next  to  him  for  the  whole  evening,  but  made  no  further  ad- 
vances towards  a  reconciliation.  But  at  the  request  of  his  Avife 
Marcia,  he  afterwards  wrote  to  Munatius,  requesting  him  to  call 
at  his  house  as  on  business,  and  Munatius  coming,  and  being  de- 
tained by  Marcia  till  all  other  visitors  were  gone,  Cato  then  went 
in  to  him,  threw  his  arms  around  him,  and  embraced  him  with 
great  cordiality.  This  story  exhibits  very  fairly  Gate's  character- 
istic good  and  bad  qualities;"  and  as  Plutarch  professes  to  copy 
it  from  the  account  of  Munatius  himself,  it  rests  on  sufficient  au- 
thority to  deserve  our  belief,  and  may  therefore  be  readily  admit- 
ted ;  for  the  well  attested  personal  anecdotes  of  eminent  individu- 
als are  so  rare  in  Roman  history,  that  we  may  well  be  pardoned 
for  noticing  those  which  do  present  themselves  to  our  curiosity. 

Meanwhile  the  consular  elections  at  Rome  came  on,  and  P. 
Cornelius  Lentulus  Spinther,  and  Q,.  Caicilius  Metellus  Nepos,  were 
elected  to  succeed  Piso  and  Gabinius.  Lentulus  had  been  asdile 
during  Cicero's  consulship,  and  his  dispositions  were  known  to  be 
such,  that  Cicero  conceived  his  appointment  to  be  a  favourable 
omen  for  himself  Metellus,  during  his  tribuneship,  had  affronted 
Cicero  personally,  and  had  acted  uniformly  against  the  aristocra- 
cy ;  but  he  was  so  much  under  the  influence  of  Pompey,  that 
nothing  was  to  be  feared  from  him  under  the  present  circumstan- 
ces. Accordingly,  on  the  very  day  on  which  the 
new  consuls  came  into  office,  P.  Lentulus  brought 


New  proceedinea  at 
Rime  in  behalf  of 


Cicero. 


the  case  of  Cicero  before  the  senate,  and  found  that  ^  *^-  "5. 
body  almost  unanimously  disposed  in  his  favour.^"  It  was  proposed 
that  a  law  should  be  submitted  to  the  people  repealing  his  sen- 
tence of  banishment ;  but  the  assembly  held  for  this  purpose  was 
interrupted  by  the  armed  partisans  of  Clodius  •,^^  Q,.  Cicero  was 
assaulted  and  obliged  to  fly  for  his  life,  the  tribunes  friendly  to 

29  Some  points  in  this  story  must  remind  resemblance   to  one   another  ;    and,   had 

the  reader  of  Dr.  Johnson,  who  is  said  by  Cato  been  a  Christian,  the  likeness  would 

Boswell  to  have  often  made  indirect  ad-  have    been   more   perfect.     His  character 

vances  towards  a  reconciliation,  when  he  would  have  been  far  better  than  it  was, 

had  offended  his  friends  by  some  rudeness  ;  had  he  been  taught  to  struggle  against  his 

expecting  that  they  would  accept  such  to-  pride    and  coarseness  of  mind,  instead  of 

kens  of  his  good  will  towards  them,  in  the  thinking  it  to  his  credit  to  indulge  them, 
place  of  any  more  open  apology.     In  fact,         3"  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  34. 
the  natural  dispositions  of  Cato  and  John-         3i  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  35. 
eon  appear  to  have  borne  a  considerable 


206  CICERO  IS  RECALLED  FROM  EXILE. 

Cicero's  cause  were  driven  from  the  forum,  and  great  numbers  of 
citizens  were  murdered  in  the  riot.  On  a  subsequent  occasion, 
P.  Sextius,  another  tribune,  zealously  devoted  to  Cicero,  Avas 
wounded  and  left  for  dead  in  the  temple  of  Castor  j^*^  and  these 
•atrocious  acts  were  perpetrated  without  receiving  any  check  from 
the  authority  of  the  government.  But  T.  Annius  Milo,  who  was 
also  among  the  tribunes  of  this  year,  and  who  was  of  a  temper 
well  fitted  to  render  him  a  proper  antagonist  to  Clodius  in  such 
times  of  disorder,  seeing  the  laws  utterly  powerless  to  preserve  the 
peace  of  the  city,  resolved  to  meet  the  rioters  on  their  own 
ground ;  and  while  on  the  one  hand  he  threatened  Clodius  with 
a  legal  prosecution  for  his  acts  of  violence,^^  he  prepared,  in  the 
mean  time,  to  restrain  his  outrages  by  force ;  and,  having  pro- 
cured a  body  of  gladiators  and  armed  retainers,  he  enabled  the 
aristocratical  party  to  speak  and  act  \vith  more  freedom.  Then 
He  is  recalled  from  ^^  was  that  thc  scuate  and  people,  with  wonderful 
&lump"hkVt'iXierto  Unanimity,  passed  the  law  for  Cicero's  recall ;  and 
^°™<^-  on  the  fifth  of  August  he  returned  once  more  to 

Italy, ^^  and  was  received  at  Brundusium  with  a  kindness  which 
was  a  foretaste  of  the  universal  feeling  soon  after  manifested  to- 
wards him  in  every  quarter.  After  a  short  stay  at  Brundusium,  he 
set  out  on  his  way  to  the  capital.  Deputies  from  the  several 
towns  met  him  on  the  road  with  their  congratulations  ;  and  when 
he  approached  Rome,  there  was  not  a  single  individual  of  any 
note,  except  his  avowed  enemies,  who  did  not  come  forth  to  wel- 
come him.  As  he  entered  by  the  Capene  gate,  the  steps  of  the 
temples  were  thronged  with  multitudes  of  the  poorest  of  the  peo- 
ple, who  expressed  their  joy  by  the  loudest  cheers ;  and  as  he 
passed  through  the  streets  to  the  capitol,  he  was  every  where 
greeted  with  the  same  acclamations,  and  surrounded  by  a  similar 
concourse.  This  was,  indeed,  a  triumphal  procession  far  more 
honourable  than  those  of  victorious  generals  ;  and  on  this  occa- 
sion it  was  proved,  that  Cicero  was  not  only  regarded  by  a  party, 
but  possessed,  in  an  unusual  degree,  the  respect  and  affection  of 
the  people  at  large.  He  reaped  on  this  day  the  just  reward  of 
that  upright  and  impartial  course  which  he  had  pursued  since 
the  commencement  of  his  political  life  ;  supporting  the  moderate 
ascendency  of  the  aristocratical  party,  yet  not  ashamed  to  advo- 
cate the  rights  and  promote  the  benefit  of  the  lower  classes  ;  the 
queller  of  a  profligate  insurrection,  but  unseduced  to  abuse  his  vic- 
tory, or  to  gratify  a  spirit  of  animosity  or  ambition,  by  shedding 
any  blood  that  was  not  demanded  by  justice  and  the  safety  of  the 
commonwealth. 

One  of  the  first  things  which  he  did  after  his  return,  was  to 

32  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  37.  34  Cicero,Epist.  ad  Atticum,  IV.  epist.J. 

33  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  40,  et  seq. 


RIOTS  IN  THE  STREETS  OF  ROME.  207 

propose  a  law  for  investing  Pompey  with  another  po^pey  ig  appointed 
extraordinary  commission.  There  had  been  for  ke?r°hrou°giwut°lhe 
some  time  a  scarcity  of  corn  at  Rome,'^  which,  as  '^'"P'^®- 
was  natural,  disposed  the  multitude  to  tumult ;  and  at  the  time  of 
Cicero's  return,  a  mob  assembled  round  the  senate-house,  and 
calling  aloud  that  Pompey  should  be  intrusted  with  the  control 
of  the  markets,  they  required  Cicero  by  name  to  propose  a  vote 
to  that  effect.  Accordingly,  the  senate,  on  his  suggestion,  re- 
solved that  Pompey  should  be  appointed  with  full  powers  to  man- 
age every  thing  relating  to  the  supply  of  the  corn  markets  in  every 
part  of  the  empire  for  five  years ;  and  a  law  to  the  same  purpose 
was  submitted  to  the  assembly  of  the  people.  C.  Messius,  however, 
one  of  the  tribunes,  proposed  another  law,  in  which  Pompey's  au- 
thority was  extended  still  more,  inasmuch  as  it  conferred  on  him 
the  control  of  the  entire  revenue  of  the  commonwealth,  gave  him 
the  command  of  a  fleet  and  army,  and  bestowed  on  him  a  power 
in  all  the  provinces  paramount  to  that  of  the  officers  by  whom 
they  were  immediately  governed.  It  does  not  appear  whether 
these  additions  to  the  original  proposition  were  approved  by  the 
people  or  not ;  but  it  seems  most  probable  that  they  were  rejected. 
Still  the  power  actually  committed  to  Pompey  was  exceedingly 
great ;  and  the  readiness  with  which  the  people  conferred  such 
great  charges  on  individual  citizens,  was  a  sure  symptom  of  that 
helplessness  in  themselves,  and  that  habit  of  dependence  for  every 
thing  upon  their  government,  which  show  that  a  nation  is  fit  only 
for  despotism. 

The  remainder  of  the  year  696  was  marked  by  nothing  that 
deserves  particular  notice.  The  senate,  on  the  re-  Rj^ts  ;„  the  streets  of 
port  of  the  pontifices,^^  before  whom  the  question  ^o°r™'the^au8e''ofthe 
had  been  previously  argued,  resolved  that  the  con-  aristocracy. 
secration  of  the  site  of  Cicero's  house  was  not  valid  ;  and  that  the 
ground  should  be  given  back  to  him,  and  a  sum  presented  to  him 
out  of  the  treasury  to  enable  him  to  restore  the  building.  Smaller 
sums  were  also  voted  to  him  to  repair  the  damage  which  his 
country  houses  had  sustained.  But  the  workmen  who  were  em- 
ployed in  rebuilding  his  house  in  Rome,  were  dispersed  on  the 
third  of  November  by  the  armed  rabble  under  the  command  of 
Clodius  ;  the  house  of  his  brother  Quintus  was  deliberately  set  on 
fire  by  the  same  assailants  ;  and  a  few  days  afterwards,  a  house 
belonging  to  Milo  was  attacked  in  the  same  manner.  On  this 
last  occasion,  however,  Q,.  Flaccus  sallied  out  from  another  of 
Milo's  houses  at  the  head  of  an  armed  party,  and  attacking  Clo- 
dius, killed  a  number  of  his  most  notorious  followers,  and  obliged 
him  to  save  his  own  hfe  by  flight.     At  the  same  time,  also,  Clo- 

35  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  IV.  epist  I.  ^6  CicerOj  ad  Atticum,  IV.  epist.  II.  and 

III. 


208  AFFAIR  OF  PTOLEMY  AULETES. 

dius,  as  we  have  before  mentioned,  was  threatened  with  a  prose- 
cution by  Milo  ;  but,  by  the  assistance  of  his  brother-in-law,  Q,. 
Metellus,  the  consul,  and  of  his  brother,  Appius  Claudius,  one  of 
the  praetors,  he  succeeded  in  postponing  his  trial  till  after  the 
comitia  had  been  held  for  the  election  of  sediles."'  He  was  a  can- 
didate for  that  office ;  calculating  that,  if  he  should  gain  it,  he 
should  be  able  to  shelter  himself  under  its  protection  from  the  im- 
peachment of  his  adversaries  for  another  year  ;  and  being,  in  fact, 
elected,  he  immediately  commenced  in  his  turn  a  prosecution 
against  Milo,  whom  he  charged  with  disturbing  the  public 
peace. ^^  P.  Sextius.  who,  when  tribune,  had  been  nearly  mur- 
dered by  the  followers  of  Clodius,  was  now  also  himself  brought 
to  trial  for  the  same  offence  ;  but  he  was  defended  by  Cicero  in 
one  of  his  most  eloquent  orations,  and  was  acquitted.  The  trial 
of  Milo  was  adjourned  from  time  to  time,  till  it  was  either  aban- 
doned altogether,  or  may  be  supposed  to  have  ended  in  the  ac- 
quittal of  the  accused. 

The  consuls  for  the  year  697  were  Cn.  Cornelius  LentuUis 
Affair  of  Ptolemy       Marccllinus,  aud  L.  Marcius  Philippus  ;  the  former 

Auleteg,  king   of  it  i  •      r  r  ii  ■   Z  ^  •       i 

Egypt.  warmly  disposed  m  lavouroi  the  aristocratical  party ; 

the  latter  a  respectable  and  moderate  man,  who  is  known  as  the 
father-in-law  of  Augustus  Caesar,  having  married  Atia,  his  mother, 
after  the  death  of  her  first  husband,  C.  Octavius.  About  this 
time  the  partisans  of  Pompey  endeavoured  to  procure  for  him  an- 
other extraordinary  command.  Ptolemy,  king  of  Egypt, ^'  haying 
been  expelled  from  his  throne  by  his  subjects,  had  come  to  Rome 
during  the  preceding  year,  in  the  hope  of  recovering  his  kingdom 
through  the  assistance  of  the  Roman  government.  It  is  said  that 
he  gained  many  partisans  by  bribery ;  and  be  this  as  it  may,  the 
senate  passed  a  vote  that  he  should  be  restored,  and  the  consul, 
P.  Lentulus  Spinther,  to  whose  lot  Cilicia  had  fallen  in  the  distri- 
bution of  provinces,  was  appointed  to  carry  the  vote  into  execu- 
tion. But  in  the  mean  time,  a  deputation  of  a  hundred  citizens 
of  Alexandria  had  been  despatched  from  Egypt  to  counteract,  if 
possible,  the  effect  of  Ptolemy's  bribes  and  intrigues ;  and  the 
king,  imitating  the  conduct  of  Jugurtha  on  a  like  occasion,  had 
caused  the  greater  part  of  them  to  be  assassinated,  some  on  their 
way  to  Rome,  and  others  in  the  c;ty  itself  Still  it  appears  that 
the  influence  which  he  had  gained  by  his  money,  or  by  the  hope 
that  his  restoration  would  afford  to  many  an  opportimity  of  ob- 
taining military  commands  and  emoluments,  was  likely  not  only 
to  save  him  from  punishment,  but  even  to  secure  his  return  to  his 
kingdom ;  when  it  began  to  be  whispered  that  a  prophecy  had 
been  found  in  the  Sibylline  books,  warning  the  Romans  "  not  to 

3T  Epist.  ad  Atticum,  IV.  episl.  III.  39  Dion  Cassius,  XXXIX.  97. 

^  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  44.  69. 


C^SAR  AT  LUCCA.  209 

restore  a  king  of  Egypt  to  his  throne  with  the  aid  of  numbers,  but 
that  in  any  other  way  they  might  effect  it."  On  the  first  rumour 
of  this  injunction  of  the  sibyl,  C.  Cato,  one  of  the  tribunes,  sum- 
moned the  keepers  of  the  mystic  books  before  the  assembly  of  the 
people,  and  obliged  them  to  repeat  the  oracle  exactly.  It  may  be 
hoped  that  he  availed  himself  of  this  expedient  to  batfle.the  in- 
trigues of  Ptolemy  and  his  supporters  from  an  honest  indignation 
at  their  crimes,  and  that  it  was  taken  up  by  a  large  party  in  the 
senate  with  the  same  feelings.  But,  however  this  may  be,  the 
subject  was  debated  with  considerable  warmth."  Pompey's 
friends  proposed  that  he  should  be  commissioned  to  restore  the 
king ;  since  his  name  and  authority,  now  that  the  support  of  an 
army  was  forbidden,  were  more  likely  to  succeed  than  those  of 
any  other  person.  Cicero  and  Hortensius  insisted  that  P.  Len- 
tulus  should  not  be  deprived  of  an  office  which  the  senate  had 
already  committed  to  him ;  but  C.  Cato,  finding  that  Pompey's 
claims  were  regarded  with  peculiar  jealousy,  and  that  the  appoint- 
ment would  probably  remain  with  Lentulus,  brought  in  a  law  to 
take  away  that  officer's  command.^'  In  this  he  does  not  appear 
to  have  succeeded  ;  but  his  determined  opposition,  and  the  mutual 
jealousies  of  the  partisans  of  Pompey  and  Lentulus,  disappointed, 
for  the  present,  the  hopes  of  Ptolemy ;  who,  despairing  of  his  re- 
turn, retired  to  Ephesus,  and  there,  to  avoid  the  vengeance  to 
which  he  might  be  exposed  from  the  relations  of  those  whom  he 
had  murdered,  he  lived  in  a  sort  of  sanctuary,  under  the  protection 
of  the  secred  precincts  of  the  temple  of  Diana.^*^ 

While  these  transactions  were  occurring,  Cajsar,  as  usual,  was 
passing  the  winter  at  Lucca,  on  the  very  southern 

'■     ^  .^  r  1   •  •  I  T  •,!  Caaar  at  Lucca. 

extremity  of  his  province,  and  regarding,  with  no 
indifferent  eye,  the  state  of  affairs  at  Rome.  He  had  just  con- 
cluded his  second  campaign,  which  he  had  signalized  by  his 
famous  victory  over  the  Nervii ;  and  for  this,  together  with  his 
other  successes,  he  soon  after  received  from  the  senate  an  unpre- 
cedented honour,  in  the  appointment  of  a  solemnity  of  thanks- 
giving, which  was  to  continue  for  fifteen  days.^^  g^t  the  aristo- 
cratical  party,  retaining  a  lively  resentment  against  him  for  the 
seditious  tenour  of  his  consulship,  and  viewing  his  present  exten- 
sive military  command  with  a  very  reasonable  jealousy,  were  re- 
solved to  avail  themselves  of  the  known  sentiments  of  one  of  the 
consuls,  and  of  the  moderation  of  the  other,  to  commence  an 
attack  upon  him  and  his  measures.  Scarcely  had  The  aristocrat, cai  par- 
the  present  consuls  been  elected,  when  P.  Rutilius  JL-'Kpassed'!" hu 
Lupus,**  one  of  the  tribunes,  brought  forward  in  the  <=o"S"iship. 

<"  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  I.  epist.  I.  et         <3  Csesar,  d«  Bello  GalIico,ii.35.  Clce- 

■eq.  ro,  de  Provinciia  Consularibus,  10,  11. 
41  Cicero,  ad  Q.  Fratrem,  II.  epist.  III.         "  Cicero,  ad     Quintum    Fratrem,    II. 

«  Dion  Cassius,  XXXIX.  99.  epist.  I. 


210  CICERO  DESERTS  THE  ARISTOCRATICAL  PARTY. 

senate  the  question  of  Caesar's  agrarian  law,  by  which  the  lands 
of  Campania  were  assigned  for  division  among  the  poorer  citizens. 
This  had  been  always  an  obnoxious  measure  to  a  large  portion 
of  the  people,  as  it  cut  off  one  of  the  most  valuable  sources  of  the 
public  revenue ;  for  the  whole  of  Campania  having  been  forfeited 
to  the  ][loman  people  after  the  revolt  of  Capua  in  the  second  Punic 
war,  had  been  since  let  out  to  individuals,  and  the  rent  arising 
from  these  estates  afforded  a  considerable  and  constant  income  to 
the  treasury.  Thus,  when  P.  Rullus,  in  the  agrarian  law  which 
he  brought  forward  during  Cicero's  consulship,  had  proposed  to 
include  Campania  among  the  districts  that  were  to  be  divided, 
Cicero  attacked  this  as  one  of  the  most  pernicious  parts  of  the 
whole  scheme.  No  wonder,  therefore,  that  Caesar's  law  was  re- 
garded by  many  as  a  measure  which  ought  to  be  rescinded  as 
soon  as  possible ;  but  as  Pompey  was  not  present  when  P.  Lupus 
first  laid  the  subject  before  the  senate,  it  was  judged  right  to  post- 
pone the  discussion  of  a  question,  in  which  the  triumvirate  was 
so  nearly  concerned,  till  he  could  attend  to  take  a  part  in  it.  On 
the  fifth  of  April,^^  however,  after  a  vote  had  passed  to  grant  Pom- 
pey the  sum  of  forty  millions  of  Roman  money  (322,916/.  13^.  4(/.), 
for  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  controller  of  the  markets,  the 
agrarian  law  was  again  mentioned ;  the  large  grant  which  had 
been  just  made  out  of  the  treasury,  made  its  poverty  more  deeply 
felt,  and  rendered  the  recoveiy  of  the  Campanian  rents  more  desi- 
rable ;  and  accordingly,  after  a  stormy  debate  it  was  voted,  on  the 
motion  of  Cicero,  that  the  question  of  the  lands  of  Campania 
should  be  formally  discussed  in  a  full  senate,  on  the  fifteenth  of 
May.  But  the  fifteenth  of  May  arrived,  and  the  lands  of  Cam- 
pania were  suffered,  without  dispute,  to  remain  subject  to  the  pro- 
visions of  Caesar's  law  ;  while,  instead  of  commencing  any  attack 
on  Caesar's  measures,  Cicero  about  this  time  delivered  a  speech  in 
the  senate  full  of  the  highest  praises  on  his  conduct  in  Gaul,*'^ 
and  recommending  that  his  province  should  still  be  continued  to 
him,  when  some  members  had  proposed  that  a  new  officer  should 
be  sent  out  to  succeed  him,  according  to  the  usual  practice  and 
Cicero  is  persuaded  to  law  of  thc  commouwealth.      It  appears  that  Cicero, 

desert  the  aristocrat!-  .  ,.  ,  r-  mii-l  t  ij 

cai  party.  Gvcr  suicc  his  rctum  from  exile,  liad  been  ciisgustea 

with  the  high  aristocratical  party,  and  finding  that  they  regarded 
him  with  jealousy,  according  to  his  own  account,"  he  was  natu- 
rally disposed  to  seek  the  friendship,  or  at  least  to  deprecate  the 
enmity,  of  their  opponents.  Accordingly,  on  the  trial  of  P.  Sex- 
tius,  when  he  attacked  P.  Vatinius,  one  of  Caesar's  instruments 
during  his  consulship,  with  the  utmost  vehemence,  he  was  care- 
ful to  speak  of  Caesar  himself  in  terms  of  respect.*^     Still  he 

<5  Cicero,   ad   Quintum    Fratrem,   II,        ^''  Ad  Familiares,  I.  epist.  IX.  Ad  At- 
epist.  V.  ;  ad  Familiar.  I.  epist.  IX.  ticum,  IV.  epist.  V. 

^s  De  Provinciis  Consularibus.  *8     Cicero,  in  Vatinium,  6,  7. 


RETURN  OF  CATO  TO  ROME.  2]^]^ 

seemed  disposed  to  adhere  to  the  cause  which  he  had  formerly 
upheld  :  he  openly  extolled  the  conduct  of  M.  Bibulus/^  Cijesar's 
late  colleague :  he  supported  the  interests  of  P.  Lentulus  in  op- 
position to  the  friends  of  Pompey,  in  the  question  of  the  king  of 
Egypt's  restoration  ;  and  above  all,  his  motion  on  the  fifth  of 
April  seemed  to  be  the  pledge  of  his  determined  enmity  to  the 
party  of  the  triumvirate.  It  was  received  as  such  by  the  high 
aristocratical  party,  who  displayed  an  evident  joy  at  the  prospect 
of  an  irreconcileable  quarrel  between  him,  and  Pompey,  and 
Caesar.  Cicero  took  alarm  at  this,  and  having  probably  received 
some  personal  grounds  of  offence  from  the  aristocratical  leaders, 
he  despatched,  within  five  days,^"  a  small  work  of  his  own  com- 
position to  Coesar,  couched  in  language  designedly  complimentary, 
on  purpose,  as  he  himself  confesses,  to  bind  him  to  his  reconcili- 
ation with  Caesar,  and  to  cut  off"  the  possibility  of  his  reuniting 
himself  with  the  aristocracy.  Still  his  conduct  in  the  senate,  on 
the  fifth  of  April,  had  so  oftended  and  alarmed  Pompey,  that  leav- 
ing Rome  immediately,  as  if  to  superintend  the  business  of  his 
office  as  controller  of  the  markets,  he  paid  a  visit  to  Caesar  at 
Lucca,^^  and  there  consulted  with  him  upon  the  steps  to  be  taken 
with  regard  to  Cicero's  opposition  to  their  measures.  Prom  Lucca 
Pompey  crossed  over  to  Sardinia,  and  had  an  interview  with  Q,. 
Cicero,  who  held  a  public  situation  in  that  island.^-  He  dwelt 
much  on  the  services  which  he  had  rendered  to  Marcus  Cicero, 
and  reminded  Q,uintus  that  he  had  answered  to  him  for  his  bro- 
ther's attachment  to  the  interests  of  the  triumvirate,  when  solicit- 
ing their  concurrence  in  his  proposed  recall  from  banishment. 
Q,uintus,  it  is  probable,  lost  no  time  in  reporting  this  conversation 
to  his  brother ;  and  it  seems  to  have  produced  on  him  the  desired 
effect,  for  he  dropped,  as  we  have  seen,  the  prosecution  of  the 
Campanian  question,  and  during  the  greater  part  of  the  remainder 
of  the  year  he  absented  himself  from  political  business  altogether. 
It  was  in  the  edrly  part  of  this  year  that  M.  Cato  returned  to 
Rome  from  Cyprus,  bringing  with  him  a  considera-  Return  of  m.  catoto 
ble  treasure  which  had  belonged  to  the  late  sove-  ^°'"°- 
reign  of  the  island.  As  his  vessel  advanced  up  the  Tiber,^^  the 
senate,  headed  by  the  two  consuls,  and  followed  by  an  immense 
crowd  of  private  citizens,  came  out  of  the  city,  and  descended 
along  the  banks  of  the  river  to  welcome  him  ;  but  he  proceeded 
without  noticing  this  compliment,  till  he  reached  the  spot  where 
the  treasure  was  to  be  landed.  Still  further  to  testify  their  regard 
for  him,  the  senate  proposed  to  confer  on  him  the  office  of  praetor 

■59  Ad  Familiares,  I.  epist.  IX.  kets  throughout  the  empire.     Cicero,  pro 

50  Ad  Atticuni,  IV.  epist.  V.  Scauro,  Fragm.    Oral,  ab   Angelo   Maio 

51  Cicero,  ad  Famihares,  I.  epist.  IX.  editarum. 

52  He  was  one  of  Pompey's  lieutenants,        53  Vdleius  Paterculus,  II.  45.  Plutarch, 
in  the  service  of  superintending  the  mar-  in  Catone,  39. 


212  ELECTION  FOR  THE  CONSULSHIP. 

for  the  following  year,^*  by  voting  that  he  should  be  appointed 
praetor  at  the  next  comitia,  "  extra  ordinem,"  that  is,  by  virtue  of 
the  senate's  resolution,  independently  of  the  votes  of  the  centuries. 
But  Cato  disapproving  of  such  an  unusual  measure,  and  conscious 
also  that,  if  it  were  contested  by  the  popular  party,  it  would 
greatly  prejudice  his  prospects  of  success  when  he  became  a  can- 
didate in  the  ordinary  manner,  declined  the  compliment  thus  of- 
fered to  him.  It  is  said,  also,  that  he  complained  of  the  conduct 
of  Cicero"  in  wishing  to  declare  the  tribuneship  of  Clodius  ille- 
gal, and  all  the  acts  passed  in  it  to  be  consequently  invalid,  and 
that  he  openly  espoused  the  cause  of  Claudius  on  this  question. 
In  doing  this  he  was  defending,  in  fact,  the  validity  of  his  own 
proceedings  in  Cyprus,  which,  as  his  commission  was  bestowed 
on  him  by  a  law  of  Clodius,  would  themselves  have  lost  their  au- 
thority, if  that  commission  were  not  legally  conferred.  But  the 
aristocratical  party  in  general  were  disposed  to  coalesce  with  Clo- 
dius at  the  present  moment,  because  he  was  now  at  enmity  with 
Pompey  ;  and  this  was  one  of  the  reasons  which  alienated  Cicero 
from  them,  and  inclined  him,  as  we  have  seen,  to  relinquish  his 
opposition  to  the  triumvirate. 

L.  Domitius  ^nobarbus,  by  birth  and  by  preference  alike  at- 
pompey  and  crassus  taclicd  to  tho  aristocracy,  was  preparing  to  offer 
^"ship."^'  °^^  ^'^°"'  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  consulship,  with  the 
avowed  intention  of  procuring  the  recall  of  Caesar  from  his  pro- 
vinces^ It  was  not  to  be  doubted  that  he  would  receive  the  zeal- 
ous support  of  the  senate  ;  and  if  the  comitia  were  held  by  the  pre- 
sent consul  Marcellinus,  his  election  was  most  likely  to  follow. 
To  prevent  it,  Pompey  and  Crassus  resolved  to  come  forward 
themselves  as  his  opponents  ;  and  that  the  comitia  might  not  be 
held  by  any  unfriendly  person,  C.  Cato,'''  one  of  the  tribunes,  was 
prevailed  on  to  stop  the  elections  by  his  negative,  till  the  year  ex- 
pired and  the  present  consuls  went  out  of  office.  Whether  he  had 
been  gained  over  by  Pompey  since  his  opposition  to  the  restoration 
of  king  Ptolemy,  or  whether  he  only  served  the  triumvirate  from 
his  aversion  to  the  aristocratical  party,  we  cannot  clearly  decide ; 
but  it  seems  that,  in  forbidding  the  comitia,  he  professed  only  to 
retaliate  upon  the  consul  Marcellinus,  who,  by  appointing  fre- 
quent holidays,  had  obstructed  the  assembling  of  the  people  on 
public  business,  and  had  deprived  him  of  all  opportunities  of  car- 
rying some  laws  of  which  he  was  the  proposer.  After  all,  the 
They  procure  their  cousular  elcctious  woro  disgraccd  by  scenes  of  open 
success  by  violence,  violeuce  :  Domitlus,'^  who  persisted  in  trying  the 
event,  was  prevented  by  force  from  reaching  the  forum  ;  M.  Cato, 

54  Valerius  Maxrmus,  IV.  1.  57  Dion  Cassius,  XXXIX.  103.    Cicero, 

55  Plutarch,  in  Catone,40.     Dion  Cas-     ad  Q.  Fratrem,  II.  epist.  VI. 

sius,  XXXIX.  100,  edit.  Leunclav.  ss  Dion  Cassius,   XXXIX.   105.     Plu- 

56  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  24.  tarch,  in  Catone,  41. 


THE  TREBONIAN  LAW.  213 

who  attended  him  with  his  usual  courage,  was  wounded,  and  one 
of  his  servants  killed  ;  and  in  this  manner  Pompey  and  Crassus 
obtained  their  second  consulship,  fifteen  years  after  they  had  been 
for  the  first  time  elected  together  to  the  same  office. 

But  although  Domitius  was  thus  excluded  from  the  consul- 
ship, M.  Cato  still  hoped  that  he  should  himself  ^  ^  ggg. 
obtain  a  place  among  the  prajtors,  even  though  he  p'ra;to?ship"an<i° s  re* 
had  declined  the  irregular  interference  of  the  senate  •'"•«='^- 
in  his  behalf  His  character  was  so  respected,  that  if  no  unfair 
arts  were  practised  by  his  opponents,  he  was  likely  to  be  success- 
ful ;  but  the  elections  were  deferred,  it  appears,  till  the  month  of 
May  f^  and  then  the  consuls  rejected  a  proposal  made  by  some  of 
the  senators,  that  sixty  days  should  elapse  between  the  nomination 
of  the  praetors  and  their  entering  upon  their  office,  in  order  to  al- 
low time  for  inquiry  into  any  corrupt  practices  to  which  they 
might  have  been  indebted  for  their  success.  Bribery,  indeed,  is 
said  to  have  been  used  most  unscrupulously  by  the  triumvirate  ;«" 
yet  still,  on  the  day  of  the  comitia,  Cato  obtained  the  votes  of  the 
first  tribe,  a  circumstance  which  so  alarmed  his  opponents,  that 
Pompey  himself  came  forward  and  declared  that  he  had  heard 
thunder  ;  thus  procuring  the  adjournment  of  the  assembly,  at  the 
expense,  it  is  said,  of  an  open  falsehood.  In  the  interval  thus 
gained,  the  party  of  the  consuls  renewed  their  efforts  to  procure 
votes,  and  when  the  election  again  came  on,  Cato  was  rejected. 
The  other  elections  were  equally  unfavourable  to  the  aristocracy, 
and  only  two  of  their  partisans,  C.  Ateius  Capito,  and  P.  Aquillius 
Gallus,®'  could  find  a  place  on  the  list  of  tribunes. 

The  most  memorable  event  of  this  year  was  the  law  proposed 
by  C.  Trebonius,  now  tribune  of  the  people,  and  a 

^-  r   J.^         A.   •  •       i  1       rx  1  The  Trebonian  law. 

partisan  oi  the  trmmvn'ate,  and  atterwards  more 
notorious  as  one  of  the  assassins  of  Caisar.  Its  object  was  to  con- 
fer a  military  command  for  a  term  of  years  on  each  of  the  consuls : 
thus,  the  province  of  Spain  was  assigned  to  Pompey,^^  and  that 
of  Syria  to  Crassus,  to  be  held  for  five  years,  with  a  discretionary 
power  of  raising  troops,  and  of  making  peace  and  war.  After  a 
most  resolute  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  two  aristocratical  tri- 
bunes, and  of  M.  Cato,  the  law  was  carried  by  absolute  violence  j 
and  immediately  afterwards  Pompey  himself  proposed  and  car- 
ried another,"  prolonging  Caesar's  command  in  Gaul  for  five,  or, 
according  to  Dion  Cassius,  for  three  years  beyond  the  term  origi- 
nally assigned  to  it,  and  adding  Germany  also,  as  it  is  said,  to  his 
province.  Crassus,  who  was  eager  to  grasp  the  crassus  sets  out  from 
glory  which  he  anticipated  from  an  attack  on  the  |°f,«  °"  ^"'^ -^^  ^ 

59  Cicero,  ad  Q.  Fratrem,  II.  epist.  IX.  «  Livy,  Epitome,  CV. 

«"  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  52;  in  Catone,  63  Dion   Cassius,  XXXIX.  106.      Flu- 

42.  tarch,  in  Catone,  43  ;  in  Pompeio,  52. 
61  Dion  Cassius,  XXXIX.  105. 


214  CONSULSHIP  OF  DOMITIUS  AND  CLAUDIUS. 

Parthians,  left  Rome  in  the  month  of  November,"  on  his  way  to 
Syria  ;  but  his  departm'e  was  attended  with  circumstances  which 
were  regarded  at  the  time  as  ominous  of  evil,  and  which  were 
remembered  more  carefully  after  the  disastrous  issue  of  his  expe- 
dition. The  tribunes,  Ateius  and  Aquillius,^^  at  first  attempted  to 
prevent  him  from  going,  and  Ateius  threatened  him  with  impris- 
onment, but  was  restrained  by  the  negative  of  his  colleagues  : 
however,  when  Crassus  was  leaving  the  city,  as  we  have  before 
related,  he  denounced  the  wrath  of  the  gods  against  his  enterprise, 
and  lighting  a  fire  at  the  gate  through  which  Crassus  was  to  pass, 
he  went  through  certain  ceremonies  of  imprecation,  devoting,  with 
the  most  fearful  curses,  both  the  general  and  his  army  to  destruc- 
tion. It  is  said,  too,  that  the  projected  war  with  the  Parthians 
was  so  unpopular,  especially  when  combined  with  the  manner  in 
which  Crassus  had  gained  his  province,  that  he  was  attended  by 
nothing  of  that  train  of  citizens  who  were  used  to  crowd  round  an 
officer  v\dien  departing  from  Rome.to  undertake  an  arduous  con- 
test against  a  foreign  enemy  :  but  that  he  besought  Pompey  to 
accompany  him  out  of  the  city,  in  the  hope  that  his  presence 
might  save  him  at  least  from  any  open  expressions  of  ill-will  on 
the  part  of  the  multitude.  Meanwhile  Pompey  himself  intrusted 
the  command  of  his  province  to  his  lieutenants,  and  continued  to 
reside  in  Rome,  pretending  that  his  post  of  controller  of  the  mar- 
kets did  not  allow  him  to  be  absent  from  the  capital  f^  but  enjoy- 
ing probably  the  thought,  that  whilst  he,  like  Cassar  and  Crassus, 
had  a  province  and  an  army  at  his  disposal,  he  was  living  at  the 
same  time  at  the  seat  of  government,  and  exercising  an  influence 
there  which  was  little  short  of  sovereignty. 

In  this  situation  Pompey  was  at  the  utmost  height  of  his  am- 
consuishipofL.Do-  bltiou  ;  aud  accoi'dlugly  from  this  tlmc  forward  he 
Claudius"  B^'^cato  abetted  no  acts  of  violence,  and  encouraged  no  par- 
u^c'^ees.  ties  against  the  aristocracy,  but  seemed  inclined  to 

regard  the  senate  as  a  prince  would  view  the  nobiUty  of  his 
kingdom,  that  is,  as  the  most  natural  supports  and  ornaments  of 
his  own  greatness.  Thus  the  elections  for  the  ensuing  year 
appear  to  have  passed  without  disturbance ;  and  L.  Domitius, 
who  had  been  the  unsuccessful  opponent  of  Pompey  and  Crassus, 
was  now  able  to  gain  his  object,  and  was  chosen  consul,  together 
with  Appius  Claudius  Pulcher,  the  brother  of  P.  Clodius,  and 
partisan  of  Caesar.  M.  Cato  also  was  allowed  to  avail  himself  of 
the  esteem  which  the  people  entertained  for  him,  and  was  elected 
prsetor  without  difficulty.  Cicero's  reconciliation  with  Caesar  was 
about  this  time  confirmed  by  the  appointment  of  his  brother  Q,uin- 
tus  to  be  one  of  Caesar's  lieutenants  in  Gaul ;  and  P.  Clodius  had 

64  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  IV.  epist.  XIII.        66  Dion  Cassius.  XXXIX.  109. 

65  Velleius  Paterculus,  IL  46.  Plutarch, 
in  Crasso,  16. 


TRIALS  OP  GABINIUS  ON  SEVERAL  CHARGES. 


215 


now  somewhat  declined  in  notoriety,  and  had  lost  much  of  his 
power,  and  perhaps  of  his  inclination,  to  excite  disturbances. 
The  commonwealth  seemed,  in  short,  destined  to  enjoy  a  breath- 
ing time  from  the  perpetual  tumults  by  which  it  had  been  assail- 
ed ;  but  its  peace  rested  on  such  slender  foundations,  that  no  intel- 
ligent observer  could  venture  to  calculate  on  its  perpetuity. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Ptolemy,  kmg  of  Egypt,  had  left 
Rome  in  the  year  697,  and  had  retired  to  Ephesus,  hopeless  of  effect- 
ing his  restoration  to  his  throne  by  the  assistance  of  the  Romans, 
although  he  had  committed  so  many  crimes  to  pur-  ptoiemy,  king  of 
chase  it.  But  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  following  toh'rs'tiulne'byA'' 
he  found  an  unexpected  friend  in  A.  Gabinius,  who  Gab.nius. 
still  held  the  province  of  Syria,  to  which  he  had  succeeded  on  the 
expiration  of  his  consulship.  Gabinius  instigated,  as  some  say, 
by  private  letters  from  Pompey,^^  and  at  any  rate  trusting  to  his 
protection  to  save  him  from  punishment,  if  he  were  afterwards 
questioned  for  his  conduct,  did  not  hesitate  to  espouse  the  king's 
cause  ;  and,  in  defiance  of  the  provisions  of  two  recent  laws  of 
Sylla  and  Caesar,  marched  with  his  army  out  of  his  province,*^ 
invaded  Egypt,  and  having  defeated  the  Egyptians  and  taken 
Alexandria,  reinstated  Ptolemy  in  his  former  power.  Meantime, 
the  Syrians,  during  the  absence  of  his  army,®^  suffered  severely 
from  the  incursions  of  some  hordes  of  plunderers,  by  whom,  as  by 
the  common  scourge  of  that  part  of  Asia,  the  wilder  parts  of  their 
country  were  occupied.  They  carried  their  complaints  to  Rome, 
and  they  met  with  the  more  favourable  reception,  because,  from 
the  distressed  state  of  the  province,  which  had  been  ill  protected 
even  when  Gabinius  was  present,  the  taxes  could  not  be  collected, 
and  the  farmers  of  the  revenue  were  unable  to  discharge  their 
debt  to  the  government.  But  the  interest  of  Pompey  and  Crassus 
sufficiently  defended  Gabinius  during  their  consulship  ;  and  Cras- 
sus, who  was  going  to  supersede  him  in  his  province,  felt  himself 
possibly  the  more  bound  to  secure  him  from  molestation  on  his 
return  to  Rome.  Now,  however,  the  interest  of  the  triumvirate 
was  less  predominant ;  and  Gabinius,  when  he  at  last  arrived  in 
Italy,  and  entered  the  capital  by  night,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of 
September,^"  found  himself  at  once  beset  with  prosecutions.  On 
his  first  trial,  for  a  violation  of  the  Cornelian  law,  in  trials  of  a.  Gabinius, 
leading  an  army  out  of  his  province,  he  was  ac-  on  several  charges. 
quitted,'''  partly,  according  to  Cicero,  from  the  want  of  talent  in  his 
accuser,  and  partly  from  the  corruption  of  his  judges.  He  was 
tried  a  second  time,  however,  on  a  charge  of  receiving  bribes  from 
king  Ptolemy  ;  and  to  the  surprise  of  every  one,  Cicero,  who  had 

"  Dion  Cassius,  XXXIX.  115.  TO  Cicero,  ad   Q.  Fratrem,  IIL  epist.  I. 

S3  Cicero,  in  Pisonem,  21.  'i  Cicero,  ad  Q.  Fratrem,  IIL  epist.  IV. 

«  Dion  Cassius,  XXXIX.  118. 

15 


m 


216  INFAMOUS  PLOT  OF  THE  CONSULS. 

He  is  defended  by  ever  been  his  most  vehement  enemy,  now  appeared 
ed'and'goes  fnTo S!  as  his  advocatc.'^'^  This  change  had  been  brought 
about  by  the  earnest  soUcitations  of  Pompey/^  to  whom  Cicero  was 
unwilhng  to  refuse  any  thing ;  but  the  real  placability  of  Cicero's 
disposition  disposed  him  to  lay  aside  his  animosities ;  and  the 
consciousness  of  this  feeling  would  make  him  less  suspect  the  pu- 
rity of  his  own  motives,  when  he  suffered  himself  to  be  won  over  by 
Ca3sar  to  forget  his  enmity  to  Vatinius,  and  when  he  now  was 
persuaded  by  Pompey  to  defend  Gabinius.  His  reconciliation, 
however,  was  of  no  benefit  to  the  accused,  who  was  condemned, 
and  went  into  exile. 

The  competition  for  the  consulship  began  as  usual  about  mid- 
vioient  competition  suuimcr,  aud  was  carried  on  with  great  vehemence. 
for  the  consulship.  Tlicre  wcrc  four  candidates,'^  Cn.  Domitius  Cal- 
vinus,  who  had  been  tribune  in  the  consulship  of  Cassar  and  Bi- 
bulus,  and  had  distinguished  himself  by  his  steady  support  of  the 
aristocracy ;  M.  Valerius  Messala,  who  was  also  attached  to  the 
same  interest ;  C.  Memmius,  who  had  been  formerly  Pompey's 
quaestor  in  Spain,  and  who  now  rested  his  hopes,  in  a  great  measure, 
on  the  influence  of  Caesar's  friends  in  his  behalf;  and  M.  iEmilius 
Scaurus,  the  son  of  that  Scaurus  who  was,  during  so  many  years, 
first  on  the  rolls  of  the  senate,  and  the  son-in-law  of  L.  Sylla,  who 
had  married  his  mother,  Metella.  He  was  at  this  very  time 
brought  to  trial  before  M.  Cato,  as  preetor,'^^  on  a  charge  of  cor- 
ruption in  the  administration  of  his  late  province  of  Sardinia  ;  but 
was  defended  by  Cicero  and  Hortensius,  and  acquitted.  All  these 
candidates  were  guilty  of  bribery  to  such  an  amount  as  to  produce 
a  great  etfect  on  the  money  market ;  for  they  borrowed  such  large 
sums  to  carry  on  their  canvass,^^  that  the  rate  of  interest  rose  in 
one  day  from  four  to  eight  per  cent.  The  senate,  to  repress  these 
proceedings,''^  wished  to  institute  an  hiquiry  into  the  conduct  of 
the  candidates  previously  to  the  election  ;  and  this  being  prevented 
by  one  of  the  tribunes,  Q.  Scsevola,  another  tribune  in  the  interest 
of  the  senate,  forbade  the  comitia  to  be  held  until  this  obstruction 
should  be  removed.  In  the  mean  time,  C.  Memmius,  by  the  ad- 
infamous  agreement  ^Icc  of  Pompcy,''^  dlscloscd  a  siugular  sccuc  of  irifa- 
andTwoo^he'^candi"  ^ly  in  which  hc  himsclf  was  a  principal  actor.  He 
•'*'*''•  produced  and  read  in  the  senate  an  agreement  which 

had  been  entered  into  by  himself  and  Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus  with 
the  present  consuls  ;  in  which  it  was  stipulated,  that,  if  they  were 
elected  consuls,  they  would  produce  three  augurs  and  two  senators 
of  consular  dignity,  who  should  depose  to  the  validity  of  a  forged 
act  of  the  comitia  curiata,  and  a  forged  decree  of  the  senate  ;  that 

72  Valerius  Maximus,  IV.  2.  ''s  Cicero,  Orat.  pro  Scauro. 

73  Cicero,  pro  Rabirio  Postumo,  8.  12.  '^  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  IV.  epist.  XV. 

74  Cicero,  ad    Atticum,  IV.  epist.  XV.  '7  Cicero,  ad  Atlicum,  IV.  epist.   XVI. 
ad  Q.  Fratrem,  II.  epist.  XV.  '^  Cicero,  ad  Atticuni,IV.  epist.  XVIII. 


DEATH  OP  POMPEY'S  WIFE. 


217 


these  false  instruments  were  to  confer  the  command  of  certain 
provinces  on  the  consuls  of  the  present  year,  in  return  for  the  sup- 
port which  they  were  to  give  to  Memmius  and  Domitius  in  their 
present  contest ;  and  if  the  proper  witnesses  could  not  be  procured 
to  prove  what  was  required,  tlie  two  candidates  agreed  to  forfeit 
to  the  consuls  a  certain  sum  of  money.  We  may  suppose  that 
Memmius  was  prevailed  upon  by  the  party  of  the  triumvirate  to 
make  this  disclosure,  in  order  to  ruin  the,  character  of  L.  Domitius, 
one  of  the  present  consuls,  who,  as  the  friend  of  Cato,  and  as  the 
opponent  of  Pompey  and  Crassus  in  the  preceding  year,  was  pe- 
culiarly obnoxious  to  them.  He  trusted  besides,  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  this  transaction,  the  elections  would  be  postponed  till 
after  the  expiration  of  the  present  year ;  and  Pompey's  friends 
then  thought  it  probable  that  he  might  be  named  dictator,  in  which 
case  Memmius,  as  a  partisan  of  the  triumvirate,  had  every  pros- 
pect of  succeeding  to  the  consulship.  In  fact,  the  year  was  suf- 
fered to  pass  away  without  any  election  taking  place  ;  L.  Domitius 
and  Appius  Claudius  went  out  of  office ;  and  the  beginning  of 
the  seven  hundredth  year  of  Rome  found  the  commonwealth  in 
a  state  of  anarchy,  without  any  promise  of  a  speedy  return  to  any 
thing  more  regular. 

Amongst  the  events  of  the  year  699  should  be  mentioned,  how- 
ever, the  death  of  Julia,  the  daughter  of  Caasar,  and  Death  of  juiia,  the 
wife  of  Pompey.  She  died  immediately  after  hav-  daughti'r°o'f  SI?.'* 
ing  given  birth  to  a  daughter,'^  and  the  child  survived  her  only  a 
few  days.  Her  amiable  character  and  constant  affection  to  her 
husband  had  gaii>ed  her  the  general  regard  of  the  people ;  and 
this  they  testified  by  insisting  on  celebrating  her  funeral  in  the 
Campus  Martins,  a  compliment  scarcely  ever  paid  to  any  woman 
before.  It  is  said  that  Pompey  had  always  loved  her  tenderly, 
and  the  purity  and  happiness  of  his  domestic  life  is  one  of  the 
most  delightful  points  in  his  character.  Now  the  tie  that  had 
bound  him  so  closely  to  Csesar  was  broken,  and  no  private  con- 
siderations any  longer  existed  to  allay  the  jealousies  and  animosi- 
ties which  political  disputes  might  enkindle  between  then. 

The  commonwealth  remained  without  consuls  for  some 
months,^"  the  elections  being  continually  obstructed,  as  it  appears, 
by  some  of  the  tribunes  who  were  in  the  interest  of  Pompey,  and 
who  wished  to  drive  the  aristocracy  into  the  necessity  of  appoint- 
ing him  dictator.  Pompey,  however,  always  pro-  interregnum  for 
fessed  his  unwillingness  to  accept  such  a  trust;  several  months. 
and  whether  he  was  sincere  or  not,  he  was  obliged,  at  last,  to  act 
agreeably  to  his  professions  ;  and,  uniting  his  influence  to  that  of 
the  senate,  the  comitia  were  at  last  suffered  to  be  held,  and  Cn. 

w  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  53.  so  Cicero,  ad  Fainil.  VII.  epist,  XI.  ad 

Q.  Fratrem,  III.  epist.  VIII. 


219  CLODIUS  A  CANDIDATE  FOR  THE  PR^TORSHIP. 

comuishipofcn.Do-  Domitius  Calviniis  and  M.  Valerius  Messala  were 
mitm:iandM.Mesaiia.  elected  coiisuls.  But  thc  samc  difficulties  threaten- 
^us^Mndid\"te3"for  ^d  to  ailse,  with  regard  to  the  appointment  of  their 
the  "consulship.  succcssors.  T.  Anuius  Milo,^'  who  had  borne  so 
great  "a  part  in  effecting  Cicero's  recall  from  banishment,  P.  Plau- 
tius  Hypsaeus,  a  partisan  of  Pompey,  and  who  had  served  as  his 
quEestor  in  the  war  with  Mithridates,  and  Q,.  Metellus  Scipio, 
who,  being  by  birth  a  member  of  the  family  of  the  Scipios,  had  been 
adopted  into  that  of  the  Metelli  by  Q,.  Melellus  Pius,  and  who 
had  been  accused  of  bribery  seven  years  before,^ '^  were  now  can- 
didates for  the  consulship ;  and  at  the  same  time,  P.  Clodius  was 
ciodius  a  candidate  aiming  at  bcing  elected  prsetor.  The  old  enmity 
fbr the  prstorship.  {[jat  had  subsisted  betwcon  Clodins  and  Milo  now 
broke  out  afresh  with  increased  violence  ;  and  they  opposed  one 
another,  as  before,  with  parties  of  armed  men,  who  frequently 
met  and  fought  in  the  streets,  while  all  the  candidates  were  equal- 
ly guilty  of  the  most  scandalous  corruption.  Milo  had  the  sup- 
port of  the  aristocratical  party,  and  had  won,  moreover,  a 
large  share  of  popular  favour,  by  the  extreme  magnificence  of  the 
games  which  he  had  lately  exhibited  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
multitude.  He  was  thus  not  unlikely  to  gain  his  election,  if  the 
comitia  were  peaceably  held  ;  and  Clodius,  to  prevent  this,  occa- 
sionally interrupted  the  assembUes  of  the  people  by  acts  of  vio- 
lence ;  on  one  of  which  occasions  the  two  consuls  were  assailed 
with  stones  and  wounded.^ ^  Three  of  the  tribunes  also,  Q,, 
Pompeius  Rufns,  T.  Munatius  Plancus  Bursa,  and  C.  Sallustius 
Crispus.  the  historian,  were  determined  enenaies  of  Milo ;  and 
their  negatives  Avere  probably  used,  as  had  been  done  in  the  pre- 
ceding year,  to  stop  the  election  in  a  manner  more  agreeable  to 
law.  Cn.  Domitius  and  M.  Messala  thus  resigned  the  consulship 
at  the  end  of  the  year,  before  any  persons  were  named  to  succeed 
them ;  and  a  period  of  anarchy  was  likely  again  to  continue  for 
some  months,  till  one  party  or  the  other  could  gain  a  more  de- 
cided ascendency. 

But  an  event  soon  occurred  which  totally  changed  the  face  of 
affairs.     On  the  twentieth  of  January,  Milo  set  out 
Interregnum.  from  Romc  to  go  to  Lauuvium,  a  town  of  which 

he  was  the  chief  magistrate,  or  dictator,  and  where,  by  virtue  of 
his  office,  he  was  on  the  following  day  to  appoint  a  flamen  for  the 
performance  of  some  of  the  religious  ceremonies  of  the  munici- 
pality. He  travelled  in  a  carriage,  accompanied  by  his  wife  Fausta, 
and  by  one  of  his  friends,  and  attended  by  a  strong  body  of  his 
slaves,  and  also  by  some  of  those  gladiators  whose  services  he 
had  occasionally  employed  in  his  contests  with  Clodius.     It  was 

81  Asconius,  in  Ciceron.  Oral,  pro  Mi-         83  Cicero,  Fragm.  de  Mre  alieno  Milo- 
lone.  nis,  ab.  Angel.  Maio  edit. 

^2  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  II.  epist.  I 


CLODIUS  IS  MURDERED  BY  MILO. 


219 


late  ill  the  afternoon,  and  he  had  just  passed  the  httle  town  of 
Bovillse,  ascending  the  Alban  hills,  when  he  fell  in  with  Clodius, 
who  was  on  his  way  to  Rome,  mounted  on  horseback,  and  follow- 
ed by  about  thirty  of  his  slaves.  Clodius,  it  appears,  had  been  to 
Aricia  on  business,  and  thence  had  returned  to  a  villa  of  his  own 
on  the  Alban  hills,  where  he  intended  to  pass  the  night ;  but  re- 
ceiving intelligence  of  the  death  of  one  Cyrus,  an  architect  at 
Rome,  whose  property  he  expected  to  inherit,  he  left  his  villa  at  a 
late  hour,  purposing  to  travel  on  with  all  speed  to  the  capital. 
He  and  Milo  passed  one  another  without  disturbance  ;  but  the 
gladiators,  who  were  among  the  last  of  Milo's  party,  provoked  a 
quarrel  with  the  slaves  of  Clodius ;  and  Clodius  turning  back, 
and  interposing  in  an  authoritative  manner,  Birria,  one  of  the 
gladiators,  ran  him  through  the  shoulder  with  his  sword.  Upon 
this  the  fray  became  more  general.  Milo's  slaves  hastened 
back  in  greater  numbers  to  take  part  in  it,  while  Clodius  was  carri- 
ed into  an  inn  at  Bovillae.  Meanwhile,  Milo  himself  was  inform- 
ed of  what  had  passed,  and,  resolving  to  avail  himself  of  the  op- 
portunity which  was  before  him,  he  ordered  his  slaves  to  attack 
the  inn  and  destroy  his  enemy.  Clodius  was  dragged  out  into 
the  road,  and  there  murdered  ;  his  slaves  shared  his  fate,  or 
saved  their  lives  by  flying  to  places  of  concealment ;  ciodius  is  murdered 
and  his  body,  covered  with  wounds,  was  left  on  v.c^tou^""^  ^' 
the  ground  in  the  middle  of  the  high  way  .^^ 

After  the  perpetration  of  this  act,  Milo  continued  his  journey 
towards  Lanuvium.  The  body  of  Clodius  was  ta-  The  body  of  ciodius  is 
ken  up  soon  after  by  a  senator  who  happened  to  be  bSrnt  by°the°pwuiMe 
returning  to  Rome  from  the  country,  and  was  sent  '" 'he  senate  house. 
on  by  him  to  the  capital  in  his  own  litter ;  he  himself  (suspecting, 
probably,  what  was  likely  to  follow)  going  back  to  the  place 
which  he  had  just  left,  in  order  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  all  dis- 
turbance. It  was  about  an  hour  after  nightfall  that  the  body  was 
brought  to  the  house  of  Clodius  in  Rome,  and  there  deposited  in 
the  court  of  the  building.  A  crowd,  consisting  of  the  lowest  class 
of  the  populace  and  of  slaves,  presently  gathered  round  it ;  and 
Fulvia,  the  widow  of  the  deceased,  inflamed  their  passions  by  a 
display  of  the  wildest  sorrow,  as  she  pointed  out  the  wounds 
with  which  her  husband  was  covered.  By  daybreak,  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  the  crowd  was  greatly  increased,  and  the  tri- 
bunes, T.  Munatius  and  Q,.  Pompeius,  who  were  attached  to  the 
popular  party,  hastening  to  the  spot,  recommended  to  the  people 
to  take  up  the  body  in  its  present  state,  to  bear  it  into  the  forum, 

84  Asconius,    in    Ciceron.      Orat.   pro  tail   Asconius   has  shown  great  diligence, 

Milone.     This  account  of   the    death  of  clearness,  and   impartiality  ;  and   his  au- 

Clodius  is   taken  from  the  argument  pre-  thority,  on  this  occasion,  may  be  followed 

fixed  by  Asconius  to  Cicero's  speech  in  with  entire  reliance  on  its  excellence, 
defence  of  Milo.     In  the  whole  of  the  de- 


220  POMPEY  APPOINTED  SOLE  CONSUL. 

and  there  exhibit  it  on  the  rostra.  The  miiUitude  readily  follow- 
ed their  directions  ;  and  the  two  tribunes  began  to  expatiate  on 
the  atrocity  of  the  murder,  and  to  inflame  the  public  indignation 
against  its  author.  As  the  passions  of  the  populace  were  excited 
they  were  more  disposed  to  listen  to  the  most  violent  suggestions  ; 
and  presently  they  carried  the  body  from  the  rostra  into  the  sen- 
ate-house, and  there  set  fire  to  it  on  a  pile  made  at  the  moment 
out  of  the  benches,  tables,  and  other  furniture  which  they  found 
at  hand.  The  consequence  was,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
that  the  senate-house  itself  was  involved  in  the  conflagration,  and 
burnt  to  the  ground  ;  many  of  the  populace,  no  doubt,  delighting 
in  the  accident,  and  pleased  to  see  Clodius,  even  after  his  death, 
becoming  the  cause  of  mischief  to  that  assembly,  which,  during 
his  lifetime,  he  had  regarded  with  such  unceasing  enmity. 

These  and  several  other  disorders  committed  by  the  multitude 
somewhat  turned  the  tide  of  public  opinion,  which  had  at  first 
run  strongly  against  Milo.  He  now  was  encouraged  to  return  to 
Rome,  to  renew  his  canvass  for  the  consulship,  and  to  make  a 
large  distribution  of  money  among  the  several  tribes.  The  other 
candidates  continued  their  intrigues  in  the  same  manner,^^  and 
parties  of  armed  men  were  employed  successively  on  all  sides  to 
prevent  the  comitia  from  being  peaceably  held,  insomuch  that  the 
senate  at  last  gave  the  usual  solemn  charge  to  the  interrex,  the 
tribunes  of  the  peole,  and  Pompey  as  a  proconsul  holding  a  mili- 
tary command,  "  that  they  should  provide  for  the  safety  of  the 
commonwealth,"  and  that  Pompey  should  be  commissioned  to 
levy  soldiers  in  every  part  of  Italy  to  assist  him  in  maintaining 
the  public  peace.  But  as  it  seemed  desirable  at  once  to  remove 
the  want  of  a  supreme  magistrate,  and  as  the  appointment  of  a 
dictator  was  a  measure  generally  obnoxious,  it  was  proposed  in 
the  senate  by  M.  Bibulus,  with  the  concurrence  of  M.  Cato,  that 
Pompey  appointed  Pompcy  sliould  forthwith  be  declared  consul  with- 
soie  consul.  q^  ^jjy  colleaguc.     This  seemed  a  complete  over- 

ture on  the  part  of  the  aristocracy  towards  a  reconciliation  with 
Pompey,  and  he  received  it  as  such,  and  is  said  to  have  expressed 
particularly  to  Cato,  his  thanks  for  the  confidence  which  he  had 
thus  reposed  in  him.^^  He  entered  on  his  office  immediately 
without  opposition  :  whether  it  was  admitted  that  the  senate 
might  by  its  own  authority  create  a  consul  as  well  as  a  dictator 
on  extraordinary  occasions,  or  whether  the  interrex  was  enabled 
to  hold  the  comitia,  and  the  resolution  of  the  senate  was  confirmed 
by  the  votes  of  the  people.  No  sooner  was  he  declared  consul 
than  he  brought  forward  two  laws  with  the  sanc- 
Lawso  Pompey.       ^j^^^  ^^  ^j^^  souatc  ) "  ouc  euacting  that  an  inquiry 

85  Asconius,  in  Ciceron.  orat.  pro  Mi-         ^^  Plutarch,  in  Catone,  47,  48. 
lone.  ®^  Asconius,  ubi  supra. 


TRIAL  OP  MILO. 


221 


should  be  instituted  into  the  late  acts  of  violence,  and  specifying 
particularly  the  murder  of  Clodius,  and  the  burning  of  the  senate- 
house  ;  the  other  providing  severer  penalties  for  the  crime  of 
bribery.  In  both  a  material  improvement  was  introduced  in  the 
regulation  of  trials :  the  witnesses  on  each  side  were  to  be  pre- 
viously examined  during  three  days,  and  on  the  following  day 
both  the  accuser  and  the  accused  were  to  finish  their  pleadings, 
two  hours  being  allowed  to  the  former,  and  three  to  the  latter.  It 
was  further  enacted,  that  a  judge  should  be  chosen  by  the  people 
from  among  the  citizens  of  consular  rank,  to  preside  in  the  pro- 
posed inquiry.  When  these  laws  were  first  brought  forward,  M. 
Caslius,  one  of  the  tribunes,  a  man  of  doubtful  character  and 
closely  connected  with  Milo,  endeavoured  to  obstruct  their  pro- 
gress, but  was  deterred  by  a  threatening  expression  of  Pompey, 
"  that  he  would  protect  the  commonwealth,  if  necessary,  by  force 
of  arms."  Pompey,  indeed,  appeared  personally  to  apprehend  the 
violence  of  Milo.  A  man  who  had  so  long  been  accustomed  to 
employ  a  band  of  gladiators  in  his  political  contests,  and  who 
had  lately  used  their  swords  with  so  little  scruple  against  his 
enemy,  might  well  be  suspected  of  venturing  on  some  desperate 
measure  to  escape  the  judgment  of  the  laws  ;  and  Pompey,  there- 
fore, surrounded  his  residence  with  a  strong  military  guard,  and 
on  one  occasion  assembled  the  senate  in  one  of  the  galleries  of 
his  own  house,  that  they  might  be  under  the  safeguard  of  his 
soldiers. 

Meantime  L.  Domitius  ^Enobarbus,  who  had  been  consul  two 
years  before,  was  appointed  chief  judge  for  the  ap- 
proaching trials ;  and  the  other  members  of  the  '^"^  ofmno. 
court  were  nominated  by  Pompey  with  such  care  that  Rome  had 
never  seen  a  tribunal  composed  of  citizens  more  distinguished  or 
of  greater  integrity.  M.  Cato  is  mentioned  as  having  been  one 
of  their  number.  Before  these  judges  Milo  was  accused  by  two 
of  the  nephews  of  Clodius  ;  and  the  examination  of  witnesses, 
according  to  Pompey's  new  law,  commenced  on  the  fourth  of 
April,  and  continued  during  that  and  the  two  following  days. 
The  proceedings  were  carried  on  in  the  forum ;  and  on  the  first 
day  when  M.  Marcellus,  one  of  Milo's  advocates,  was  beginning 
to  question  one  of  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecution,  the  rabble, 
which  filled  the  forum,  and  which  consisted  of  the  partisans  of 
Clodius,  raised  so  alarming  a  clamour  that  Marcellus,  dreading 
so.ne  personal  violence,  was  received  within  the  place  set  apart 
for  the  judges,  and  Pompey  was  applied  to  for  a  guard  to  enable 
the  accused  to  conduct  his  defence  with  freedom.  Accordingly, 
on  the  following  days,  the  court  was  protected  by  the  presence  of 
so  strong  a  military  force,  that  the  examination  of  the  witnesses 
was  concluded  without  a  second  interruption.  On  the  afternoon 
of  the  third  day,  after  the  court  had  adjourned  till  its  final  sitting, 


222  MILO  IS  CONDEMNED, 

T.  Munatius  Plancus  addressed  the  multitude,  and  advised  them 
to  attend  on  the  last  day  of  the  trial  with  a  full  display  of  their 
strength,  to  testify  to  the  judges  their  own  opinion  of  Milo's  guilt, 
and  not  to  suffer  him  to  escape  the  punishment  which  he  deserved. 
At  length,  on  the  morning  of  the  eighth  of  April,  the  court  again 
assembled  ;  the  shops  were  shut  throughout  the  city  ;  the  forum 
was  crowded  by  multitudes  of  the  populace,  and  surrounded  by 
Pompey's  soldiers  ;  Pompey  hiniself  was  present,  attended  by  a 
select  guard ;  the  judges,  eighty-one  in  number,  were  taken  by 
lot  out  of  the  larger  list  of  persons  nominated  by  Pompey,  and  the 
commencement  of  the  pleadings  was  awaited  in  a  silence  of  the 
deepest  interest  by  the  immense  concourse  of  people  that  thronged 
the  forum.  The  accusers  were  three  in  number,  Appius  Claudius, 
one  of  Clodius's  nephews,  M.  Antonius,  who  was  afterwards  so 
distinguished,  and  P.  Valerius  Nepos  ;  and  their  speeches,  accord- 
ing to  Pompey's  law,  were  limited  to  two  hours  altogether.  Cicero 
arose  to  reply  in  defence  of  Milo,  but  it  is  said  that  he  was  so  con- 
fused by  the  clamours  and  outcries  of  the  populace  devoted  to  the 
party  of  Clodius,  that  he  did  not  speak  with  his  usual  force  and 
eloquence.  Before  the  sentence  of  the  court  was  to  be  pronounced, 
fifteen  judges  were  challenged  by  the  accusers,  and  as  many  by 
Milo,  so  that  there  were  left  only  fifty-one  persons  who  actually 
decided  the  cause,  and  out  of  these  there  were  found  thirteen  who 
voted  in  favour  of  the  accused,  and  thirty-eight  who  condemned 
He  is  condemned,  and  him.  When  tho  cvcut  of  the  trial  was  known  he 
goes  into  exile.  wcut  into  exllc,  aud  fixed  his  abode  at  Massilia,  or 

Marseilles,  in  Gaul ;  he  was  also  tried  after  his  departure  for  three 
other  distinct  offences  ;  for  bribery,  for  illegal  caballing  and  com- 
binations, and  for  acts  of  violence,  and  was  successively  found 
guilty  on  all.  But  the  triumph  of  his  enemies  was  limited  to  the 
ruin  of  Milo  alone,  for  when,  shortly  afterwards,  M.  Saufeius  was 
accused  for  having  headed  the  assault  on  the  inn  at  Bovillse,  he 
was  acquitted,  although  the  charge  was  notoriously  true ;  and 
this  decision  was  owing  to  the  universal  abhorrence  in  which  the 
memory  of  Clodius  was  held.  On  the  other  hand,  Sex.  Clodius 
and  T.  Munatius  Plancus  ^^  were  brought  to  trial  as  the  instiga- 
tors of  that  riot  in  which  the  senate-house  had  been  burnt ;  and 
they,  together  with  several  others  of  the  same  party,  were  found 
guilty.  Thus  justice  seemed  to  be  administered  with  unusual 
impartiality;  and  Pompey's  behaviour  fully  justified  the  confidence 
which  his  countrymen  had  shown  in  conferring  on  him  an 
authority  so  extensive  and  so  unprecedented. 

After  he  had  held  the  consulship  alone  for  some  months,  he 
chose  for  his  colleague  L.  Scipio.  The  new  consul  had  been  one 
of  the  candidates  for  that  office  at  the  beginning  of  the  year,  and 

88  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  VII.  epist.  II. 


AND  GOES  INTO  EXILE.  223 

his  daughter  Cornelia  had  lately  become  the  wife  of  Pompey. 
Several  prosecutions  for  bribery  were  going  on  at  this  time,  under 
the  new  law  of  Pompey ;  and  another  measure  was  either  pro- 
posed by  him,  or  was  now  for  the  first  time  carried  into  effect,  in 
order  still  further  to  check  that  immoderate  competition  for  public 
offices  which  had  of  late  been  so  injurious  to  the  commonwealth. 
It  was  enacted  ^5  that  no  magistrate  should  be  appointed  to  the 
government  of  a  province  till  five  years  had  elapsed  from  the 
expiration  of  his  magistracy  ;  but  at  the  same  time  Ave  are  told, 
that  Pompey  did  not  hesitate  to  procure  for  himself  a  continuation 
of  his  command  in  Spain  for  five  additional  years.  This  act  of 
most  ill-judged  ambition  was  attended  with  consequences  more 
disastrous  to  his  country  than  Pompey  could  be  expected  to  foresee. 
His  conduct  since  the  beginning  of  his  consulship  had  greatly  re- 
conciled liim  to  the  aristocratical  party  ;  and  the  severe  laws  which 
he  had  brought  forward  to  correct  the  public  disorders,  combined 
with  the  desire  which  he  still  manifested  to  maintain  his  own 
supremacy  in  reputation  and  dignity,  gave  no  small  alarm  to  all 
those  who  hoped  to  rise  in  the  commonwealth  by  corruption  or 
tumults,  as  if  Pompey,  having  himself  gained  the  height  which 
he  coveted,  was  resolved  to  employ  his  power  in  barring  up  the 
path  against  all  others.  Above  all,  Caesar  and  his  immediate 
partisans  regarded  the  present  course  of  Pompey's  administration 
with  the  utmost  jealousy.  Caesar's  own  command  in  Gaul  had 
now  lasted  for  more  than  six  years,  and  in  less  than  four  years 
more  it  would  naturally  expire  ;  he  had  then  the  prospect  of  re- 
turning to  Rome  as  a  private  citizen,  while  Pompey  would  still 
retain  the  command  of  an  army,  and,  from  his  late  conduct,  was 
likely  to  enjoy,  at  least  in  a  far  greater  degree  than  himself,  the 
confidence  and  support  of  the  aristocracy.  Before  his  connexion 
then  with  Pompey  was  disturbed  by  a  more  decided  separation  of 
their  interests,  and  while  the  remembrance  of  his  daughter  Julia 
was  still  alive  in  the  heart  of  her  husband,  notwithstanding  his 
recent  marriage  with  another,  he  resolved  to  avail  himself  of  Pom- 
pey's influence  to  secure  a  point  most  essential  to  his  future  de- 
signs. He  might  represent  with  some  plausibility,  that  while 
Pompey  was  combining  the  possession  of  civil  and  military  au- 
thority in  his  own  person,  he  ought  not  himself  to  be  debarred 
from  pursuing  his  career  of  honours  at  home,  because  the  service 
of  the  state  was  still  detaining  him  in  Gaul ;  and  he  proposed, 
accordingly,  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  become  a  candidate  for 
the  consulship  in  his  absence,  without  resigning  the  command  of 
his  army,  or  leaving  the  important  duties  of  his  province.  To  this 
Pompey  not  only  assented,  but  even  himself^"  applied  to  Cicero 

89  Dion  Cassius,  XL.  147.  M  Cicero,  ad  Atticuin,  VIL  epist.  L 


224  PROCEEDINGS  OP  CiESAR  TO  GAIN  POPULARITY. 

Law  allowing  csesar  to  obtaiii  his  concurreiicG  in  the  measure,  and  ac- 
foA^he'^onViSshipIn  cordlngly  a  law,  such  as  Caesar  desired,  was  brought 
hia  absence.  forward  by  some  of  the  tribunes,  and  was  passed  in 

spite  of  the  most  vehement  opposition  on  the  part  of  Cato.^'  But 
when  Caesar's  friends  expressed  a  desire  to  obtain  a  still  further 
extension  of  the  term  of  his  command  in  Gaul,  Pompey  was  un- 
willing to  support  them,  and,  according  to  Plutarch,^'^  he  asserted 
that  he  had  letters  from  Caesar  in  his  possession,  in  which  Caesar 
himself  professed  that  he  was  tired  of  the  labours  of  a  military 
life,  and  that  he  would  gladly  be  relieved  by  the  appointment  of  a 
successor. 

While,  however,  Caesar  was  thus  affecting  to  be  disgusted 
Proceedings  of  ca3sar  wltli  liis  actual  sltuatiou,  hc  was  iu  reality  making 
My."'  "  ^'^'"  ^°^^'  it  subservient  in  many  ways  to  the  designs  which 
he  entertained  against  the  liberties  of  his  country.  During  the 
present  summer  he  had,  in  fact,  completed  the  conquest  of  Gaul 
by  the  defeat  of  the  formidable  confederacy  organized  by  Ver- 
cingetorix,  and  by  the  capture  of  Alesia.  By  his  successive  vic- 
tories he  had  amassed  a  treasure  which,  if  we  judge  by  the  effects 
ascribed  to  it,  must  have  been  enormous.  He  is  said  to  have 
spared  no  expense  in  gaining  over  every  person  whose  support  at 
Rome  might  be  valuable.  He  lent  Cicero"  a  large  sum  of  money 
to  enable  him  to  rebuild  his  houses  after  his  return  from  banish- 
ment ;  he  won  the  favour  of  the  populace  by  commencing  several 
public  works  in  the  city,^^  by  giving  splendid  exhibitions  of  gladi- 
ators, and  by  offering  entertainments  to  the  multitude  in  honour 
of  his  daughter  Julia's  memory.  To  his  own  army  his  liberalities 
were  almost  unbounded  ;  while  his  camp  presented  a  place  of 
refuge  to  the  needy,  the  profligate,  the  debtors,  and  even  the  crimi- 
nals,^^ who  found  it  convenient  to  retreat  from  the  capital.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  the  object  of  all  this  profusion  was  the  en- 
slaving of  his  country,  and  that  the  means  which  enabled  him  to 
practise  it  were  derived  from  the  unprovoked  pillage  of  the  towns 
and  temples  of  Gaul,  and  the  sale  of  those  unfortunate  barbarians, 
who,  in  the  course  of  his  unjust  wars,  became  his  prisoners,  it 
may  be  justly  doubted  whether  the  life  of  any  individual  recorded 
in  history  was  ever  productive  of  a  greater  amount  of  human 
misery,  or  has  been  marked  with  a  deeper  stain  of  wickedness. 

Meantime  the  year  drew  near  its  close,  and  the  consular  elec- 
consuishipofser.       tions  wcrc  again  approaching.      The  candidates 

Sulpicius  and  M.  o-oci--  •  ^  r        ^   ■ 

Marceiius.  wcrc  bervuis  Ibulpicuis,  a  man  emment  for  his  great 

knowledge  as  a  lawyer,  M.  Claudius  Marceiius,  and  M.  Cato ; 

'1  Livy,  Epitome,  CVII.  94  Suetonius,  in  Cae.sare,  26. 

Si  In  Pompeio,  56.  95  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  20.    Suetonius, 

93  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  V.  epist.  V.  VI.  ;    27. 
VII.  epist.  III.  VIII.      Ad  Familiar,  I. 
epist.  IX. 


C^SAR  SUPPORTS  THE  PEOPLE  NORTH  OF  THE  PO.    225 

and  as  Cato  was  generally  unpopular  with  the  multitude,  from 
his  exertions  to  stop  that  traffic  in  votes  by  which  they  were  bene- 
fited, Sulpicius  and  Marcel lus  were  elected.     Marcellus  was  a 
partisan  of  Pompey,  and  as  such  was  disposed  to  act  against 
Caesar ;  for  although  the  two  leaders  professed  a  friendship  for 
each  other,  yet  their  respective  adherents  already  conducted  them- 
selves as  if  an  open  quarrel  had  taken  place  between  them.    From 
this  point  it  becomes  necessary  to  trace  minutely  the  progress  of 
those  disputes  which  so  soon  terminated  in  the  civil  war ;  and  to 
these,  indeed,  our  attention  for  the  present  will  be  chiefly  confined. 
It  may  be  remembered  that  the  party  of  Marius  and  Cinna, 
during  the  former  civil  dissensions,  derived  its  main     caesar  supports  the 
strength  from  the  support  of  the  Italian  allies,  whose     noAh^°/{he''po''{o 
claim  to  the  rights  of  Roman  citizenship  had  been     dtyeShlp.^'^'""^" 
always  opposed  by  the  aristocracy,  and  favoured     u.c.  702. 
by  the  popular  leaders.     The  event  of  what  is  called  the  Italian 
war,  had  procured  for  the  Italians  all  that  they  desired  ;  and  the 
victory  of  Sylla  had,  as  we  have  seen,  deprived  them  only,  in  a 
few  instances,  of  the  advantages  which  they  had  gained.     But 
the  inhabitants  of  the  country  between  the  Po  and  the  Alps  had 
not  yet  been  raised  to  an  equality  with  the  other  people  of  the 
peninsula  ;  and  their  cause  accordingly  was  espoused  by  those 
who  wished  to  gain  popularity,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  privi- 
leges of  the  other  Italians  had  been  contended  for  on  former  occa- 
sions.    We  have  already  seen  that  when  M.  Crassus  was  censor, 
in  the  year  688,  he  had  wished  to  extend  the  rights  of  citizenship 
to  the  people  beyond  the  Po,  but  was  prevented  by  the  opposition 
of  his  colleague,  Q,.  Catulus  ;  and  it  is  said,  that  Caesar'^  had  even 
then  exerted  himself  on  the  popular  side  of  the  question,  and  had 
secretly  instigated  the  Transpadani  to  assert  their  claims  by  an 
open  insurrection.     The  command  which  he  had  since  enjoyed 
in  the  north  of  Italy,  was  likely  to  make  him  more  desirous  of 
ingratiating  himself  with  its  inhabitants ;  and  whilst  he  was  dis- 
posed on  the  first  favourable  opportunity  to  procure  for  them  in 
general  the  freedom  of  Rome,  he  had,  in  the  mean  time,  availed 
himself  of  a  power  conferred  on  him  by  the  Vatinian  law,*''  under 
which  he  held  his  command,  and  had  bestowed  on  some  of  the 
towns  north  of  the  Po,  the  rank  and  title  of  Roman  colonies  ;  so 
that  any  of  their  inhabitants,  who  had  held  any  public  office  in  their 
own  city,  became,  in  consequence,  ipso  facto  citizens  of  Rome. 
Among  the  towns  thus  favoured,  was  Comum,  situated  at  the  foot 
of  the  Lake  Laris,  or,  as  it  is  now  called,  the  Lake  of  Como  ;  a 
place  which  had  first  received  an  accession  of  inhabitants  from 
Cn.  Pompeius,  the  father  of  Pompey,**  and  secondly  from  C.  Sei- 
se Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  8.  ^  Strabo,  V.  236,  edit.  Xyland. 
9T  Suetonius,  28.      Appian,   de    Bell. 
Civil.  II.  26. 


226         C^SAR  SUPPORTS  THE  PEOPLE  NORTH  OF  THE  PO. 

pio,  who  appears  to  have  been  exiled  under  the  dictatorship  of 
Sylla/'  and  whose  misfortune  may  possibly  have  communica- 
ted itself  in  part  to  the  town  which  he  had  patronized.  Caesar 
had  added  five  thousand  names  to  the  list  of  its  citizens,  amongst 
whom  were  five  hundred  Greeks  of  distinction,  who  did  not  reside 
at  Comum,  but  enjoyed  the  privileges  of  the  new  establishment, 
and  reflected  some  honour  on  its  name.  One  of  the  citizens  of 
Comum,""'  who  had  held  a  magistracy  there,  happened  to  go  to 
Rome  in  the  present  year,  and  claimed  the  rights  of  a  Roman 
citizen,  on  the  ground  of  having  filled  a  public  office  in  a  Roman 
colony.  The  consul,  M.  Marcellus,  one  of  whose  ancestors,  by 
a  curious  coincidence,  had  first  recovered  Comum""  to  the  Roman 
dominion  after  the  second  Punic  war,  desirous  to  express  his  ani- 
mosity against  Cassar,  insisted  that  the  man's  claim  was  ill-ground- 
ed, and,  in  mockery  of  his  pretensions,  ordered  him  to  be  publicly 
scourged,  desiring  him,  it  is  said,  to  go  and  show  his  stripes  to 
Caesar.  This  act  of  unmanly  cruelty  was  probably  of  considerable 
service  to  the  cause  of  him  whom  it  was  meant  to  insult;  and 
Cicero,  in  a  letter  to  Atticus,^*"^  expressed  his  opinion,  that  it  would 
give  as  great  offence  to  Pompey  as  to  Caesar  ;  for  Pompey,  it  seems, 
with  his  usual  true  liberality,"'^  had  taken  the  case  of  the  people 
beyond  the  Po  into  his  consideration,  and  was  disposed  to  grant 
them  the  rights  of  citizenship  as  an  act  of  justice,  and  as  one  of 
those  honourable  means  by  which  a  government  may  most  wisely 
and  most  effectually  defeat  the  designs  of  the  disaffected. 

The  conduct  of  the  consul  Marcellus  in  this  affair  was  a  bad 
omen  of  his  temper  and  judgment  in  the  management  of 
the  main  dispute  between  the  government  and  Caesar.  As  the 
war  in  Gaul  drew  more  evidently  towards  its  close,  men  seemed 
on  a  sudden  to  be  awakened  to  a  sense  of  their  error  in  having 
allowed  an  officer  of  Caesar's  character  to  form  and  discipline  a 
formidable  army  in  the  very  position  that  was  most  dangerous  to 
the  safety  of  the  commonwealth  ;  and  the  wish  was  generally 
■  entertained  of  removing  him  by  any  means  whatever  from  a  sta- 
tion so  threatening.  But  while  Marcellus  was  anxious  to  effect 
this  object  at  any  risk,  his  colleague,  Ser.  Sulpicius,'"  endeavour- 
ed to  moderate  the  vehemence  of  the  senate  by  representing  the 
inevitable  evils  of  all  civil  wars,  and  by  bidding  them  remember 
the  natural  tendency  of  such  contests  to  increase  in  havoc  and 
atrocity,  each  improving  on  the  precedent  of  that  which  had  gone 
before  it.  His  moderation,  and  the  unwillingness  of  Pompey  to 
give  Caesar  any  just  cause  of  offence,  prevented  all  violent  pro- 
ceedings for  the  present.     It  was  only  resolved  by  the  senate/" 

99  Cicero,  pro  Sextio,  3.  '"3   A.d  Atticum,  V.  epist.  XI. 

100  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  11.26.     Flu-         '"s  Ad  Atticum,  V.  epist.  II. 

tarch,  in  Caesare,  29.  '"^  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  IV.  epist.  III. 

"1  Livy,  XXXIII.  36.  '"^  Cicero,  ad  Famil.  VIII  epist.  VIIL 


TRIBUNESHIP  OF  C.  CURIO. 


227 


that  the  disposal  of  Cisalpine  and  Transalpine  Gaiil,  and  of  the 
other  provinces,  should  be  discussed  early  in  the  following  year ; 
that  if  any  person  should  endeavour  to  stop  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
senate  in  this  affair,  he  should  be  considered  as  acting  against 
the  good  of  the  commonwealth  ;  and  that  further,  the  cases  of  all 
soldiers  in  Ca3sar's  army  claiming  their  discharge,  should  then  be 
considered  and  determined  by  the  senate.  Several  of  the  tri- 
bunes, who  had  been  gained  by  Caesar,  interposed  their  negatives 
upon  this  resolution  ;  so  that  it  could  not  have  the  force  of  a  de- 
cree, but  was  registered  in  the  journals,  under  the  title  of  the 
"  authority  "  of  the  senate. 

Meantime,  C.  Claudius  Marcellus,  a  cousin  of  the  present  con- 
sul, and  L.  ^milius  Paullus,  were  elected  consuls  consulship  ore.  Mar- 
for  the  following  year;  and  C.  Scribonius  Curio  u  c'tIi"!^ ^' ^''"""'' 
was  at  the  same  time  elected  one  of  the  tribunes."'^  Tribuneshipofc.cu- 
Curio  was  a  man  of  talents,  of  eloquence,  of  a  restless  thirst  for 
distinction,  and  impatient  of  slight  or  neglect.  In  the  year  of 
Caesar's  consulship,  when  the  power  of  the  triumvirate  was  at  its 
height,  he  had  courted  and  obtained  popular  applause  by  the  bold- 
ness with  which  he  had  on  some  occasions  attacked  their  con- 
duct.'"^ When  candidate  for  the  tribuneship,  he  professed  him- 
self warmly  devoted  to  the  party  of  the  senate,  being  irritated,  as 
it  is  said,'"^  by  some  appearances  of  indifference  or  contempt  which 
were  manifested  towards  him  by  Caesar.  But,  in  the  very  first 
month  of  his  tribuneship,  he  was  again  disgusted  with  the  aris- 
tocracy,"" because  he  could  not  obtain  the  insertion  of  several  ad- 
ditional days  in  the  calendar  to  lengthen  the  term  of  his  office  ; 
the  intercalary  month,  which  was  inserted  every  year  to  make 
up  the  deficiency  in  the  ordinary  computation,  being  made  longer 
or  shorter  at  the  discretion  of  the  pontifices,  according  as  the  in- 
terests or  wishes  of  their  friends  or  their  party  might  require. 
On  this  ground.  Curio  began  to  espouse  the  cause  of  Caesar ;  and 
a  man  so  jealous  of  affront,  so  ambitious,  and  with  so  little  steadi- 
ness of  character,  may  be  as  naturally  supposed  to  have  acted 
from  this  motive,  as  from  that  still  baser  one  which  rumour  im- 
puted to  him,""  namely,  that  he  was  bribed,  by  Cajsar,  with  a 
sum  amounting  to  about  80,000/.  of  our  money. 

Yet  the  year  703  passed  on  to  its  close  without  witnessing 
any  thing  more  decisive  than  the  year  which  had  preceded  it. 
We  are  told  that  Curio  professed  to  follow  a  course  of  perfect  im- 
partiality,'" and  proposed  that  both  Caesar  and  Pompey  should 
alike  resign  their  military  commands,  that  so  the  republic  might 
have   nothing  to   fear  from   the  ambition   of  either.     When  he 

"»  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  II.  epist.  VII.  "o  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  48. 

1"  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  11.  epist.  XVIII.         '"  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  58.  Dion  Caa- 

""*  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  VIII.  epist.  IV.  sius,  XL.  150. 

'°9  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  VIII.  epist.  VI. 


228  TRIBUNESHIP  OF  C.  CURIO. 

found  that  the  senate  was  disinclined  to  this  measure,  he  began 
to  attack  Pompey  with  great  freedom,'"^  and  to  charge  him  with 
aspiring  to  the  exercise  of  an  absolute  power  over  his  country. 
Pompey's  influence  in  Rome  had  long  been  so  predominant,  that 
language  of  this  sort  was  considered  a  proof  of  extraordinary 
boldness  ;  and  the  multitude,  who  always  delight  to  hear  invec- 
tives against  the  powerful,  testified  their  admiration  of  Curio  by 
the  liveliest  acclamations.  He  threatened,  it  seems, "^  to  negative 
any  decision  to  which  the  senate  might  come  respecting  Caesar's 
recall ;  and  thus  the  question  concerning  the  provinces  was  not 
brought  forward  on  the  first  of  March,  as  the  senate  had  before 
resolved,  but  was  suffered  to  remain  undetermined.  It  was  un- 
derstood to  be  Pompey's  wish  that  Caesar  should  now  be  recalled 
on  the  thirteenth  of  November,  and  that  he  should  on  no  account 
be  permitted  to  enjoy  the  consulship  till  he  had  resigned  the 
command  of  his  army.  Two  years  before,  it  will  be  remembered, 
Pompey  had  interested  himself  in  obtaining  for  Cassar  the  very 
privilege  which  he  now  wished  to  take  away ;  but  in  that  inter- 
val Cassar  had  shown  a  disposition  to  resist  the  senate's  authori- 
ty, which  might  give  just  suspicion  of  his  real  designs.  Pompey 
justly  considered  the  successive  interference  of  the  tribunes  to  de- 
prive the  senate  of  their  lawful  control  over  the  provinces,  as 
equivalent  to  an  actual  disobedience  on  the  part  of  Caesar,"^  in 
whose  behalf  and  at  whose  instigation  this  interference  was  ex- 
erted ;  and  the  general  attachment  of  all  profligate  and  desperate 
citizens  to  the  cause  of  Csesar,  and  the  resort  of  many  persons  of 
that  description  to  his  camp,  where  they  were  received  with  the 
utmost  cordiality,  seemed  to  warn  the  commonwealth  of  the  dan- 
ger of  allowing  the  head  of  such  a  party  to  unite  the  command 
of  an  army  with  the  highest  post  in  the  civil  government.  It  is 
the  opinion  of  Cicero, "^  that  if  the  senate  had  consented,  accord- 
ing to  many  former  precedents,  to  apply  officially  to  Curio,  and 
request  that  he  would  not  interpose  his  negative  on  their  decrees, 
he  would  have  yielded  to  their  wishes.  But  this,  though  pro- 
posed by  M.  Marcellus,'^^  was  not  adopted  ;  and  Curio,  still  fur- 
ther incensed  at  this  apparent  contempt  of  his  power,  persisted  in 
his  threats  of  preventing  the  execution  of  every  thing  which  the 
senate  might  resolve.  In  this  manner  nothing  was  determined  ; 
and  the  final  decision  of  the  question,  with  its  important  results,  a 
civil  war  on  the  one  hand,  or  on  the  other  the  removal  of  all  ap- 
prehensions or  violence  from  Caesar,  was  to  be  reserved  for  the 
following  year,  when  C.  Claudius  Marcellus  and  L.  Cornelius 

'»«  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  VIII.  epist.  XI.         •'*  Ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  VII. 
Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  II.  28.  "•  Cicero,  ad   Familiar.  VIII.    epist. 

'•*  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  VIII.  epist.  XI.     XIII. 

'"  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.   VIII.    epist. 
VIII. 


ILLNESS  OP  POMPEY. 


229 


Lentulus  were  appointed  consuls ;  the  last  individuals  who  ever 
held  that  office  by  the  unforced  votes  of  the  Roman  people. 

It  was  about  the  autumn  of  the  year  702  that  Pompey  was 
seized  with  a  dangerous  fever/^^  while  at  his  villa 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Naples.  No  sooner  was  '  "^^^°  pompey. 
his  illness  known,  than  public  prayers  for  his  safety  were  offered 
up  throughout  Italy ;  and  when  he  recovered,  sacrifices  of 
thanksgiving  were  equally  general :  every  town  celebrated  the 
event  by  a  spontaneous  festival ;  and  when  he  was  able  to  travel 
to  Rome,  multitudes  of  people  thronged  the  road  with  garlands  on 
their  heads  and  torches  in  their  hands,  scattering  flowers  around 
him  as  he  passed.  These  signs  of  the  attachment  of  his  country- 
men were  received  by  Pompey  with  peculiar  pleasure,  for  he  had 
ever  been  more  ambitious  of  popularity  than  of  power ;  but  it  is  said 
that  they  misled  him  fatally  on  the  present  occasion,  by  inducing 
him  to  estimate  frojn  them  the  real  strength  of  his  cause.  So 
confident,  indeed,  did  he  feel  in  the  support  of  the  Italians,  that 
he  is  said  to  have  declared  that  he  could  raise  armies  in  Italy  by 
the  stamp  of  his  foot."^  But  he  was  for  a  long  time  also  lulled 
into  security  from  a  belief  that  Caesar  would  not  dare  to  make 
war  upon  his  country  for  his  own  private  quarrel ;  perhaps,  also, 
from  a  persuasion  that  he  would  be  restrained  by  his  personal 
friendship  to  himself.  This  last  hope,  however,  vanished  to- 
wards the  close  of  the  year  703,  when  Hirtius,'^^  one  of  Caesar's 
most  confidential  officers,  arrived  at  Rome  from  the  army,  and  de- 
parted again  without  visiting  Pompey,  or  holding  any  communi- 
cation with  him ;  and  still  more,  when  M.  Antonius,  who  had 
been  Caesar's  quaestor  in  Gaul,  and  who  had  been  just  elected  tri- 
bune, to  support  his  interests,  delivered  a  speech  full  of  violent 
invectives  against  Pompey,^^"  and  attacking  the  whole  of  his  pub- 
lic life  from  its  first  commencement.  From  that  time  he  looked 
forward  to  a  war  as  inevitable,  and  professed  that  he  dreaded 
such  an  issue  less  than  the  prospect  of  allowing  Caesar  to  enjoy 
any  political  power  at  Rome.  His  own  great  name,  the  large 
army  held  by  his  lieutenants  in  Spain,  the  attachment  of  the 
Italians,  and  the  authority  of  the  senate,  seemed  to  insure  him  an 
easy  victory  over  a  single  rebel  general  and  his  army,  however 
great  might  be  the  talents  of  the  one  and  the  discipline  of  the 
other. 

But,  in  fact,  the  mass  of  the  people  of  Italy  were  not  disposed 
to  risk  their  lives  and  properties  in  the  maintenance  orthe  supporters  and 
of  a  contest  which  seemed  little  to  aflect  their  indi-  resourcesofpompey. 
vidual  interests.     The  landed  proprietors  and  the  monied  men 

"7  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  57.     Velleius         "^  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  IV. 
Paterculus,  II.  48.  '^o  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  VIIL 

"*  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  57. 


230  POMPEY'S  SUPPORTERS  AND  RESOURCES. 

were  anxious  for  peace,"^'  and  indifferent  whether  Pompey  or 
Caesar  administered  the  affairs  of  the  commonwealth ;  the  citi- 
zens of  the  different  towns,  who  had  been  so  earnest  in  their 
prayers  for  Pompey's  safety,  were  not  equally  ready  to  endure 
for  his  sake  the  evils  of  a  civil  war,  and  the  devastation  of  their 
homes  and  families  ;  while  the  men  of  desperate  fortunes,  the 
debtor,  the  profligate,  and  the  robber,  were  eager  in  every  part  of 
Italy  to  embrace  the  cause  of  Caesar,  as  that  of  revolution,  and 
impunity,  and  plimder.  If  from  Italy  we  extend  our  view  to  the 
provinces,  we  shall  find  them  influenced  by  particular  causes  to 
favour  one  leader  or  the  other,  according  as  their  principal  inhab- 
itants had  received  favours  from  either,  or  as  either  happened  to 
be  better  known  amongst  them,  or  to  possess  the  strongest  mili- 
tary force  in  their  immediate  neighbourhood.  But  degraded  and 
oppressed  as  they  had  been  under  the  Roman  government,  it  mat- 
tered little  to  them  by  what  party  the  system  under  which  they 
suffered  was  administered  ;  unless  there  were  some  among  them, 
who,  looking  upon  Caesar  as  the  advocate  of  popular  and  liberal 
principles,  indulged  the  hope  that  he  would  extend  more  generally 
that  envied  privilege  of  Roman  citizenship,  which  he  had  already 
wished  to  impart  far  wider  than  his  aristocratical  opponents  were 
willing  to  allow. 

The  authority  of  the  senate,  and  the  reputation  of  upholding 
the  cause  of  law  and  good  principles,  might  have  conferred  a 
greater  strength  on  Pompey,  had  it  not  been  for  the  selfish,  and 
narrow,  and  profligate  views  and  characters  which  marked  so 
many  of  his  adherents.  His  own  private  morals  were  remarka- 
bly pure  and  amiable  ;  but  his  father-in-law  Metellus  Scipio  had, 
even  when  consul, "^^  been  present  at  an  entertainment  where 
such  a  scene  of  debauchery  was  exhibited,  as  no  honest  man,  and 
far  less  a  magistrate,  should  have  sanctioned  by  his  presence ; 
and  Appiiis  Claudius,  with  whom  he  was  also  become  connected 
by  the  marriage  of  his  son  Cnaeus  with  Appius's  daughter,  after 
having  committed  many  acts  of  oppression  and  extortion  in  his 
province  of  Cilicia,  after  having  been  detected,  during  his  consul- 
ship, in  the  grossest  corruption,  and  having  obtained  a  general 
character  of  prodigality  and  voluptuousness,  was  now  invested 
with  the  office  of  censor,^'^^  and  was  exerting  his  power  with  the 
utmost  severity.  He  expelled  a  number  of  persons  from  the 
senate,  and  amongst  the  rest  C.  Sallustius  Crispus,  the  historian ; 
he  also  degraded  many  individuals  of  the  equestrian  order ;  and 
although  we  are  not  told  that  any  of  his  censures  were  unde- 
served, yet  they  seemed  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  the 
censor  himself,  and  served  to  alienate  from  the  cause  of  the  aris- 

'"  Cicero,   ad   Atticum,   VIII.     epist.         •'•''  Cicero,  ad    Familiar.    VIII.  epist. 
XIII.  XIV.     Dion  Cassius,  XL.  150. 

'"  Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  1. 


CiESAR'S  SUPPORTERS  AND  RESOURCES. 


231 


tocracy  those  who  had  become  obnoxious  to  them,  L.  Lentulus, 
one  of  the  consuls  for  the  present  year,  was  overwhelmed  with 
debts,'^^  and  is  said  to  have  eagerly  anticipated  a  civil  war,  as 
the  means  of  restoring  his  broken  fortunes.  To  these  might  be 
added  that  large  proportion  of  selfish  and  narrowminded  indi- 
viduals who  are  the  incumbrance  and  disgrace  of  every  aristo- 
cracy ;  men  who  ablior  all  reform,  because  they  think  it  may  in- 
terfere with  their  comforts  and  privileges,  and  who  consider  their 
own  ascendency  rather  as  the  ultimate  object  of  government  than 
as  one  of  the  means  by  which  the  general  welfare  of  tlie  state  is 
promoted  ;  men,  in  short,  who  burden  a  noble  cause  with  all  the 
weight  of  their  pride  and  ignorance,  who  render  its  success  a 
doubtful  blessing,  and  lessen  the  regret  witli  which  the  good  re- 
gard its  overthrow.  This  was  the  party  which  had  persecuted 
the  patriotic  tribune  C.  Cornelius,  which  had  largely  shared  in 
the  oppression  and  plunder  of  the  provinces,  and  which  had  con- 
stantly opposed  the  extension  of  the  right  of  Roman  chizenship  to 
the  allied  or  subject  states  of  Italy. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  strength  of  Cassar's  cause  was  of  a  na- 
ture most  likely  to  insure  victory  in  such  a  state  of  orthe  supporters  and 
society  as  the  Roman  empire  exhibited.  He  was  resourcesofcssar. 
at  the  head  of  an  army  of  nine  legions, '^s  consisting  of  such  ve- 
teran soldiers,  that  one  of  the  legions  was  considered  inferior  to 
the  rest  in  tried  courage  and  experience  because  it  had  not  served 
more  than  eight  campaigns.  The  people  of  the  north  of  Italy 
were  attached  to  him  as  the  supporter  of  their  claims  for  a  parti- 
cipation in  the  freedom  of  Rome ;  and  Gaul,  however  ill-affected 
towards  the  man  who  had  been  at  once  her  spoiler  and  enslaver, 
was  yet  forced  to  assist  his  views  by  the  wealth  which  her  plun- 
der put  at  his  disposal,  and  which  enabled  him  to  purchase  parti- 
sans at  Rome,  and  to  bind  his  soldiers  to  his  interests  by  the  libe- 
rality of  his  donations.  Thus  amply  provided  with  means  to 
strike  the  first  blow  with  eflect,  he  trusted  on  his  approach  to 
Rome  to  find  a  numerous  party  ready  to  co-operate  with  him. 
The  profligate  young  nobility, '^«  who  had  conspired  with  Catiline 
in  his  plans  of  rapine  and  murder,  and  who  had  since  abetted  the 
vices  and  tlie  riots  of  P.  Clodius,  were  eager  to  support  this  new 
leader,  who  would  accomplish,  as  they  trusted,  what  their  former 
chiefs  had  attempted  in  vain  ;  and  the  rabble  of  the  capital,  con- 
stantly at  enmity  with  the  existing  government,  was  a  certain 
ally  to  any  one  who  should  head  a  rebellion.  All  these  were 
likely  to  be  active  assistants  in  promoting  the  cause  which  they 
espoused  ;  while  a  large  proportion  of  those  who  wished  well  to 

124  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  49      Caesar,         '=^  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  V 
de  Bell.  Civili,  I.  4.  VII. 

'25  Cffisar,  de  Bell.  Gallico,  VIII.   46. 

54. 

16 


232  SITUATION  OF  SEVERAL  EMINENT  INDIVIDUALS. 

the  constitution  would  confine  their  zeal  to  words  or  feelings,  and 
would  make  no  practical  exertions  in  its  behalf. 

It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the  reader  here  to  mention  the 
Of  the  situation  of    dispositious  and  the  situation  of  some  of  the  most 

d!vid'uiisTtTh"' be-  eminent  citizens  of  the  commonwealth,  when  the 
gmning  of  the  civi  ^.^^^  ^^^^^,  ^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^  ^j^^  ^^^^.^  ^^^^  ^^  -^^  Commence- 
ment. We  have  spoken  of  the  departure  of  M.  Crassus  from 
Rome  in  the  year  698,  to  take  possession  of  his  province  of  Syria, 
and  to  attempt  the  conquest  of  Parthia  ;  and  we  have  shown  how, 
in  the  year  700,  his  ambition,  unaccompanied  by  corresponding 
ability,  had  been  finally  checked  by  his  defeat  and  death  in  Meso- 
potamia. The  wreck  of  his  army  had  been  led  back  into  Syria 
with  considerable  difficulty  by  C.  Cassius,i"'  afterwards  one  of  the 
assassins  of  Cscsar,  and  at  this  time  acting  as  quaestor  under 
Crassus.  Cassius  covered  the  province  of  Syria  against  the  at- 
tacks of  the  Parthians,  and  maintained  his  ground  till,  in  the  year 
702,  M.  Cicero  was  appointed  to  succeed  Appius  Claudius  in  the 
government  of  Cilicia,  and  M.  Bibulus  arrived  in  Syria  to  take  the 
command  in  the  room  of  Cassius.  Neither  of  these  officers,  how- 
ever, had  much  to  do  in  their  military  capacity,  for  the  Parthians 
were  unequal  to  make  any  serious  impression  on  the  Roman  em- 
pire :  but  Cicero^^^  carried  with  him  into  his  province  the  virtues 
of  his  private  life,  and  preserved  both  himself  and  all  his  subordi- 
nate officers  pure  from  every  act  of  oppression  or  extortion  ;  nor 
would  he  even  accept  from  the  provincials  those  sums  for  the 
maintenance  of  his  personal  establishment,  which,  as  the  gov- 
ernors received  no  salary  from  the  treasury  at  home,  were  consid- 
ered as  the  ordinary  allowances  of  their  office.  He  resigned  his 
command  and  returned  to  Italy  about  the  close  of  the  year  703, 
but  remained  at  his  diffi^rent  villas  for  some  time  ;  and  when  he 
moved  towards  Rome  early  in  January, ^^®  he  did  not  enter  the 
city,  or  take  any  part  in  the  debates  of  the  senate,  as  he  intended 
to  prefer  his  claim  to  a  triumph,  on  accotmt  of  some  successes 
which  he  had  gained  over  the  plundering  tribes  of  the  mountain 
districts  of  Cilicia  ;  and  under  these  circumstances  he  was  obliged 
by  law  to  remain  without  the  walls  of  Rome.  M.  Cato  was  con- 
stantly attending  the  senate,  and,  as  might  be  supposed,  gave  his 
warm  support  to  every  resolution  hostile  to  Csesar.  L.  Lucullus 
and  his  brother  Maicus  had  been  some  time  dead  ;  and  Q.  Hor- 
tensius,  another  of  the  oldest  and  most  eloquent  members  of  the 
aristocratical  party,  had  died  more  recently,  in  the  summer  of  the 
year  703.^^°  P.  Lentulus  Spinther,  to  whose  exertions,  when  con- 
sul, Cicero  professed  himself  greatly  indebted  for  his  restoration 
from  exile,  and  L.  Domitius,  the  colleague  of  Appius  Claudius  in 

1"  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  46.  '«  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  XVI.  epist.  XL 

'*"  Ad  Atticum,  V.  and    VI.  passim.         '^*  Cicero,   ad    Familiar.    VIII.    epist. 
Ad  Familiar.  XV.  epist.  V.  XIII. 


CiESAR  DICTATES  TERMS  TO  THE  SENATE.  233 

the  consulship,  and  implicated  together  with  him  in  the  corrupt 
agreement  which  they  entered  into  with  two  of  the  candidates  for 
the  succession  to  their  office,  were  both  in  Rome,  and  disposed  to 
co-operate  zealously  with  Pompey.  L.  Piso,  the  father-in-law  of 
Csesar,  who  had  been  consul  with  A.  Gabinius  in  the  year  of 
Cicero's  banishment,  was  now  censor,  and  although  wishing  to 
restrain  the  vehement  proceedings  of  his  colleague  Appius  Clau- 
dius,'^' was  yet  by  no  means  inclined  to  go  all  lengths  with 
Caesar.  Of  the  persons  who  afterwards  acted  a  principal  part  in 
the  civil  wars,  M.  Antonius  was  now  just  elected  one  of  the  tri- 
bunes in  order  to  further  Caesar's  designs  ;  M.  Brutus  was  in 
Rome,  but  although  known  as  the  nephew  of  Cato,  and  as  the 
son-in-law  of  Appius  Claudius,  and  considered  as  a  young  man 
of  promising  talents,'^^  he  had  as  yet  taken  no  conspicuous  share 
in  public  affairs.  C.  Cassius  was  one  of  the  tribunes  for  this 
year;'^^  and  C.  Octavius,  now  a  boy  of  about  thirteen  years  of 
age,  was  living  at  Rome  under  the  eare  of  his  mother  Atia,  and 
of  his  father-in-law  L.  Philippus. 

On  the  first  of  January,  704,'^*  when  the  new  consuls,  L. 
Lentulus  and  C.  Marcellus,  entered  on  their  office,  cssar  dictates  terms 
C.  Curio,  the  late  tribune,  arrived  in  Rome  from  ^  the  senate.' 
Caesar's  quarters,  whither  he  had  lately  betaken  himself,  and 
presents  a  letter  from  Caesar,  addressed  to  the  senate.  It  was  read 
at  the  earnest  desire  of  the  tribunes,  Q,.  Cassius  and  M.  Antonius ; 
and  contained  a  statement  of  Caesar's  services  to  the  common- 
wealth, and  professions  of  his  willingness  to  resign  his  province 
and  the  command  of  his  army,  if  Pompey  would  do  the  same  ; 
but  otherwise,  he  said,  it  was  unjust  to  desire  him  to  expose  him- 
self without  defence  to  the  attempts  of  his  enemies.  This  lan- 
guage was  in  itself  rebellious,  inasmuch  as  it  dictated  the  terms  on 
which  alone  he  would  obey  the  senate's  orders  ;  the  consuls,  there- 
fore, refused  to  take  the  sense  of  the  senate  on  the  contents  of  the 
letter,  but  called  upon  the  assembly  to  consider  generally  the 
state  of  the  republic.  A  vehement  debate  ensues, '^^  and  one  or 
two  members  urged  that  Caesar's  proposals  should  be  accepted ; 
but  a  great  majority  resolved,  on  the  motion  of  Scipio,  Pompey's 
father-in-law,  that  Caesar  should  resign  the  com-  He  is  ordered  by  the 
maud  of  his  army  by  a  certain  day,  and  that  if  he  |enatetogiveuphi3 
refused  to  comply  with  this  order,  his  conduct  should  ^^-  ^-  '■°^-  O'^'-  ^■ 
be  regarded  as  treasonable.  The  account  of  these  transactions, 
which  goes  under  Caesar's  name,  whether  it  be  really  the  work  of 
himself  or  of  one  of  his  partisans,  naturally  represents  this  de- 
cision as  being  almost  extorted  from  the  fears  of  the  senate  by 
the  violence  of  Pompey's  friends,  and  the  apprehension  of  the 

»3i  Dion  Cassius,  XL.  150.  '^^  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civili,  II.  32.  Dion 

"2  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  IlI.epist.  X.         Cassius,  XLI.  152. 

'33  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  XXI.        '^s  Csssar,  de  Bell.  Civili,  I.  2. 


234  THE  SENATE  PREPARES  FOR  WAR, 

military  force  which  he  commanded  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
capital ;  but  it  appears  from  Cicero's  more  impartial  testimony, 
that  although  many  of  the  more  moderate  senators '^^  were  pro- 
bably hurried  into  resolutions  more  violent  than  they  thought  ex- 
pedient, yet  that  Csesar's  pretensions  were  generally  regarded 
with  abhorrence  ;  and  that  ihey  doubted  not  of  the  justice,  but  of 
The  senate's  decree  is  thc  poHcy  of  rcquirlug  him  to  glvc  up  hls  army, 
the^hbunes.^  ^"°  "^  Howevcr,  the  decree  of  the  senate  was  negatived 
by  the  tribunes  Antonius  and  Cassius ;'"  upon  which  the  consuls 
submitted  to  the  assembly  the  consideration  of  this  negative  ;  and 
it  was  debated  in  what  manner  they  should  counteract  it.  Noth- 
ing was  determined  on  that  day ;  but  for  some  days  afterwards 
the  more  violent  party  amongst  the  aristocracy  exerted  their  ut- 
most endeavours  to  bring  the  question  of  Caesar's  obedience  at 
once  to  an  issue.  The  senators,  as  had  often  been  practised  on 
similar  occasions,  put  on  mourning, '^^  to  express  their  feeling 
that  the  interests  of  the  commonwealth  were  obstructed  by  the 
behaviour  of  the  tribunes  ;  and  when  this  step  failed  to  produce  any 
effect,  they  had  recourse  to  their  highest  prerogative,  and  gave  their 
Charge  given  to  the  chargc  to  the  cousuls,  prsBtors,  tribunes,  and  pro- 
thrsafety''of  the  Com-  cousuls,  "  to  providc  for  the  safety  of  the  republic." 
monweaith.  Tliis  resolutiou  was   entered   on   the  journals   of 

the  senate  on  the  seventh  of  January  ;  and  no  sooner  was  it 
The  tribunes  fly  to  passcd,  and  Antonius  and  Cassius,  together  with 
Caesar-  Curio,'^^  profcsslug  to  believe  their  lives  in  danger, 

fled  in  disguise  from  Rome,  and  hastened  to  escape  to  Csesar,  who 
was  at  that  time  at  Ravenna,  wailing  for  the  result  of  his  appli- 
cation to  the  senate. 

It  appears  from  one  of  Cicero's  letters/^"  written  a  few  days 
before  the  first  of  January,  that  he  had  calculated 
on  such  an  event  as  the  flight  of  the  tribunes,  and 
on  its  affording  Caesar  a  pretext  for  commencing  his  rebellion. 
When  it  had  actually  taken  place,  the  senate  were  well  aware  of 
the  consequences  to  which  it  would  lead,  and  began  to  make  pre- 
The  senate  prepares  paratlous  for  their  defcncc.  Italy  was  divided  into 
*^°'""^-  several  districts,'^'  each  of  w^hich  was  to  be  placed 

under  the  command  of  a  separate  officer  ;  soldiers  were  ordered 
to  be  every  where  levied  :  money  was  voted  from  the  treasury  to 
be  placed  at  Pompey's  disposal ;  and  the  provinces  were  assigned 
to  their  respective  governors,  as  proconsuls  or  praetors.  Among 
these  appointments,  Syria  was  given  to  P.  Scipio,  and  the  two 
Gauls,  which  Caesar  had  been  just  summoned  to  resign,  were  be- 

'^^  Cicero,  ad   Familiares,  XVI.  epist.         '^'  Cicero,  ad  Fainiliares,   XVI.   epist. 
XI.  XII. ;  ad  Atticum,  VII  epist.  VII,  IX,     XI.     Plutarch,  in  Cffisare,  31. 
1"  Csesar,  de  Bell.  Civili,  I.  2,3.  **°  Ad  Aiticum,  VII.  epist.  IX. 

'»«  Dion  Cassius,  XLI.  153.  '^'  Cicero,   ad   Familiar.    XVI.    epist. 

XI.  XII.     Caesar,  de  Bello  Civili,  I.  6. 


CiESAR  COMMENCES  HIS  REBELLION.  335 

Stowed  on  L.  Domitius  and  M.  Considius  Nonianus.  The  whole 
direction  of  the  forces  of  the  commonwealth  was  conferred  on 
Pompey,  whose  reputation  as  a  general  was  still  so  high,  that 
none  contemplated  the  probability  of  his  meeting  with  an  equal 
antagonist. 

We  have  said  that,  when  Curio,  Antonius,  and  Cassius  fled 
from  Rome,  Caesar  was  at  Ravenna.  He  had  with  ca=sar commences h« 
him  at  this  time  no  other  troops  than  the  thir-  '■ebcihon. 
teenth  legion,  which  had  been  ordered  to  winter  in  Cisalpine 
Gaul  i'^'^  the  remainder  of  his  army,  amounting  to  eight  legions, 
was  avowedly  quartered  beyond  the  Alps  ;  but,  by  the  celerity 
with  which  one  of  these  legions  afterwards  joined  him,  it  may  be 
conjectured  that  it  had  already  received  orders  to  march  into  Italy, 
and  was  on  the  Italian  side  of  the  Alps  at  the  moment  when 
Caesar  commenced  hostilities.  No  sooner  was  he  informed  of  the 
flight  of  the  tribunes,  and  of  the  subsequent  resolutions  of  the 
senate,  then  he  assembled  his  soldiers,  and  expatiated  on  the  vio- 
lence oflered  to  the  tribunitian  character,  and  on  the  attempts  of 
his  enemies  to  despoil  him  of  his  dignity,  by  forcing  him  to  resign 
his  province  before  the  term  of  his  command  was  expired.  Thus 
much  of  his  speech  is  avowed  by  his  own  party  historian  :  the 
promises  which  he  made  to  his  followers,  and  the  prospect  of  spoil 
and  settlements  of  lands  vvliich  he  held  out  as  the  price  of  their 
rebellion,  it  was  not  equally  to  his  purpose  to  record,  although 
such  temptations  were  not  likely  to  be  omitted.  He  found  his 
troops  perfectly  disposed  to  follow  him ;  and,  accordingly,  having 
sent  out  some  men  in  small  parties,  with  orders  to  enter  unob- 
served into  Ariminum'^^  and  secure  the  town,  he  himself  left  his 
quarters  at  Ravenna  late  in  the  evening,  and  on  the  following 
morning,  on  his  arrival  at  Ariminum,  found  that  his  enterprise 
had  succeeded,  and  that  the  place  was  already  in 

hmi'  iiiii*  r-  X  He  seizes  Ariminum. 

IS  power.      1  his  was  the  first  town  01  nnportance 

without  the  limits  of  his  province  on  the  road  to  Rome  ;  and  by 
thus  seizing  it  he  declared  himself  in  open  rebellion,  and  that  from 
this  time  forward  he  was  to  follow,  without  reserve,  that  path  of 
lawless  usurpation  on  which  he  had  for  so  many  years  been  pre- 
paring himself  to  enter. 

At  Ariminum  he  met  the  fugitive  tribunes,'^^  whom  he  intro- 
duced without  delay  to  his  army,  in  the  disguise  in  which  they  had 
fled  from  Rome,  desiring  them,  at  the  same  time,  to  relate  the  vio- 
lence which  they  had  suffered.  Caesar  himself  then  began  to 
speak,  imploring  the  troops,  with  the  most  passionate  expressions 
of  grief  and  indignation,  to  revenge  at  once  the  injuries  of  their 
general,  and  the  outrage  offered  to  the  tribunes  of  the  people.     In 

'■•*  Caisar,  I.  7.  '<■«  Caesar,  I.  8.     Suetonius,  in  Cajsare, 

'«  Appian,  de  Bello  Civili,  II.  35.  33.     Dion  Cassius,  XLI.  154. 


236  FRUITLESS  NEGOTIATION  FOR  PEACE. 

the  vehemence  of  his  words  and  gestures  he  frequently  held  up 
his  left  hand,  and,  pointing  to  the  ring  which  he  wore  as  the  well- 
known  badge  of  patrician  or  equestrian  rank,  he  declared,  that  he 
would  sooner  part  with  that  ring,  than  fail  to  satisfy  the  amplest 
wishes  of  those  who  were  now  offering  their  aid  to  maintain  his 
dignity.  The  action  being  seen  at  a  greater  distance  than  the 
words  could  be  heard,  many  of  the  soldiers  imagined  that  he  was 
promising  to  advance  all  his  followers  to  the  rank  and  fortune  of 
the  equestrian  order ;  and  this  impression  tended  not  a  little  to 
Fruitless  negotiation  inAame  their  zeal  in  his  behalf.  At  Ariminum,!^^ 
for  peace.  ^Iso,  CsBsar  fouud  L.  Roscius,  one  of  the  praetors, 

and  L.  Csesar,  a  distant  relation  of  his  own,  who  had  both  left 
Rome  in  the  hopes  of  preventing  an  open  rupture,  and  had  both 
consented  to  be  the  bearers  of  a  private  communication  from  Pom- 
pey  to  Csesar.  Its  substance  was  an  exculpation  of  his  own  con- 
duct in  the  part  he  had  lately  taken  ;  in  which  he  said,  he  had 
been  actuated  by  no  unkindly  feelings  towards  Cgesar,  but  from 
a  sense  of  his  paramount  duty  to  the  commonwealth ;  and  he 
urged  Ca3sar,  in  like  manner,  to  wave  his  personal  animosities  in 
consideration  of  his  country,  and  not  to  seek  to  punish  his  enemies 
at  the  price  of  involving  the  republic  in  a  civil  war.  Csesar  pro- 
fessed to  be  equally  desirous  of  avoiding  bloodshed  ;  and  requested 
L.  Csesar  and  Roscius  to  carry  back  his  answer  to  Pompey,  in 
which,  after  studiously  dwelUng  on  his  supposed  injuries,  he 
proposed  that  both  Pompey  and  himself  should  give  up  their 
armies ;  that  Pompey  should  go  into  Spain  ;  and  that  all  the 
forces  in  Italy  should  be  disbanded  on  both  sides,  that  the  senate 
and  people  of  Rome  might  deliberate  and  decide  on  all  public  ques- 
tions with  perfect  freedom  ;  that  he  himself  should  resign  his  pro- 
vinces of  Cisalpine  and  Transalpine  Gaul  to  the  officers  appointed 
by  the  senate  to  succeed  him  ;  and  that  he  should  go  to  Rome  to 
offer  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  consulship.  Finally,  he  re- 
quested a  personal  conference  with  Pompey,  that  all  things  might 
be  fully  adjusted,  and  that  both  parties  might  pledge  themselves 
by  oath  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of  the  treaty. 

With  these  terms,  L.  Cassar  and  L.  Roscius  set  out  on  their 
return  to  Pompey.  Bat  Ca3sar,'^«  not  waiting  to  see  the  result  of 
the  negotiation,  despatched  M.  Antonius,  who  already  had  taken 
a  command  under  him,  with  five  cohorts,  to  occupy  Arretium. 
and,  at  the  same  time,  he  secured,  with  other  detachments,  the 
towns  of  Ancona,  Fanum,  and  ,Pisaurum.  These  movements 
excited  a  general  consternation;'^^  many  of  the  inhabitants  fled 
from  their  homes  at  the  approach  of  Caesar's  troops  ;  while  men 

'«  Cffisar,  I.  8,  9.     Cicero,  ad  Famili-     ad  Familiar.  XVI.  cplst.    XII.     Caesar,  I. 
ares,  XVI.  epist.  XII.  11. 

'''^  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  XI.  ;         '^^  Appian,  II.  35.  Cicero,  ad  Alticum. 

VII.  epist.  XI. 


POMPEY  IS  UNABLE  TO  MEET  THE  ENEMY.  237 

of  broken  fortunes,  and  those  who  had  been  obliged  to  go  into 
exile  for  their  crimes,  welcomed  his  arrival  as  the  sure  forerunner 
of  a  total  revolution.  The  alarm  reached  Rome,  and  produced 
there  such  an  effect,  that  Pompey  judged  it  expedient  to  abandon 
the  capital,  as  he  had  not  yet  organized  a  force  sufficient  to  with- 
stand the  sudden  advance  of  the  rebel  army.  Accordingly,  be- 
fore the  nineteenth  of  January, '^^  he  withdrew  from  Rome  to- 
wards Capua,  accompanied  by  both  the  consuls,  The  senate  and  con- 
the  great  majority  of  the  inferior  magistrates,  and  Rome.'  "^"^^^  """ 
most  of  the  members  of  the  senate.  The  treasury  was  left  closely 
locked,  froni  the  precipitation  with  which  the  capital  was  aban- 
doned, or  from  a  reluctance  to  carry  off  treasures,  some  of  which 
were  looked  upon  as  almost  too  sacred  to  be  invaded,  and  from 
the  hope  that  Caesar  would  in  this  point  imitate  the  forbearance 
of  his  adversaries.  It  is  said  that  the  sight  of  every  thing  most 
noble  in  the  commonwealth  being  now  obliged  to  fly  from  their 
country,  produced  a  strong  effect  on  the  public  mind  ;'^^  and  that 
compassion  for  Pompey,  and  indignation  against  Caesar,  were  for 
a  time  the  prevailing  feelings  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country 
towns  of  Italy.  So  general  was  the  abhorrence  of  Caesar's  rebel- 
lion, that  his  own  father-in-law,  L.  Piso,i5o  ^jj^j  j^qj.  hesitate  to  ac- 
company the  senate  in  their  retreat  from  Rome  ;  and  T.  Labie- 
nus,^5i  yyho  had  been  one  of  his  most  favoured  lieutenants  in 
Gaul,  left  him  immediately  on  the  open  disclosure  of  his  designs 
against  his  country,  and  joined  Pompey  and  the  consuls  at  The- 
anum  in  Campania,  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  January. 

It  appears  certain  that  Pompey  was  taken  by  surprise  through 
the  suddenness  with  which  Caesar  commenced  pompey  is  unable  to 
hostilities.  Trusting  probably  to  the  season  of  the  ""eet  the  enemy. 
year,  he  had  imagined  that  he  should  have  two  or  three  months 
before  him  ;  in  the  course  of  which  he  might  organize  a  sufficient 
force  in  Italy  to  prevent  Caesar  from  advancing,  and  might  thus 
detain  him  in  Cisalpine  Gaul,  till  the  Spanish  army,  under  Afra- 
nius  and  Petreius,  could  cross  the  Pyrenees  and  the  Alps  to  com- 
plete his  destruction  by  assailing  him  in  the  rear.  But  when  Cae- 
sar opened  the  campaign  just  as  the  winter  was  setting  in,  (for, 
owing  to  the  defective  state  of  the  Roman  calendar,  the  nominal 
time  was  nearly  two  months  in  advance  of  the  real  season  of  the 
year,)  Pompey's  preparations  for  defence  were  paralyzed.  His 
actual  force  consisted  chiefly  of  two  legions, '^'^  which  had  been 
withdrawn  from  Caesar's  army  by  a  decree  of  the  senate  in  the 
preceding  year,  as  a  reinforcement  for  the  troops  of  the  republic 
in  Syria,  but  which  had  been  detained  in  Italy,  when  it  became 

'«  Cicero,  ad  Alticum,  VII.  epist.   X.  '"  Ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  XII.  XIII. 

XI.  XII.     Appian  37.  '"  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epiat.  XIII. 

1*9  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  XI.  Cffisar,  de  Bell  Gallico,  VIII.  54. 
'*°  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist  XIII. 


238  POMPEY'S  PLAN  OF  OPERATIONS. 

apparent  that  the  commonwealth  had  more  to  fear  on  the  side  of 
Gaul  than  of  Parthia.  These  legions  had  shared  in  Caesar's  vic- 
tories for  several  years,  and  when  he  at  last  parted  from  them, 
one,  or  both  of  them,  had  received  from  him  a  liberal  donation  in 
money, '^^  so  that  Pompey  dared  not  risk  a  battle  while  these 
troops  composed  the  whole  or  the  greater  part  of  his  army.^^^  His 
officers,  it  is  true,  were  busy  in  levying  soldiers  in  different  parts 
of  Italy,  and  particularly  in  Picenum,  that  district  in  which  his 
father  had  acquired  such  great  influence,  and  from  which  he  had 
himself  raised  an  army  of  three  legions  by  his  personal  exertions, 
when  he  first  took  part  in  public  atiairs,  and  though  then  a  youth, 
without  rank  or  public  authority,  marched  at  the  head  of  15,000 
men  to  support  the  cause  of  L.  Sylla.  But  these  levies  were  car- 
ried on  to  a  great  disadvantage  under  the  constant  alarm  of  the 
approach  of  the  enemy. '^^  Under  such  circumstances,  men  are 
unwilling  to  come  forward  ;  and  those  who  might  have  rallied 
round  any  regular  force  which  was  already  organized,  had  no  in- 
clination to  take  upon  themselves  all  the  dangers  of  an  unequal 
resistance.  Moreover,  Pompey  might  have  remembered,  from 
the  experience  of  the  last  civil  war,  that  soldiers  were  easily  in- 
duced to  desert  officers  with  whom  they  were  little  acquainted, 
and  whose  names  bore  no  commanding  authority ;  and  that  it 
was,  therefore,  most  unsafe  to  trust  generals  of  no  reputation  with 
untried  soldiers  in  the  presence  of  such  an  enemy  as  Csesar, 
whose  liberality  was  hardly  less  notorious  than  his  victories. 
His  plan  of  His  fixcd  determination,  accordingly,  was,  to  avoid 

operations.  q^\  engagements  with  the  rebels,  and  to  concentrate 

all  the  troops  that  his  lieutenants  could  collect  in  the  south  of 
Italy ;  after  which  he  would  be  guided  by  circumstances,  whe- 
ther still  to  make  a  stand  in  Italy,  or  to  cross  over  into  Greece, 
and  there  organize  the  resources  of  that  part  of  the  empire  in 
which  his  past  exploits  had  gained  for  him  so  many  connexions, 
and  such  an  universal  popularity. 

Pompey  was  still  with  the  consuls  at  Theanum,''^  when  L. 
Ca3sar  arrived  there  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  January,  with  Ccesar's 
proposed  conditions  of  peace.  They  were  immediately  discussed 
in  a  council  composed  of  the  principal  senators  ;  and  it  was 
agreed  to  accept  them,  provided  that  Caesar  would  withdraw  his 
troops  from  all  the  towns  which  he  had  occupied  beyond  the 
limits  of  his  province.  L.  CsBsar  was  sent  back  with  this  an- 
swer; and  Cicero  seems  for  a  time  to  have  flattered  himself  that 
the  war  would  thus  be  brought  to  a  conclusion.  But  Cagsar  had 
no  intention  of  resting  contented  with  the  permission  of  standing 

1"  Appian,  de  Bell.  Civil.  II.  29.    Flu-         '^*  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  XIII. 
tarch,  in  Cacsare,  29.  '^®  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  XIV. 

'**  Epist.   Pompeii  ad  Domitiiim,  apud  XV. 
Ciceron.  ad  Atticum,  VIII.  epist.  XII. 


L.  DOMITIUS  ATTEMPTS  TO  DEFEND  CORFINIUM.  339 

for  the  consulship  when  the  sovereignty  of  Rome  seemed  within 
his  grasp.  He  complained  that  Pompey  still  continued  his  levies 
of  soldiers ;'"  that  his  making  no  mention  of  a  personal  confer- 
ence betrayed  an  unwillingness  to  terminate  the  quarrel ;  and 
that  he  had  fixed  no  particular  day  for  his  departure  into 
Spain.  He  meantime, '^^  on  his  own  part,  was  raising  troops,  and 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  other  legions  of  his  own  army  ;  he 
had  occupied  the  towns  of  Iguvium  and  Auximum,'^^  which 
Pompey's  officers  had  in  vain  attempted  to  defend  ;  and  Curio,'*" 
in  his  private  correspondence,  ridiculed  the  mission  of  L.  Caesar, 
as  a  measure  from  which  the  invader  had  never  really  anticipated 
any  result.  Pompey,  still  pursuing  his  plan  of  retreating,  was  at 
Luceria  in  Apulia,  in  the  beginning  of  February ;  and  on  the 
seventh  of  that  month,'®'  encouraged  by  Caesar's  protracted  ab- 
sence, he  sent  orders  to  the  consuls  at  Capua,  that  they  should 
return  Avith  all  haste  to  Rome  and  carry  off  the  sacred  treasures 
from  the  treasury,  which  he  now  regretted  thai  he  had  left  behind. 
But  the  consuls,  judging  the  attempt  too  hazardous,  declined  to 
put  it  in  execution.  The  disobedience  of  one  of  his  officers  soon 
afterwards  brought  upon  Pompey  a  far  severer  loss.  P.  Lentulus 
Spinther  and  L.  Vibullius  Rufus'*^  had  been  employed  in  levying 
soldiers  in  Picenum,  and  although,  as  Cajsar  advanced,  many  of 
their  men  deserted  and  went  over  to  him,  yet  Vibullius  was  able 
to  reach  Corfinium  \vith  fourteen  corhorts,  amounting  to  about 
eight  thousand  four  hundred  men.  At  Corfinium  he  found  L. 
Domitius  iEnobarbus,  with  a  force  of  twelve  cohorts,  and  C. 
Hirrus  with  five  more,  which  he  had  collected  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  Camerinum.  In  this  manner  an  l.  Domi'ins  attempts 
army  was  assembled  of  nearly  nineteen  thousand  to  defend  coriinium. 
men  ;  and  Vibullius'®"  wrote  to  Pompey  to  tell  him  that  Do- 
mitius would  put  the  whole  in  motion  to  join  him  on  tbe  ninth 
of  February.  But  instead  of  executing  this  plan,  Domitius  be- 
gan to  flatter  himself  that  he  was  strong  enough  to  arrest  Cae- 
sar's progress,  or  at  any  rate  to  threaten  his  rear  with  serious 
annoyance,  if  he  should  venture  to  pass  beyond  him,  and 
advance  in  pursuit  of  Pompey.  It  appears,  too,  that  private 
interests  were  allowed  to  influence  his  decision;'"  and  that 
some  individuals  who  possessed  property  in  the  neighbourhood, 
induced  him  to  remain,  that  he  might  protect  their  villas,  or  ena- 
ble them  to  remove  their  effects  with  greater  security.  He  even 
divided  his  forces,  and  attempted  to  hold  the  towns  of  Sulmo 

'»'  Caesar,  de  Bello  Civilli,  I.  11.  ad    Atticum,   VII.   epist.    XXIII.;  VIII. 

i'"*  Cicero,    ad     Atticum,   VII.    epist.  epist.  II.  XI. 

XVIII.  '63  Epist.   Pompeii    ad   L.     Domitium, 

t*9  Caesar,  I.  12,  13.  apuJ  Ciceron.  ad   Atticum,   Vlil.    epist. 

16"  Cicero,  ad  Atlicnm,  VII.  epist.  XIX.  XII. 

'6'  Ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  XXI.  1^4  Ibid,  antea  citata. 
162  Cffisar,  Bell.  Civili,  I.  15.     Cicero, 


240         THE  TROOPS  MUTINY,  AND  SURRENDER  THE  TOWN. 

and  Alba  ;  and  instead  of  setting  out  to  join  Pompey  on  the 
ninth  of  February,  he  remained  at  Cortinium  in  spite  of  re- 
peated orders  to  the  contrary,  till  Caesar  arrived  before  the  town, 
about  the  fifteenth  or  sixteenth,'"  with  a  force  which  cannot 
be  exactly  computed,  as  he  was  every  day  receiving  reinforce- 
ments either  by  desertion  from  the  enemy,  or  by  the  success 
of  his  levies,  or  by  the  arrival  of  detachments  from  the  legions 
of  his  own  army  which  he  had  left  in  Gaul.  Sulmo  was  soon 
surrendered  to  his  lieutenant  M.  Antonius;'^^  and  the  event  of 
the  siege  of  Corfiniuni  was  awaited  with  the  most  lively  in- 
terest in  every  quarter.  There  were  many  persons,  and  Cicero 
himself  was  among  the  number,  who  expected  that  Pompey 
would  march  to  the  relief  of  Domitius,  and  considered  that  it 
would  be  most  disgraceful  if  he  tamely  abandoned  him.  But 
Domitius  had  exposed  himself  to  danger  in  defiance  of  the  ex- 
press orders  of  the  commander  of  the  armies  of  the  common- 
wealth ;  and  he  had  detained  with  him  the  levies  from  Picenum, 
on  whose  fidelity  to  his  person  Pompey  relied  with  particular 
confidence,  and  whose  presence  he  anxiously  looked  for  to 
overawe  the  wavering  inclinations  of  the  two  legions  which 
he  had  received  from  Csesar.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  that  a  more 
enterprising  general  might  have  risked  the  attempt,  and  might 
have  thought  it  wise  to  run  all  hazards  in  the  hope  of  putting 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  soldiers  of  Picenum  ;  but  Pompey, 
misled  perhaps  by  the  example  of  Sylla,  seems  to  have  attached 
too  little  value  to  the  possession  of  Italy,  and  to  have  contem- 
plated without  regret  the  prospect  of  abandoning  it  for  the 
present,  while  he  was  preparing  in  Greece  sufficient  resources 
to  enable  him,  as  he  trusted,  speedily  to  recover  it.  Accord- 
ingly, having  written  to  Domitius  to  warn  him  that  he  must 
look  for  no  relief,  he  continued  his  retreat  towards  Brundisium, 
and  reached  that  place  about  the  twenty-fifth  of  February.^" 
Domitius,  thus  left  to  his  own  resources,  soon  found  how  unequal 
he  was  to  the  task  of  opposing  Csesar ;  his  soldiers  began  to 
perceive  his  distrust  of  his  own  situation,  and  thought  that  they 
Hi!>  troops  mutiny,  wcrc  uow  authorlzed  to  consult  their  own  safety. ^^^ 
town^to^cssar.  '  They  immediately  mutinied  against  their  gene- 
rals, secured  the  persons  of  Domitius  and  the  principal  officers 
who  were  with  him,  and  sent  to  inform  Csesar  that  they  were 
ready  to  open  the  gates  to  him,  and  to  put  his  chief  enemies  into 
his  power.  Upon  this  offer  he  took  possession  of  the  town,  and 
ordered  Domitius,  with  the  other  leaders,  to  be  brought  before 
him,  when   having  reproached  some  of  the  number   with   per- 

•S5  Ibid,    apud   Ciceron.    ad    Atticum,  ^^'  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VIII.  epist.  IX. 

VIII.  12.  XL 

165  Csesar,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  18.  Cicero,  is^  Caesar,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  19.  23. 
ad  Atticum,  VIII.  epist.  IV. 


C^SAR  BESIEGES  POMPEY  IN  BRUNDISIUM. 


241 


sonal  ingratitude  to  himself,  from  whom  they  had  received  many 
favours,  he  dismissed  them  all  unhurt,  and  even  allowed  Domitius 
to  carry  otf  with  him  a  considerable  treasure  which  he  had 
brought  to  Corfinium  for  the  payment  of  his  troops.  The  sol- 
diers he  enlisted  in  his  own  army  ;  and  immediately  set  out  from 
Corfinium,  about  the  twenty-second  of  February,  to  prosecute 
his  march  to  Brundisium.  In  this  manner  Cossar,  like  Sylla, 
owed  bis  first  great  success  to  the  faithlessness  or  weakness  of 
his  enemy's  adherents  ;  and  the  betrayal  of  Scipio  by  his  own 
soldiers  in  Campania  was  now  imitated  by  the  troops  at  Corfini- 
um, who  surrendered  their  post  and  their  general,  and  themselves 
joined  the  standard  of  the  conqueror. 

It  now  appeared  certain  that  Pompey  intended  to  abandon  Italy ; 
and  when  this  determination  became  known,  it  necessarily  drove 
the  Italians  to  throw  themselves  into  the  arms  of  Csesar,  since 
they  were  left  wholly  at  his  mercy.  His  moderation  at  Corfinium 
was  every  where  eagerly  reported  ;  and  those  who  at  first  dreaded 
the  worst  evils  from  the  approach  of  his  army, '^^  were  now  grate- 
ful to  him  in  proportion  to  their  former  fears,  when  they  saw  that 
he  abstained,  as  yet,  from  confiscations  and  proscriptions.  There 
were  many  senators  also,  and  men  of  rank  and  fortune,'^"  who, 
considering  the  Roman  government  inseparable  from  the  posses- 
sion of  Rome,  did  not  think  themselves  bound  to  follow  Pompey 
into  a  foreign  country,  and  looked  upon  his  resignation  of  the  seat 
of  government  as  a  virtual  acknowledgment  that  Csesar  might 
now  dispose  of  the  commonwealth  with  some  shadow  of  lawful 
authority.  P.  Lentulus  having  been  freely  spared  by  Csesar  at 
Corfinium,  was  unwilling  to  take  any  further  part  in  the  quarrel; 
and  even  Cicero  hesitated  whether  he  should  follow  Pompey  into 
Greece  or  not,  he  having  been  left  at  Capua  with  the  care  of  that 
part  of  Italy,  and  having  afterwards  been  prevented  from  reaching 
Brundisium  by  the  rapid  advance  of  Csesar's  army  into  Apulia. 
Meanwhile  the  consuls,  with  all  the  troops  which  they  had  been 
able  to  raise,  had  effected  their  junction  with  Pompey  ;  but  some  of 
his  officers,  endeavouring  to  join  him  from  more  distant  parts  of  the 
country,  found  that  Cassar  had  intercepted  them.  Among  these 
P.  Rutilius  Lupus,  one  of  the  praetors,  whilst  trying  to  retreat  from 
Taracina  with  about  eighteen  hundred  men,  fell  in  with  Caesar's 
cavalry,  upon  which  his  soldiers  immediately  deserted  to  the 
enemy,  and  he  himself,  relinquishing  the  cause  of  Pompey  as 
desperate,  returned  to  Rome,  and  there  began  to  perform  the  or- 
dinary duties  of  his  office  in  administering  justice.  Caesar  arrived 
before  Brundisium  on  the  ninth  of  March,  with  a  cs^sar  besieges  pom- 
force  amounting  now  to  six  legions,  three  of  which  p^*  '"  brundisium. 
belonged  to  his  own  veteran  army,  and  the  other  three  consisted  of 

169  Cicero,   ad     Atticum,   VIII.     epist.         ""  Cicero,  ad    Atticum,    VIII.    epist. 
XIII.  XVI. ;  IX.  epist.  I. 


242  POMPEY  SAILS  TO  GREECE  WITH  HIS  ARMY. 

the  troops- which  he  had  levied  since  he  entered  Italy.  He  found 
that  the  consuls  with  the  greater  part  of  the  army,'^'  and  with  a 
large  number  of  senators,  accompanied  by  their  wives  and  children, 
had  embarked  for  the  opposite  coast  of  Greece  on  the  fourth  of 
March ;  and  that  Pompey,  with  about  twenty  cohorts,  or  twelve 
thousand  men,  was  apparently  resolved  to  maintain  Brundisium 
against  him.  He  had,  a  short  time  before,  taken  prisoner  one  of 
Pompey's  officers,"'"  whom  he  had  sent  back  to  Pompey,  hoping, 
according  to  his  own  professions,  that  he  would  use  his  influence 
with  his  general  to  agree  to  a  reconciliation.  But  when  Pompey 
sent  this  officer  to  Cassar'"^  v/ith  proposals  of  peace,  Caesar,  pretend- 
ing to  consider  the  terms  unsatisfactory,  prosecuted  the  siege  of 
Brundisium  with  the  utmost  vigour  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  Pom- 
pey is  said  to  have  declined  another  offer  on  the  part  of  Caesar  to 
negotiate,^"^  alleging  that  he  could  enter  into  no  treaty  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  consuls.  At  the  same  time,  however,  that  Ca3sar  was 
expressing  his  wish  for  peace,  his  followers,  in  their  private  re- 
ports,'" gave  a  very  different  representation  of  his  intentions,  and 
declared  that  he  talked  of  revenging  the  fates  of  Carbo  and  Bru- 
tus, and  those  other  members  of  the  party  of  Marius,  whom  Pom- 
pey had  formerly  put  to  death  ;  nay,  so  eager  was  he  to  find 
grounds  of  complaint  against  his  antagonist,  that  he  pretended  to 
consider  T.  Milo  as  the  victim  of  Pompey's  unjust  persecution, 
and  thus  to  espouse  the  cause  of  a  man  whose  only  claim  on  his 
support  was  a  turbulence  and  factiousness  of  spirit  resembling  his 
own.  Meanwhile  the  siege  of  Brundisium  was  pressed  with  vig- 
our ;  and  Caesar  attempted  to  carry  out  two  moles  from  the  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  harbour's  mouth,  with  the  view  of  blocking  up 
the  passage,  and  thus  depriving  the  enemy  of  his  means  of  retreat 
by  sea.  But  before  this  work  was  completed,  the  ships  which 
Pompey  crosses  the     had  transDortcd  the  consuls'^*  and  the  first  division 

sea  to  Greece  with  /•.!  ■     .        r~i  .  i.t-»  t- 

his  array.  01  the  army  mto  (jrreece,  returned  to  Brundisuuii, 

and  Pompey  was  finally  enabled  to  embark  the  remainder  of  his 
troops,  and  to  put  to  sea,  on  the  seventeenth  of  March,  with  the  loss 
of  only  two  transports,  which  ran  aground  at  the  contracted  en- 
trance of  the  harbour,  and  were  in  this  manner  taken.  The  citizens 
of  Brundisium  immediately  opened  their  gates  to  Caesar ;  and  on  the 
eighteenth  he  entered  the  town  and  made  a  public  address  to  the 
inhabitants.  Thence  he  resolved  at  once  to  move  towards  Rome, 
for  he  was  unable  to  follow  Pompey  from  the  want  of  shipping ;  and 
he  was  anxious  to  take  possession  of  the  seat  of  government,  and 

1"  Caesar,  I.  25.     Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  '74  Caesar,  I.  26. 

IX.  epist.  VI.  175  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  XIV. 

"^  Epist.  Csesaris ad  Oppiumet  Balbum,  ^''^  Ctesar,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  27.    Cicero, 

apud  Ciceron.  ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  VII.  ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  XIV. 

'73  Epist.  Caesaris ad  Oppium  et  Balbum, 
apud  Ciceron.  ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  XIII. 


C^SAR  MOVES  TOWARDS  ROME.  543 

then  to  carry  his  army  into  Spain,  and  destroy,  if  possible,  tlie 
formidable  force  which  was  under  the  command  of  Pompey  in 
that  province. 

It  appears  that  Pompey,'^'  justly  regarding  Cassar  and  his 
partisans  as  rebels,  had  in  all  his  proclamations  denounced  severe 
punishments  against  every  one  who  should  abet  or  countenance 
them;  and  by  this  language  he  had  alarmed  and  alienated  the 
minds  of  that  large  portion  of  the  Italian  people  who  were  disposed, 
above  all  things,  to  consult  their  own  private  ease  and  safety. 
This  feeling  towards  the  opposite  party,  combined  with  the  fame 
of  his  antagonist's  moderation,  had  disposed  the  inhabitants  of  the 
different  towns  to  favour  Caesar's  interests,  and  on  some  occasions 
to  atibrd  him  active  assistance  ;  but  now  that  Pompey  was  retired 
from  Italy,  the  evils  occasioned  by  his  rival  were  more  keenly  felt, 
and  rendered  men  in  turn  dissatisfied  with  him.  Caesar,  although 
the  mere  leader  of  a  rebellious  army,  began  to  act  as  if  he  were 
the  lawful  sovereign  of  Italy.  He  sent  orders  to  the  chief  magis- 
trates of  all  the  corporate  towns  to  provide  a  certain  number  of 
ships,  ^"  and  cause  them  to  be  sent  to  Brundisium,  there  to  be  in 
readiness  to  transport  his  army  into  Greece  ;  he  quartered  his 
legions  in  different  places,  to  the  great  vexation  of  the  inhabitants, 
who  were  unused  to  such  a  burden  in  Italy  ;  and  he  continued  to 
levy  soldiers  as  he  had  done  from  the  beginning  of  his  rebellion, 
while  his  officers  conducted  themselves  in  the  execution  of  a  task 
odious  in  itself,  with  much  superfluous  insolence  and  offensiveness. 
The  character  of  his  partisans  was,  indeed,  such  as  would  have 
disgraced  tlie  most  honourable  cause.  His  own  personal  profliga- 
cy was  faithfully  imitated  by  his  lieutenants  Antonius  and  Curio  ; 
and  the  leputation  of  the  leaders,  together  with  the  revolution. a ry 
views  which  they  were  supposed  to  entertain,  had  attracted  to 
their  standard  a  crowd  of  desperate  and  atrocious  men,'"®  whose 
appearance  filled  all  respectable  citizens  with  terror.  Thus  at- 
tended, Caesar  moved  from  Brundisium  towards  cssar  moves  towards 
Rome,  wishing  to  assemble  and  address  the  senate,  ^°'"*^- 
or  rather  the  small  minority  of  senators  who  had  not  left  the  capi- 
tal on  the  first  of  April. '^^  As  he  was  anxious  to  gain  the  sanction 
of  every  person  of  credit  whom  he  could  at  all  hope  to  influence, 
he  wrote  to  Cicero,  earnestly  requesting  him  to  meet  him  at  Rome  : 
Cicero,  however,  having  no  intention  of  complying  with  his  wishes, 
had  a  personal  interview  with  him  on  his  road,  about  the  twenty- 
eighth  of  March,  at  Formias,  hoping  to  persuade  him  not  to  press  his 
request  any  further.  But  Caesar  told  him'^'  that  his  ^is  interview  witt 
absence  from  the  senate  would  naturally  influence     ^''''^"■°- 

17T  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  X.  1^9  Cicero,     ad     Atticum,     IX.     epist. 

173  Ca?sar,  de  Bell.  Civil.  I.  30.  Cicero,     XVIII  XIX. 
ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  XIX.  iso  Ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  XVII. 

's'  Ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  XVIII. 


244  C^SAR  ADDRESSES  THE  SENATE. 

Others,  and  would  be  looked  upon  as  a  condemnation  of  his  con- 
duct. He  then  urged  him  to  appear  in  the  senate,  and  endeavour 
to  bring  about  a  negotiation  ;  but  when  Cicero  replied,  that  if  he 
did  so  he  should  recommend  the  senate  to  forbid  the  march  of 
troops  into  Spain,  or  their  transport  into  Greece,  and  should 
lament  the  condition  to  which  Pompey  had  been  reduced,  Cassar 
told  him  "that  he  would  have  nothing  of  that  sort  said;"  and  in 
conclusion,  finding  Cicero  resolute  in  his  refusal,  he  observed, 
"  that  if  he  were  denied  the  benefit  of  Cicero's  advice,  he  must 
follow  such  as  he  could  procure,  and  should  have  recourse  to 
extreme  measures."  On  these  terms  they  parted,  and  Caesar  pro- 
ceeded on  his  way  to  Rome. 

We  have  already  stated  that  there  were  many  senators,  who 
Description  of  the  per-  ^-^^r  Pompcy's  departure  from  Italy,  resolved  to  take 
Rometo°rec"i vrc4"  ^^^  further  sharc  in  the  civil  war.  Amongst  these 
*"•  were  L.  Volcatius  TuUus   and   Manius   yEmiiius 

Lepidus,  who  had  been  consuls  in  the  year  687  j^^^  Ser.  Sulpicius, 
who  had  been  consul  in  the  year  702  ;  and  C.  Sosius  and  P.  Rutili- 
us  Lupus,  who  were  two  of  the  praetors  for  the  present  year.  But  of 
this  number  all  were  by  no  means  agreed  as  to  the  propriety  of 
countenancing  Caesar's  usurpation.  The  two  praetors,  by  continu- 
ing to  act  in  their  judicial  character  at  Rome,  seemed  to  acknow- 
ledge that  the  capital  was  still  the  seat  of  a  lawful  government ;  but 
L.  TuUus  and  Ser.  Sulpicius  wished  to  remain  in  perfect  retire- 
ment,^" and  declined  to  attend  the  meeting  of  senators  which  Cae- 
sar called  together  on  his  arrival.  Another  praetor,  M.  ^Emilius  Le- 
pidus, afterwards  the  associate  of  Octavius  and  Antonius  in  the  sec- 
ond triumvirate,  had  remained  at  Rome  when  the  consuls  and  the 
majority  of  the  senate  had  left  it,  and  was  considered  to  be  a  decided 
partisan  of  Cassar.  M.  Caelius  Rufus,  at  this  time  curule  a3dile, 
who  had  been  tribune  in  the  year  701,  and  had  then  taken  an  ac- 
tive part  in  behalf  of  Milo,  v/as  now  also  engaged  on  the  side  of 
Caesar,  and  appears  to  have  been  at  this  period  in  Rome.^"  L. 
Caecilius  Metellus,  one  of  the  tribunes,  was  in  Rome  also,'^^  but 
with  very  different  intendons,  it  being  his  purpose  to  force  C^sar 
to  display  his  real  contempt  for  the  laws  of  his  country,  and  to 
prove  how  little  he  himself  respected  the  sacredness  of  the  tribuni- 
tian  character,  when  it  was  in  the  way  of  his  own  ambition. 
Caesar  appears  to  have  reached  the  capital  about  the  time  that  he 
Caesar  addresses  the  pioposcd  to  arrlvc  thcrc,  that  is,  on  the  first  of  April, 
senate.  g-ud  liaviug  assembled  as  many  of  the  senators  as 

could  be  prevailed  on  to  obey  his  summons,  he  held  to  them  a  lan- 
guage in  which  he  scarcely  attempted  to  disguise  the  lawlessness 

182  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  XII.  ;         'S4  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  VIII.  epist. 
VIII.  epist.  I.  IX.  XV. ;  IX.  epist.  I.  XVI. 

'83  Ad  Atticum,  X.  epist.  III.  iss  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  X.  epist.    IV. 

Caesar,  de  Bell.  Civili,  I,  33. 


C^SAR  ROBS  THE  TREASURY.  245 

of  his  usurpation. 's^  He  again  repeated  the  story  of  his  pretended 
injuries  in  not  having  been  allowed  to  dictate  to  the  government 
the  terms  on  which  he  would  obey  their  orders  ;  and  he  inveighed 
against  the  cruelty  shone  to  the  tribunes  Antonius  and  Q,.  Cassius, 
a  cruelty  which  had  existed  at  most  only  in  intention,  and  proba- 
bly only  in  the  counterfeited  fears  of  those  who  were  its  imaginary 
objects.  On  such  provocations  he  thought  himself  entitled  to  be 
guilty  of  rebellion  and  usurpation  ;  and  he  entreated  the  senate  to 
assist  him  in  the  administration  of  the  republic,  telling  them  plain- 
ly, at  the  same  time,  that  if  they  were  adverse  to  the  task  he 
would  not  burden  them  with  it,  but  would  govern  the  common- 
wealth by  himself.  Meanwhile  he  recommended  that  deputies 
should  be  sent  to  Pompey  to  endeavour  to  effect  a  peace. 

This  last  proposal  the  senate,  according  to  Caesar's  own  ac- 
count,'" was  not  unwilling  to  embrace  ;  but  no  one  could  be 
found  to  accept  the  office  of  ambassador,  because  they  were 
all  afraid  to  put  themselves  in  Pompey's  power  after  the  threats 
which  he  had  denounced  against  those  who  did  not  follow  him 
out  of  Italy.  This  is  probably  a  mere  calumny  of  Cassar's  :  and 
a  more  natmal  cause  of  the  general  reluctance  is  assigned  by 
Plutarch, '^^  and  implied  by  Cicero,'^'  that  no  one  thought  Caesar 
sincere  in  his  offer  to  negotiate.  He  attempted  to  carry  several 
other  measures  through  the  concurrence  of  the  senate,  but  he 
found  even  the  shadow  of  that  body,  which  now  alone  remained, 
decidedly  averse  to  his  interests ;  and  L.  Metellus,  the  tribune, 
interposed  his  negative  on  several  occasions  to  defeat  Cassar's 
objects.  All  the  opposition  was  nearly  indifferent  to  him.  for  he 
was  little  anxious  to  have  his  power  supported  by  law ;  and,  as 
if  he  were  already  the  despot  of  his  country,  he  refused  to  let 
his  lieutenant,  C.  Curio,  derive  his  title  to  his  command  in  Sicily 
from  a  decree  of  the  senate,  but  told  him  that  all  commissions 
should  proceed  from  himself.  But  when  L.  Metellus  endeavour- 
ed, by  his  negative,  to  prevent  him  from  breaking  open  the  treas- 
ury, and  from  converting  the  public  money  to  his  own  use,  he 
was  highly  irritated,  insomuch  that  when  Metellus,'^"  as  a  last 
resource,  placed  himself  before  the  door  of  the  caesar  robs  the  trea- 
treasury,  Caesar  threatened  him  with  immediate  SITets'ohhe  tri^ 
death,  and  was  disposed  to  have  made  this  murder,  bunitian  office. 
had  Metellus  persisted  in  his  resistance,  the  prelude  to  a  general 
massacre.  Thus,  within  the  space  of  three  months,  the  man  who 
had  attacked  his  country,  under  pretence  of  revenging  the  insults 
offered  to  the  tribunitian  power,  was  himself  guilty  of  a  most  vio- 
lent outrage  upon  that  power,  when  exercised  in  as  just  a  cause 
as  could  on  any  occasion  have  required  its  protection.     But  by 

186  Caesar,  I.  32.  189  Ad  Atticum,  X.  epist.  I. 

187  I.  33.  i9«  Cicero,  ad   Atticum,  X.   epist.    IV. 

188  In  Caesare,  35.  Plutarch,  in  C^sare,  35. 


246  C^SAR  TAKES  SICILY  AND  SARDINIA. 

this  act  of  violence  Caesar  lost  much  of  his  popularity,  even  with 
the  lowest  of  the  people  ;'^'  and  finding  that  he  was  doing  him- 
self nothing  but  mischief  by  his  stay  in  Rome,  he  set  out  before 
the  middle  of  April  on  his  way  to  Spain,  without  venturing  to 
deliver  a  speech  to  the  people  as  he  had  before  designed.  He  in- 
trusted the  command  of  the  capital  itself  to  M.  Lepidus  -^^^^  that 
of  the  rest  of  Italy  to  M.  Antonius  ;  C  Curio,  as  has  been  before 
mentioned,  was  to  occupy  Sicily ;  Q,.  Valerius  Orca,  Sardinia  ; 
and  C.  Antonius,  Illyricum. 

Sicily  and  Sardinia  were  won  with  little  difficulty.  The 
He  gains  possession  first  of  tlicsc  provluccs  had  bccn  assigned  by  the 
dinial*^'^  ^°  "''^  senate  to  M.  Cato  on  the  first  commencement  of  the 
rebellion  ;  but  he,  judging  himself  more  fitted  for  civil  than  for 
military  employments,  had  declined  to  accept  the  command, '^^  so 
long  as  there  was  any  prospect  of  the  speedy  re-establishment  of 
the  government  at  Rome.  When  this  became  desperate,  he  went 
over  to  Sicily,  and  exerted  himself  with  great  vigour  in  building 
ships,  in  refitting  such  as  he  found  in  the  island,  and  in  levying 
soldiers,  not  only  from  among  the  Sicilians,  but  from  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  opposite  coast  of  Italy.  These  preparations,  however, 
were  in  a  very  imperfect  state,  when  he  received  the  tidings  of 
Curio's  approach  with  an  army  of  three  legions ;  the  troops 
being,  indeed,  actually  carried  over  into  Sicily  by  C.  Asinius  Pol- 
lio,  before  Curio  had  joined  them  to  assume  the  command. '^^ 
Cato  appears  to  have  entered  into  the  war  with  the  same  feelings 
that  are  ascribed  to  our  own  Lord  Falkland,  under  circumstances 
partly  similar :  he  deeply  regretted  the  bloodshed  which  must  at- 
tend the  victory  of  either  party,  and  he  justly  estimated  the  wick- 
edness of  i  ringing  the  miseries  of  war  on  the  peaceable  inhab- 
itants of  a  country  without  any  reasonable  prospect  of  success. 
Accordingly,  finding  himself  iniable  to  maintain  possession  of  the 
island, '^^  he  quitted  Syracuse  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  April,  and 
went  to  join  Pompey  and  the  army  of  the  commonwealth  in 
Greece.  Curio  thus  became  master  of  Sicily  without  opposition, 
and  Q,.  Valerius  Orca  was  equally  fortunate  in  Sardinia  ;  for  M. 
Cotta,^*^  to  whom  the  senate  had  intrusted  the  care  of  that  pro- 
vince, finding  the  inhabitants  strongly  disposed  to  submit  to 
Caesar,  and  being  driven  out  of  Caralis,  one  of  the  chief  towns  in 
the  island,  by  the  unassisted  efforts  of  the  citizens  themselves,  de- 
spaired of  resisting  Caesar's  officer,  and  abandoning  Sardinia, 
withdrew  into  Africa,  where  the  cause  of  the  commonwealth 
seemed  to  wear  a  more  promising  appearance. 

191  Cicero,  ad   Atticum,  X.   epist.  IV.         's^  Plutarch,  in    Catone,  53.     Appian, 
Ad  Familiares,  VIII.  epist.  XVI.  II.  40. 

192  Plutarch, in  Antonio,  6.    Appian,  de         i9J  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  X.  epist.  XVI. 
Bell.  Civili,  II.  41.  Ca;sar,  I.  30.     Plutarch,  in  Catone,  53. 

193  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  XV.         i9S  Caisar,  I.  30.     Cicero,  ad  Atticum, 
Cffisar,  I.  30.  X.  epist.  XVI. 


THE  ARMY  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH  IN  SPAIN.  047 

We  must  now  follow  the  steps  of  Csesar  towards  Spain.  On 
his  arrival  in  Transalpine  Gaul,  he  found  that  the  He  marches  into 
citizens  of  Massilia  refused  to  admit  him  within  MSiaiefufsesto 
their  walls, '^''  and  were  making  preparations  to  authority."'^ 
stand  a  siege.  Massilia,  a  Greek  colony,  founded  by  the  lonians  of 
Phocgea,  when  Ionia  was  first  conquered  by  the  Persians  in  the 
reign  of  the  elder  Cyrus,  had  been  for  many  years  the  ally  of 
Rome,  and  had  attained  to  a  considerable  height  of  power  and  pros- 
perity. Its  government  deemed  it  inconsistent  with  their  relations 
with  Rome  to  support  a  rebel  general,  whatever  might  have  been 
the  success  of  his  rebellion  ;  and  L.  Domitius,  whom  Caesar  had 
taken  prisoner  and  dismissed  at  Corfinium,  having  been  since 
busily  employed  in  collecting  a  squadron  of  light  vessels  and 
manning  them  with  his  slaves  and  dependents  from  his  estates 
near  Cosa  in  Etruria,  was  expected  soon  in  Transalpine  Gaul,  the 
command  of  which  had  been  conferred  on  him  by  the  senate, 
as  we  have  before  mentioned.  According  to  Cassar's  account,  the 
Massilians,  after  making  professions  of  perfect  neutrality,  received 
Domitius  into  their  city  as  soon  as  his  squadron  arrived,  and 
placed  all  their  resources  at  his  disposal :  but  it  seems  more  likely 
that  Csesar  had  insisted  on  their  acknowledging  his  authority, 
and  from  the  moment  they  had  refused  to  do  so  had  already  re- 
garded them  as  enemies,  so  that  their  reception  of  Domitius  was 
rendered  unavoidable.  Be  this  as  it  may,  their  siege  of  Massilia 
hostility  to  Ca3sar  soon  assumed  a  decided  shape,  commenced. 
and  he  laid  siege  to  their  city  with  three  legions.  About  a  month 
was  employed  in  the  construction  of  a  fleet  of  twelve  ships  of  war 
by  his  orders  in  the  neighbouring  port  of  Arelate,  and  in  prepar- 
ing towers  and  other  works  for  the  attack  of  the  walls,  after  which 
he  gave  the  command  of  the  army  to  C.  Trebonius,  and  of  the 
fleet  to  Decimus  Brutus  (both  of  them  afterwards  in  the  number 
of  his  assassins),  and  pursued  his  own  course,  according  to  his 
original  intention,  into  Spain. 

Spain  was  at  this  time  held  by  three  of  Pompey's  lieutenants  : 
L.  Afranius,  who  had  been  consul  with  Q,.  Metellus  state  ofthe  army  of 
Celer  in  the  year  693  ;  M.  Petreius,  a  veteran  ofiicer.  In  spai^™°"^^'^'^"' 
who,  as  lieutenant  of  the  consul  C.  Antonius,  had  commanded  the 
forces  of  the  commonwealth  in  the  battle  in  which  L.  Catiline  was 
defeated  and  killed  in  the  year  691 ;  and  M.  Terentius  Varro,  a  man 
more  distinguished  as  a  writer  and  philosopher  than  as  a  general. 
Their  united  force  is  stated  by  Caesar  to  have  amounted  to  seven 
legions  ;'^^  two  of  which,  under  M.  Yarro,  were  occupying  the 
southern  part  of  Spain,  while  Afranius  and  Petreius,  with  the  re- 
maining five,  and  a  numerous  body  of  Spanish  auxiliaries,  had 
stationed  themselves  on  the  north  of  the  Ebro,  and  had  fixed 

i»T  Caesar,  I.  34,  et  seq.  198  Caesar,  I.  38. 

17 


248  CAMPAIGN  ON  THE  SICORIS. 

their  head-quarters  at  llerda  on  the  Sicoris.  CoBsar  had  aheady 
sent  C.  Fabius,  his  heutenant,  with  four  legions  across  the  Pyre- 
nees, and  others  were  ordered  to  follow  without  delay.  A  con- 
siderable auxiliary  force  of  Gauls  also  accompanied  the  army, 
and  the  Gaulish  cavalry  in  particular  is  said  to  have  been  both 
numerous  and  excellent.  Meantime,  a  report  was  current  that 
Pompey,  with  all  his  own  army,  was  on  his  way  to  Spain  to  join 
his  lieutenants  ;  and  the  apprehension  of  so  formidable  an  acces- 
sion to  the  strength  of  the  enemy,  induced  Cassar  to  attempt  to 
bind  most  closely  the  attachment  of  his  own  soldiers  to  himself. 
For  this  purpose  he  borrowed  money  of  the  military  tribunes  and 
centurions,  and  with  this  fund  he  was  enabled  to  to  make  a  do- 
nation to  the  troops  ;  a  step  by  which  he  not  only  conciliated  the 
soldiers,  but  secured  the  fidelity  of  the  officers,  whose  only  hope 
of  being  repaid  rested  in  the  victory  of  their  general. 

It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  the  precise  amount  of  the  numbers 
Caesar  arrives  in  ^f  Csesar's  army,  whou  he  himself  arrived  to  take 
sp*'"-  the  command.     They  were  at  least  equal  to  those 

of  the  enemy  in  regular  infantry,  and  Csesar  was  expecting  addi- 
tional reinforcements  of  Gauls,  which  might  place  his  auxiliary 
force  on  a  level  with  that  of  his  opponents.  However,  Afranius 
and  Petreius  were  unwilling  to  risk  a  general  action  with  the 
veteran  soldiers  of  Caesar's  legions  ;  and  they  resolved  rather  to 
protract  tlie  contest,  being  abundantly  provided  with  resources, 
and  being  in  a  position  which  they  had  themselves  chosen  as  the 
seat  of  war.  The  town  of  llerda  was  situated  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  Sicoris,  and  their  army  was  encamped  before  it ;  so  that 
Csesar  had  pitched  his  camp  on  the  same  side  of  the  river,  pre- 
serving also  his  communications  with  the  left  bank  by  means  of 
two  bridges, '°^  distant  nearly  four  miles  from  each  other,  which 
had  been  constructed  at  points  higher  up  the  Sicoris.  The 
country  which  he  could  command  on  the  right  bank  was  confined 
within  narrow  limits  by  the  river  Cinga,  which  flows  into  the 
Sicoris  just  above  its  confluence  Avith  the  Ebro,  and  whose  course 
Campaign  on  the  '^^'^s  distant  fiom  Ilcrda  something  less  than  thirty 
S'<="'"^-  miles.     This  district  was  soon  exhausted  ;  as  Afra- 

nius had  already  conveyed  the  greatest  part  of  the  corn  which  he 
could  find  in  it  into  llerda,  and  Caesar's  troops  had  quickly  con- 
sumed whatever  had  not  been  thus  pie-occupied.  But,  as  large 
convoys  of  provisions  were  on  their  way  from  Gaul  and  Italy,  as 
some  of  the  more  distant  Spanish  tribes  had  also  engaged  to  send 
supplies,  and  as  Caesar's  own  plundering  parties  made  frequent 
excursions  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Sicoris,  the  support  of  the  army 
seemed  likely  to  be  well  secured. '^°°     It  happened,  however,  that 

199  Caesar,  I.  40.  ««>  Caesar,  I.  48. 


CESAR'S  CAVALRY  ANNOY  THE  ENEMY.  249 

for  some  days  there  fell  an  unusual  quantity  of  Distress  of  ca>sarqw- 
rain,  which  combined  with  the  melting  of  the  snow  i,7h'is''bridges''"by°a 
on  the  mountains  to  produce  a  great  and  sudden  ^°°'^- 
flood,  insomuch  that  both  Caisar's  bridges  were  blown  up  in  the 
course  of  the  same  day.  Nor  did  the  waters  soon  abate ;  but 
continued  so  high  as  to  baffle  all  attempts  at  repairing  the  bridges, 
and  effectually  to  cut  off  all  intercourse  with  the  opposite  bank  of 
the  river.  Under  these  circumstances,  Caesar's  foraging  parties 
on  the  left  bank  were  unable  to  rejoin  the  army,  and  several  large 
convoys  of  provisions,  which  had  reached  the  Sicoris,  found  them- 
selves suddenly  intercepted.  The  army  of  the  commonwealth, 
meantime,  still  preserved  its  communications  uninterrupted,  by 
means  of  the  bridge  at  Ilerda ;  and  in  this  manner,  Afranius, 
hearing  of  the  detention  of  Caesar's  convoys,  crossed  the  river  with 
three  legions  and  all  his  cavalry,  and  set  out  by  night  in  the  hope 
of  surprising  them.  According  to  Cassar's  account,^"  the  gallant 
resistance  of  some  Gaulish  horse  enabled  the  greater  part  of  the 
convoys  to  effect  their  escape  to  the  higher  grounds  ;  some  bag- 
gage, however,  was  taken,  and  the  prospect  of  the  safe  arrival  of 
the  rest  was  rendered  extremely  doubtful.  Great  distress  began 
to  be  felt  in  Caesar's  army  ;  the  price  of  corn  rose  to  an  extrava- 
gant height ;  the  strength  and  spirits  of  the  soldiers  were  affected 
by  the  necessary  reduction  in  their  allowance  of  food  ;  whilst  the 
legions  of  Afranius  were  abundantly  supplied  with  every  thing, 
and  the  generals  themselves,  fnll  of  confidence  in  their  final  suc- 
cess, transmitted  to  Rome  the  most  favourable  reports  of  the  state 
of  their  affairs,  and  represented,  perhaps  with  some  exaggeration, 
the  distress  of  the  enemy. 

Under  these  circumstances,  Caesar  ordered  his  men  to  make  a 
great  number  of  boats,  of  a  construction  which,  he  his  army  is  carried 
tells  us,  he  had  learnt  in  Britain  ;  and  which  may  boats'  ^"^■®'''"''sht 
still  be  seen  in  the  coracles  used  by  the  descendants  of  the  Britons 
in  the  rivers  and  mountain  lakes  of  Wales.  A  light  frame  or 
skeleton  of  wood  was  filled  up  with  wicker  work,  and  then 
covered  over  on  the  outside  with  hides. '^"^  The  boats  thus  formed 
were  transported  in  wagons  about  twenty  miles  up  the  river  by 
night,  and,  being  then  put  into  the  water,  carried  over  a  detach- 
ment of  troops  immediately,  who  occupied  a  hill  close  to  the  bank. 
One  entire  legion  was  then  ferried  across  in  the  same  manner; 
and,  the  work  being  carried  on  at  once  from  both  banks,  a  new 
bridge  was  completed  in  two  days.  The  dispersed  convoys  and 
the  foraging  parties,  which  had  been  detained  on  the  left  bank, 
now  joined  the  army;  and  a  large  proportion  of  Thearmv  of  the  com- 
Caesar's  cavalry,  crossing  the  river  as  soon  as  the  bJ,'"c^J|saf^s  luperio*? 
bridge  was  finished,  attacked  some  of  the  foragers  <=»""''>'■ 

»'  Cffisar,  I.  51.  iWi  Caesar,  I.  54. 


250  THE  GENERALS  RETREAT  TOWARDS  THE  EBRO. 

of  the  enemy  with  great  success,  defeated  their  covering  party  of 
light  troops,  and  returned  to  their  camp  on  the  right  bank,  bring- 
ing with  tliem  a  very  considerable  booty.  Indeed,  Caesar's  cavalry 
was  so  decidedly  superior  to  that  of  Afranius,  that,  as  soon  as  he 
had  re-established  his  communication  with  the  opposite  bank  of 
the  Sicoris,  he  was  enabled  to  retaliate  on  his  antagonists  the  evils 
which  had  lately  pressed  upon  himself.  He  commanded  the 
country  so  as  to  prevent  them  from  getting  any  provisions  by 
foraging  ;  and  several  of  the  Spanish  tribes  now  thought  it  expe- 
dient to  espouse  his  cause,  and  brought  him  abundant  supplies  of 
corn.  The  distance  of  his  new  bridge  from  his  camp  was  still  an 
inconvenience  ;  to  remedy  which  he  proposed  to  render  the  Sicoris 
fordable  at  a  point  nearer  to  his  present  station,  by  drawing  off  a 
part  of  its  waters  into  several  small  cuts,  as  the  floods  had,  proba- 
The  generals  of  the  bly,  by  thls  time  Considerably  abated.  When  he 
fflT?ropo''srto''reti're  ^^^^  mado  somo  progress  in  this  work,  the  enemy's 
behind  the  Ebro.  geucrals  tliouglit  it  expedient  to  change  entirely  their 
plan  of  operations.  They  resolved  to  retire  behind  the  Ebro  f°^ 
and,  relying  on  the  affection  of  those  Celtiberian  tribes,  which  had 
received  signal  favours  from  Pompey  in  return  for  their  assistance 
in  his  contest  with  Sertorius,  they  expected  to  draw  from  them 
such  reinforcements  of  cavalry  as  might  enable  them  to  oppose 
Caesar  on  equal  terms,  and  to  protract  the  war  with  advantage  in 
a  friendly  country,  till  the  return  of  winter.  On  the  other  hand, 
delay  would  be  to  Caesar  hardly  less  fatal  than  defeat.  Neither 
the  character  nor  the  resources  of  his  lieutenant,  M.  Antonius,  were 
calculated  to  insure  his  possession  of  Italy,  if  C^sar  should  be 
long  detained  in  Spain  ;  and  the  aristocracy  might  rally  a  suffi- 
cient force  in  Rome  and  in  Italy  to  shake  off"  the  military  usurpa- 
tion by  which  it  was  enslaved,  even  without  the  aid  of  that  for- 
midable fleet  and  army  which  the  generals  of  the  commonwealth 
had  already  assembled  in  Epirus. 

We  must  suppose  that  Afranius  and  Petreius  had  not  calcu- 
lated on  Caesar's  bringing  with  him  into  Spain  a  cavalry  so  deci- 
dedly superior  to  their  own  ;  as  otherwise,  their  choice  of  Ilerda, 
as  the  base  of  their  operations,  seems  to  have  been  originally  un- 
wise. The  country,  for  some  miles  on  every  side  of  that  town,  is 
a  plain,  on  which  cavalry  can  act  with  advantage ;  and,  accord- 
ingly, we  find  that,  as  soon  as  Caesar  had  remedied  the  accidental 
inconvenience  produced  by  the  loss  of  his  bridges,  the  enemy  were 
unable  to  cope  with  him,  and  were  driven  to  abandon  the  ground 
on  which  they  had  at  first  proposed  to  carry  on  the  campaign. 
Measures  were  taken  by  Afranius  and  Petreius  to  secure  their 
retreat.  A  bridge  of  boats  was  begun  to  be  thrown  across  the 
Ebro,  near  the  point  of  its  confluence  with  the  Sicoris,  and  at  the 

203  Caesar,  I.  61. 


THEY  ARE  PURSUED  BY  CESAR.  g5| 

distance  of  something  less  than  twenty  miles  from  their  present 
camp  f^*  all  the  small  craft  on  the  river  were  secured  and  bronght 
together  on  this  spot ;  and  two  legions  of  their  army  crossed  at 
once  from  llerda  to  the  left  bank  of  the  Sicoris,  and  there  formed 
a  camp.  At  length,  when  they  were  informed  that  Caesar's  arti- 
ficial cuts  had  nearly  rendered  the  river  fordable  for  They  retreat  from 
infantry,  they  put  their  whole  force  in  motion,  and  Ebro^ 
leaving  only  a  small  garrison  in  llerda,  they  transported  all  their 
troops  to  the  opposite  bank,  and  effected  their  junction  with  the 
two  legions  which,  as  we  have  mentioned,  they  had  sent  across 
before.  From  this  point  their  course  was  through  the  plain  of 
llerda.  descending  the  left  bank  of  the  Sicoris  for  several  miles  ; 
after  which  they  would  meet  with  a  tract  of  wild  and  mountain- 
ous country  extending  as  far  as  the  Ebro,  If  then  they  could 
once  reach  the  mountains,  their  retreat  was  accomplished,  for  the 
passes  might  be  easily  secured  so  as  to  check  the  pursuit  of  an 
enemy ;  and  whilst  they  had  only  to  march  on  in  a  straight  line, 
Caesar's  infantry  was  still  detained  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  ; 
and  if  he  should  attempt  to  go  round  by  his  own  bridge,  the 
circuit,  which  he  would  be  thus  obliged  to  perform,  would  render 
his  chance  of  overtaking  them  before  they  had  passed  the  plain 
utterly  desperate.  With  these  prospects,  Afranius  and  Petreius 
commenced  their  march  a  little  before  day-break. 

It  appears,  however,  that  Caesar  had  anticipated  their  pur- 
pose, and  had  already  sent  his  whole  cavalry  They  are  pursued  by 
across  the  river,^"^  to  be  prepared  to  harass  and  im-  ^'*^'■■ 
pede  their  progress  from  the  instant  that  they  should  quit  their 
camp.  This  service  was  performed  very  effectually ;  the  army 
of  the  commonwealth  having  no  horse  or  light  troops  of  any  de- 
scription that  could  at  all  repel  the  annoyance.  Meantime,  as 
soon  as  it  was  day,  Caesar's  infantry,  seeing  what  was  passing  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  were  impatient  to  join  in  the  pur- 
suit ;  and  their  general,  availing  himself  of  their  ardour,  ventured 
to  ford  the  Sicoris  with  his  whole  army,  leaving  behind  only  one 
legion  to  guard  his  camp,  together  with  those  soldiers  from  the 
other  legions  whose  bodily  strength  or  courage  seemed  unequal  to 
the  enterprise.  When  he  had  gained  the  left  bank,  he  pressed 
his  march  with  such  rapidity,  that,  although  he  had  crossed  the 
river  some  distance  above  llerda,  and  some  delay  had  taken  place 
in  effecting  the  passage,  he  yet  came  up  with  the  enemy  three  or 
four  hours  before  sunset.""^  Afranius  halted  on  a  rising  ground 
and  offered  battle  ;  Caesar  halted  too,  not  to  fight,  but  to  give  his 
soldiers  some  refreshment ;  and  when  Afranius  again  attempted 
to  continue  his  retreat,  he. experienced  a  renewal  of  the  same  an- 

2M  Ceesar,  I.  61.  206  Caesar,  I.  64. 

205  Cffisar,  I.  63. 


252  Their  retreat  cut  off. 

noyance  as  before  from  Caesar's  irresistible  cai'alry.  Wearied 
with  a  long  day  of  marching  in  retreat,  and  of  fighting  at  con- 
tinual disadvantage,  the  army  of  the  commonwealth  halted,  and 
formed  their  camp  for  the  night,  when  they  were  now  within 
five  miles  of  those  friendly  mountains,  to  reach  which  was  cer- 
tain safety. 

About  midnight  Afranius  and  Petreius  prepared  in  silence  to 
recommence  their  march  ;*"  but  some  of  their  men  having  ven- 
tured too  far  to  get  water,  were  taken  by  Csesafs  cavalry,  and 
their  intention  was  thus  discovered.  Caesar  ordered  the  alarm  to 
be  instantly  sounded,  and  the  call  to  be  given  to  his  soldiers  to 
commence  the  pursuit.  The  camps  were  so  near  to  one  another, 
that  this  note  of  preparation  was  clearly  heard  by  the  enemy's 
army,  and  the  generals,  dreading  the  confusion  of  a  night  en- 
gagement, while  encumbered  with  their  baggage  on  the  march, 
changed  their  purpose,  and  kept  their  troops  in  their  quarters. 
On  the  following  day  parties  were  sent  out  on  both  sides  to  recon- 
noitre the  nature  of  the  ground  over  which  the  retreat  was  to  be 
continued  ;  and  when  the  report  was  received,  Afranius  and  Pe- 
treius resolved  to  set  out  on  the  following  morning,  not  doubting 
but  that  they  should  be  able  to  gain  the  mountains,  even  if  it 
were  at  the  price  of  some  partial  losses.  Caesar  also  formed  his 
plan ;  and  in  pursuance  of  it  he  put  his  army  in  motion  at  the 
very  earliest  dawn  of  the  succeeding  day,  and  leaving  his  heavy 
baggage  in  his  camp,  set  out  apparently  in  the  opposite  direction 
from  that  which  led  to  the  mountains,  following  no  road,  but 
making  the  best  of  his  way  across  the  country.  By  a  fatal  and 
incomprehensible  infatuation,  Afranius  and  Petreius  lost  some  ir- 
retrievable moments  in  congratulating  themselves  on  the  defeat  of 
their  enemy's  plans,  imagining  that,  having  advanced  beyond  his 
resources,  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  pursuit  from  want  of 
provisions.  They  lingered  in  their  camp""^  till  they  saw  the  di- 
rection of  this  fancied  retreat  suddenly  changed,  and  perceived 
Caesar's  army  wheel  round  to  the  right,  and  push  forward  with 
the  utmost  speed  to  reach  the  mountains,  and  intercept  their  es- 
cape. Then  perceiving  their  danger,  every  man  at  once  ran  to 
arms,  and  the  aimy  resumed  its  march  with  redoubled  rapidity, 
striving  to  disappoint  Caesar's  designs,  and  to  gain  their  place  of 
safety  before  they  were  for  ever  precluded  from  attaining  it. 

Their  efforts,  however,  were  fruitless.*^"^     They  where  harass- 
ed by  Caesar's  cavalry,  and  this  impediment  more  than  counter- 
balanced the  natural  difficulties  of  ground  with  which  Cssar  him- 
self had  to  struggle.     He  reached  the  mountains  first,  and  there 
drew  out  his  army  on  a  commanding  ridge,  in  front 
of  his  baffled  enemy.      Afranius  halted  with  his 

*"7  Cffisar,  I.  66.  '^  Caesar,  I.  70.  72. 

«»  Csesar,  I.  69. 


THEY  ARE  OBLIGED  TO  SURRENDER. 


253 


troops  on  a  hill  which  rose  in  the  outskirts  of  the  mountain  region 
and  made  one  last  effoit  to  secure,  with  his  light  troops,  the  highest 
point  in  the  chain  before  him,  hoping,  if  the  attempt  succeeded, 
to  carry  his  whole  army  thither,  and  still  to  retreat  over  the  high 
grounds,  though  by  a  somewhat  different  course  from  that  which 
he  had  originally  designed.  But  he  saw  the  whole  detachment 
which  he  had  sent  on  this  service  cut  to  pieces  before  his  eyes  by 
Caesars  cavalry,  and  his  troops,  dispirited  by  repeated  disappoint- 
ments, seemed  hardly  able  to  resist  an  attack,  if  Caesar  should 
now  try  to  finish  the  campaign  by  a  single  battle.  Caesar,  how- 
ever, preferred  a  surer  and  more  bloodless  victory  ;  and  purposelv 
so  altered  the  disposition  of  his  troops  as  to  allow  Afranius  to  fall 
back  to  his  camp  without  fear  of  interruption.  The  hill  on  which 
the  army  of  the  commonwealth  was  now  posted,  was  untenable 
from  its  want  of  water ;  and  no  better  prospect  presented  itself 
than  to  return  to  the  camp  which  they  had  left  in  the  morning. 
Accordingly  they  did  so  ;  while  Cajsar,  having  carefully  occupied 
every  pass  in  the  mountains  which  led  to  the  Ebro,  again  moved 
towards  his  enemy,  and  pitched  his  camp  for  the  night  as  near  to 
theirs  as  possible. 

The  issue  of  the  campaign  was  now  clearly  decided,  and  the 
remaining  faint  struggles  made  by  Afranius  and  They  endeavour  to 
Petreius  to  protract  their  fate  do  not  require  a  very  are^obirgelf  to^'s'JJi' 
minute  detail.  They  attempted  to  retreat  to  Ilerda,  banded.'""^ ""  '^"" 
where  they  had  left  some  supplies  of  corUj^'"  but  being  harassed, 
as  before,  by  Caesar's  cavalry,  their  progress  was  continually  im- 
peded, their  parties  sent  out  to  get  water  were  cut  off,  and  at  last, 
when  they  remained  in  their  camp  as  if  wearied  with  the  unceas- 
ing annoyance  to  which  they  were  exposed  on  their  march, 
Caesar  prepared  to  surround  them  with  a  line  of  circumvallation, 
and  thus  force  them  to  surrender  at  discretion  from  mere  famine. 
Before  matters  had  come  to  this  extremity,  the  soldiers  on  both 
sides  had,  on  one  occasion,  begun  to  communicate  with  each 
other ;  and  those  of  Afranius,  availing  themselves  of  the  temporary 
absence  of  their  generals  from  the  camp,  proposed  to  submit  to 
Caesar,  if  he  would  engage  to  spare  the  lives  of  their  commanders. 
So  far  had  this  unauthorized  negotiation  proceeded,  that  several 
officers  and  soldiers  from  either  army  passed  without  fear  into  the 
opposite  camp ;  and  the  Spanish  chiefs  in  particular,  whom 
Afranius  kept  with  him  as  hostages  for  the  fidehty  of  their  tribes, 
were  eager  to  commend  themselves  to  the  protection  of  the  con- 
queror. But  Afranius  and  Petreius  being  informed  of  the  subject 
in  agitation,  hastened  back  to  their  camp ;  and  Petreius,  attended 
by  some  troops  especially  attached  to  his  person,  appeared  sudden- 
ly on  the  rampart,  broke  off  the  conferences  between  the  soldiers, 

"^'  Cecsar,  I.  73—84. 


254  SURRENDER  OF  M.  VARRO. 

drove  away  Caesar's  men,  and  seized  and  put  to  the  sword  all  of 
them  whom  he  could  find  within  his  own  lines.  No  doubt  every 
superior  officer  in  Caesar's  army  might  have  been  executed  as  a 
traitor  and  rebel ;  but  justice  itself,  when  not  supported  by  adequate 
power,  becomes  useless  cruelty  ;  and  the  conduct  of  Petreius  on  this 
occasion,  besides  the  barbarity  of  such  an  indiscriminate  slaughter 
of  defenceless  men,  was  merely  likely  to  provoke  a  victorious 
enemy  to  a  severe  retaliation.  When,  therefore,  the  army  of  the 
commonwealth  M-as  reduced  to  the  last  extremity,  and  the  gene- 
rals, if  we  may  believe  Caesar,  threw  themselves  entirely  on  his 
mercy,'^"  he  reproached  them  bitterly  for  their  cruelty  to  his  sol- 
diers, and  represented  this  conduct  as  perfectly  agreeable  to  the 
general  treatment  which  he  had  received  from  the  partisans  of 
Pompey  ;  but  he  was  too  politic  to  follow  their  example,  and  agreed 
to  spare  them  and  their  troops  on  the  condition  of  their  quitting 
Spain  and  disbanding  their  army.  This  last  stipulation  was 
most  welcome  to  the  vanquished  soldiers,  who  thus  unexpectedly 
obtained  their  release  from  service  at  the  hands  of  their  enemy. 
The  natives  of  Spain  were  dismissed  immediately  ;  the  rest  of  the 
troops  were  marched  through  Gaul  to  the  frontiers  of  Italy,  re- 
ceiving rations  from  Csesar  on  their  way,  and  when  they  arrived 
at  the  river  Var,  they  also  were  all  disbanded,  Afranius  and  Pe- 
treius repaired  to  Greece,  and  joined  the  army  of  Pompey. 

M.  Varro  still  remained  in  arms  in  the  south  of  Spain, ^'^  and 
Surrender  of  M.  Var-  ^^^  rcceiviug  tidings  of  tlic  issuc  of  the  campaign 
JT^o'comraonweaUhh!  OH  thc  Slcoris,  hc  intended  to  shut  himself  up  with 
^p'^'"'  his  army  of  two  legions  in  the  island  of  Gades.  more 

familiar  to  our  ears  under  its  present  appellation  of  the  Isle  of 
Leon.  Here  he  had  collected  a  fleet  and  considerable  magazines 
of  corn,  and  had  also  raised  a  large  sum  of  money,  partly  by  forced 
contributions  from  the  Roman  citizens  resident  in  the  province, 
and  partly  by  seizing  the  treasures  and  sacred  ornaments  from 
the  famous  temple  of  Hercules,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  town. 
Caesar,  with  his  usual  activity,  hastened  to  extinguish  these  last 
remains  of  hostility  in  Spain,^'^  and  having  sent  before  him  two 
legions,  under  the  command  of  Q,.  Cassius,  he  followed  himself 
with  six  hundred  horse,  issuing  at  the  same  time  a  proclamation, 
by  which  the  magistrates  and  chief  men  of  all  the  towns  of  the 
province  were  required  to  meet  him  on  a  certain  day  at  Corduba. 
The  fame  of  his  victory  over  Afranius  and  Petreius  had  produced 
so  general  an  impression  in  his  favour,  that  his  proclamation  was 
every  where  obeyed,  and  every  town  took  an  active  part  in  his 
cause.  The  people  of  Gades  declared  for  Caesar,  and  expelled 
from  their  city  the  officer  to  whom  Varro  had  intrusted  the  corn- 
s'' Cffisar,  I.  84—87.  '''  Caesar,  II.  19—21. 
«•'  Csesar,  II.  17. 


CiESAR  IS  APPOINTED  DICTATOR.  255 

mand  ;  and  one  of  the  two  Roman  legions  that  composed  Varro's 
army  deserted  him  openly,  and  marched  away  to  Hispalis.  Upon 
this  Varro  offered  to  surrender  his  remaining  legion,  together  with 
the  fleet,  corn,  and  money  that  he  had  collected  for  the  war. 
Csesar  received  his  submission  at  Corduba,  where  he  found  the 
principal  individuals  of  the  province,  both  Romans  and  Spaniards, 
assembled  according  to  his  orders.  He  thanked  them  for  the  zeal 
which  they  had  shown  in  his  cause,  and  remitted  to  the  Roman 
citizens  among  them  the  contributions  which  Varro  had  demand- 
ed. He  thence  proceeded  to  Gades,  where  he  ordered  the  treasures 
taken  from  the  temple  of  Hercules  to  be  restored  ;  and  having  left 
Q,.  Cassius,  with  four  legions,  to  command  the  province,  he  em- 
barked on  board  the  fleet  which  Varro  had  just  surrendered  to  him, 
and  arrived  after  a  short  passage  at  Tarraco.  Here  he  received 
a  number  of  deputations  from  the  diiferent  towns  of  ^n  spab  submus  to 
the  north  of  Spain,  and  having  bestowed  some  hon-  ^'=^"- 
ours  on  such  states  and  individuals  as  had  most  assisted  him  in 
his  late  campaign,  he  set  out  from  Tarraco  by  land,  and  returned 
to  that  part  of  his  army  which  he  had  left  under 

Cn-iiT-  1  j-ii  •  rn/r         •!•        He  returns  to  Massilia. 

.    1  rebonnis,  employed  m  the  siege  oi  Massilia. 

It  is  said  that  the  complete  conquest  of  Spain  was  effected  in  forty 

days  from  the  period  of  his  first  opening  the  campaign  on  the 

Sicoris.'^i^ 

The  citizens  of  Massilia  were  by  this  time  reduced  to  the  last 

extremity,'^'*  their  naval  force  having  been  totally 

1    r      .      T   1        T^       ■  T-»  ■  1  1  1      1  1       Surrender  of  Massilia. 

deteated  by  Decimus  Brutus,  a  considerable  breach 
having  been  made  in  their  walls,  and  they  themselves  suffering 
the  combined  evils  of  scanty  sustenance  and  disease.  Accord- 
ingly, on  Caesar's  arrival  before  the  town,  they  offered  to  surrender 
to  him,  L.  Domitius  having  already  effected  his  escape  by  sea  ; 
and  their  submission  was  so  far  accepted,  that  their  city  was  pre- 
served from  plunder,  and  was  even  allowed  to  retain  its  liberty  ; 
but  they  were  obliged  to  surrender  all  the  arms  and  military 
engines  in  their  arsenals,  to  give  up  all  their  ships,  to  pay  to  Cae- 
sar all'the  money  in  their  treasury,  and  at  a  subsequent  period  to 
forfeit  most  of  the  dominion  which  they  possessed  beyond  their 
own  walls.  Before  the  end  of  the  siege,  Cassar  re-  caesar  is  appointed 
ceived  intelligence  from  Rome  that  he  had  been  dictator. 
appointed  dictator  by  M.  Lepidus  the  praetor,  in  pursuance  of  a 
decree  of  the  people.  Nothing  could  be  more  illegal  than  such 
an  appointment,  made  as  it  was  without  the  authority  of  the  sen- 
ate, or  the  nomination  of  either  of  the  consuls  ;  '^'^  but  it  appears 
that  the  absence  of  the  chief  magistrates  of  the  commonwealth 
had  somewhat  embarrassed  Caesar's  party,  and  that  they  did  not 

"*  Cffisar,  II.  32.  "8  Appian,  de  Bello  Civili,  II.  48. 

215  Ccesar,  II.  22.     Dion  Cassius,  XLI. 
165. 


256  STATE  OF  ITALY  DURING  THE 

know  how  to  procure  his  election  as  consul  for  the  year  following, 
without  this  previous  measure  of  conferring  on  him  the  dictator- 
ship, that  he  might  he  enabled  to  preside  at  the  comitia.  This 
could  not  be  done  by  Lepidus,'^"'  who  was  only  praetor,  and  far 
less  by  any  inferior  officer  :  there  was  no  alternative,  therefore, 
but  to  appoint  Caesar  dictator,  or  to  allow  the  year  to  expire  with- 
out proceeding  to  any  election  ;  and  then,  when  the  present  con- 
suls should  have  resigned  their  power,  to  let  the  comitia  be  held, 
as  was  usual  in  such  cases  by  an  interrex.  But  Caesar  now 
being  invested  with  the  title,  at  least,  of  a  lawful  magistrate,  set 
out  for  Rome,  as  soon  as  Massilia  had  surrendered,  in  order  to 
exercise  his  power  in  the  civil  government  with  more  effect  than 
during  his  late  visit  to  the  capital  on  his  way  from  Brundisium  to 
Mutiny  of  csBsar's  Spain.  Ho  was  unexpectedly  detained,  however, 
troops  at  piacentia.  ^^  Placeutia,  by  a  mutiny  which  broke  out  in  a 
part  of  his  army,*^'^  owing,  as  it  is  said,  to  the  disappointment  of 
the  soldiers  in  not  being  gratified,  as  they  had  hoped,  with  the 
plunder  of  Italy.  Caesar's  ability  displayed  itself  on  this  occasion 
to  great  advantage.  He  addressed  the  mutinous  troops  in  the 
firmest  tone  ;  and  as  they  professed  to  wish  to  gain  their  dis- 
charge, he  instantly  dismissed  from  his  service  one  entire  legion, 
and  punished  with  death  the  principal  authors  of  the  mutiny  ; 
after  which,  finding  the  legion  most  anxious  to  be  again  received 
into  favour,  he  consented  to  revoke  its  punishment,  and  to  con- 
tinue it  in  his  service.  In  this  manner,  like  Cromwell  on  a  simi- 
lar occasion,  he  quelled  the  most  formidable  danger  that  could 
threaten  him,  by  appearing  unmoved  by  it ;  and  Avhilst  he  was 
trampling  on  all  laws  himself,  gave  a  lesson  to  his  followers  that 
they  were  not  to  be  indulged  with  an  equal  license.  From  Pia- 
centia he  tlien  proceeded  to  Rome,  and  entered  on  the  dictator- 
ship ;  but  not  choosing  at  present  to  hold  this  unpopular  title 
longer  than  was  necessary,  he  held  the  comitia  for  the  election  of 
consuls,  and  having  procured  his  own  nomination,  together  with 
that  of  P.  Servilius  Isauricus,  he  laid  down  his  office  of  dictator 
in  eleven  days  after  he  had  begun  to  exercise  it.^^' 

But  within  this  short  space  of  time  there  were  not  a  few  im- 
state  of  Italy  during     portaut  subjccts  wliich  claimcd  his  attention.  When 

the  first  year  of  the       i       ^        i         .  ^  r         a        •  ,i  i      /•  i 

civil  war.  he  had  set  out  for  bpam  some  months    before,  ho 

left  the  command  of  Italy,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  to  M. 
Antonius.  A  rebel  general  in  this  manner  subjected  the  first 
country  in  the  empire  to  the  absolute  control  of  one  of  the  vilest 
of  his  rebel  officers.  Antonius  acted  on  no  other  authority  than 
Caesar's  commission  ;  but  this  empowered  him  to  prevent  any 
one  from  leaving  Italy,2^°  and  to  conduct  himself  as  the  master  of 

2'T  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  IX.  219  Csesar,  III.  2. 

"'  Dion  Cassius,  XLI.  165.  Suetonius,        220  Cicero,   ad    Atticum,   X.    epist,  X. 
inCffisare,  69.  XVI.     PhilippicII.  23. 


FIRST  YEAR  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR.  257 

a  conquered  province.  He  travelled  about,  accompanied  at  once 
by  his  mistress,  who  was  carried  in  an  open  litter,  by  his  wife, 
and  by  his  mother,  and  attended  by  a  train  of  men  and  women 
of  the  most  abandoned  description.  He  obhged  the  several  towns 
through  which  he  passed  to  send  out  deputations  to  meet  him,  and 
to  olfer  complimentary  addresses,  in  which  his  mistress,  who  was 
by  profession  an  inferior  actress,  was  saluted  with  the  name  of 
Volumnia,  a  name  consecrated  in  the  traditions  of  Rome  as  hav- 
ing been  that  of  the  wife  or  mother  of  Coriolanus.  On  other 
occasions,  when  the  magistrates  of  some  of  the  most  considerable 
cities  were  summoned  to  attend  him,'^'^'  he  treated  them  with 
studied  insult,  because  their  towns  had  incurred  Caesar's  displeas- 
ure from  their  disinclination  to  his  cause.  This  behaviour  tended 
greatly  to  ahenate  the  affections  of  the  people  of  Italy,  and  to 
make  them  anticipate  the  evils  likely  to  follow  from  the  final  vic- 
tory of  a  party  whose  adherents  already  so  boldly  defied  and 
insulted  public  opinion.  Even  the  dispositions  of  the  army  began 
to  waver  ;  and  as  far  as  we  can  learn  from  some  hints  in  Cicero's 
letters  to  Atticus,-"^  there  were  some  of  Caesar's  officers  who  were 
already  disgusted  with  the  party  which  they  had  chosen,  and 
who  secretly  fomented  the  discontent  of  the  soldiers.  The  cen- 
turions of  three  cohorts,  posted  at  Pompeii,  came  to  Cicero'^'^^ 
while  he  was  residing  at  his  villa  in  that  neighbourhood,  and  of- 
fered to  place  themselves,  their  soldiers,  and  the  town  which  they 
occupied,  at  his  disposal.  He  was  not  disposed  to  commit  him- 
self by  accepting  their  otfer ;  but  it  shows  how  fair  a  prospect 
Pompey  would  have  had  of  regaining  Italy,  if  he  had  availed 
himself  of  Caesar's  absence  to  make  a  descent  upon  it.  Mean- 
while the  minds  of  men  in  general  were  kept  in  a  continual  fer- 
ment. We  have  seen,  on  former  occasions,  that  the  number  of 
debtors  at  Rome,  unable  or  unwilling  to  satisfy  their  creditors, 
was  usually  very  considerable  ;  and  as  the  habits  of  the  times  be- 
came more  expensive,  it  was  likely  to  be  perpetually  increasing. 
The  present  distracted  state  of  Italy  contributed  to  aggravate  the 
difficulties  of  persons  of  this  description.  Money,  it  appears,  had 
risen  greatly  in  value, ^'*  partly  perhaps  from  the  sums  taken  out 
of  circulation  by  the  many  wealthy  individuals  who  followed  Pom- 
pey into  Greece ;  partly  from  the  great  demand  for  it  to  maintain 
such  large  armies  as  were  now  on  foot  in  different  parts  of  the 
empire  ;  and  partly,  we  may  suppose,  from  the  practice  of  hoard- 
ing, which  is  always  common  amongst  a  large  proportion  of  the 
community,  in  times  of  apprehended  distress  and  dangei-.  On 
the  other  hand,  landed  property  was  as  naturally  depreciated,  for 
no  one  liked  to  purchase  that  which  might  soon  be  wrested  from 

321  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  X.  epist.  XIII.         223  Cicero,  ad  Atticum.X.epist.  XVI. 
222  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  X.  epist.   XII.         224  Caesar,  III.  1.     Dion   Cassius,  XLI. 
XIV.  XV.  XVI.  170,  171. 


258  CiESAR'S  REGULATIONS  IN  HIS  DICTATORSHIP. 

him  to  furnish  settlements  for  the  veteran  soldiers  of  the  party 
which  might  finally  prove  victorious.  In  this  manner  a  debtor 
could  neither  readily  raise  money  by  the  sale  of  his  estates  to 
discharge  the  principal  of  his  debt,  nor  could  he  easily  find 
means  to  pay  tlie  interest,  which  in  itself  was  a  great  and  now  a 
permanent  burden.  Many,  therefore,  were  looking  forward  with 
hope  to  a  total  revolution,  by  which  all  debts  would  at  once  be 
cancelled ;  many  derived  encouragement  from  the  assurance  of 
Antonius,'^'^^  that  all  exiles  would  soon  be  allowed  to  return  to 
their  country:  while  others  again  were  anticipating  with  horror 
a  regular  system  of  proscription  and  massacre  whenever  Caesar 
should  return  from  Spain.  His  arrival,  invested  as  he  was 
with  the  power  of  dictator,  was  thus  viewed  on  all  sides 
with  eagerness  and  anxiety ;  and  men  watched  to  see  the 
first  measures  of  his  government,  by  which  they  might  judge 
whether  he  intended  to  imitate  Sylla  or  Catiline  ;  whether  he  felt 
himself  strong  enough  to  disclaim,  as  a  tyrant,  the  principles 
which  he  had  favoured  as  a  demagogue  ;  or  whether  he  still  pro- 
posed to  tread  consistently  in  the  steps  of  his  early  life,  and  to 
uphold  the  needy,  the  extravagant,  and  the  licentious,  in  their 
several  courses  of  fraud,  and  dissipation,  and  profligacy. 

But  Cassar  knew  that  no  government  can  sport  with  the  rights 
casar-s  regulations  in  0^  property  without  sinking  into  weakness  and 
his  dictatorship.  contcmpt.  He  was  obliged,  therefore,  to  uphold 
the  cause  of  the  creditor,  and  to  give  no  countenance  to  those  who 
called  for  an  entire  abolition  of  all  debts ;  but  yet,  wishing  to  re- 
lieve the  debtor  he  ordered  that  certain  commissioners  should  be 
appointed  to  estimate  the  property  of  an  insolvent,"^®  and  to  oblige 
the  creditor  to  receive  it  in  payment  at  the  price  which  it  would 
have  borne  before  the  war.  It  is  added,  by  Suetonius,'^^''  that  he 
caused  all  sums,  previously  paid  as  interest,  to  be  deducted  from 
the  principal  of  the  debt ;  by  which  regulation,  together  with  the 
preceding  one,  the  creditor  sustained,  on  the  whole,  a  loss  of 
twenty-five  per  cent.  In  his  next  measure,  the  dictator  was  en- 
abled to  indulge  his  inclinations  with  less  restraint.  We  have 
already  mentioned  the  improvements  introduced  in  the  laws 
against  bribery  and  other  offences  during  Pompey's  last  consul- 
ship ;  and  that  several  individuals  were  tried  and  banished  under 
the  provisions  of  his  acts.  Caesar  now  procured  a  decree  of  the 
people,  reversing  all  the  sentences  passed  at  that  time,'^^^  and  al- 
lowing all  who  had  been  sufferers  from  them  to  return  to  their 
country  ;  alleging,  that  an  undue  influence  had  been  exercised 
against  them  by  the  presence  of  Pompey's  military  force  in  the 
city  during  their  trials.     But  to  show  the  real  motives  by  which 

225  Cicero,   ad  Atticum,  X.  epist.  XIII.         227  In  Csesare,  42. 

226  Caesar,  III,  1.  22s  Caesar,  III.  1. 


CAMPAIGN  OF  CURIO  IN  AFRICA. 


259 


he  was  actuated,  he  excepted  Milo  from  the  benefit  of  this  decree,**^ 
because  he  was  well  known  to  be  an  enemy  to  the  popular  party  ; 
although  no  one  had  been  condemned  at  the  same  period  against 
whom  Pompey  had  testified  a  stronger  feeling  of  dislike.  It 
should  be  observed,  too,  that  the  language  of  Cicero,  on  several 
occasions,  implies  a  far  more  general  restoration  of  exiles  on  this 
occasion,  than  Csesar  or  his  partisans  have  thought  proper  to  ac- 
knowledge f^°  that  Dion  Cassius,  Appian,  and  Suelonius  agree  in 
asserting,  distinctly,  the  same  thing  ;  and  that  Suetonius  adds 
further, '^■^^  that  all  those  who  had  been  degraded  by  the  censors, 
were  in  like  manner  restored  to  their  former  rank.  The  object  of 
this  last  step  was  probably  to  gratify  those  individuals  whom 
Appius  Claudius  had  lately  disgraced  in  his  censorship,  and  who 
at  that  very  time  threw  themselves  into  the  arms  of  Caesar,  in  the 
hope  of  obtaining,  through  him,  the  recovery  of  their  dignity. 
When  he  had  thus  rewarded  his  followers,  and  en-  He  leaves  Rome  and 
deavoured  to  gratify  that  class  of  persons  who  were  si?m?from^°wh^crhe 
most  disposed  to  support  him,  without  greatly  of-  uTvoT''"*^''""^- 
fending  the  possessors  of  property,  he  resigned  the  dictatorship,  as 
has  been  already  mentioned,  and  set  out  for  Brundisium.  Here 
his  army  had  been  ordered  to  assemble  ;  and  the  troops  which  had 
returned  from  Gaul  and  Spain,  together  with  those  which  he  had 
raised  in  Italy,  formed,  on  the  whole,  a  force  of  no  fewer  than 
twelve  legions.^^2  Some  of  these,  however,  were  hardly  more 
than  skeletons,  owing  to  their  losses  in  former  campaigns,  which 
had  not  been  yet  made  up,  and  to  the  effects  of  sickness,  produced 
by  the  sudden  change  which  many  of  the  men  had  experienced 
from  the  climate  of  Spain  and  Gaul,  to  the  influence  of  an  autumn 
in  Apulia  ;  nor  had  he  ships  to  enable  him  at  once  to  transport 
into  Greece  so  considerable  an  army.  According  to  his  own  state- 
ment, the  seven  legions,  which  he  at  first  proposed  to  embark, 
amounted  to  no  more  than  20,000  infantry,  and  600  cavalry, 
implying  a  diminution  of  their  original  numbers,  for  which  his 
accounts  of  his  former  campaigns  by  no  means  would  have  pre- 
pared us ;  and  with  this  force  he  put  to  sea  on  the  fourth  of  Janu- 
ary, and  on  the  following  day  effected  his  landing  in  safety  on 
the  coast  of  Epirus. 

The  advantages  which  Caesar  had  gained  in  Spain  and  Italy 
in  the  first  year  of  the  war,  were  somewhat  check-  campaign  of  curio  in 
ered  by  the  ill  success  of  his  officers  in  Africa  and  u.a'704. 
in  lUyricum.     We  have  already  seen  that  C.  Curio  had  occupied 
Sicily  without  opposition,  M.  Cato  having  thought  his  forces  in- 


229  Dion  Cassius,  XLI.  170. 

Appian, 

231  In  Ccesare,  4] , 

II.  48. 

232  Cffisar,  III.  2,  6. 

230  Ad  Atticum,  VII.    epist. 

XL;    X. 

epist.  XIII.  XIV. 

260  STATE  OF  AFRICA. 

sufficient  to  defend  the  island,  and  having  accordingly  abandoned 
it  before  the  arrival  of  the  enemy.  Curio's  original  instructions 
from  Cassar,^^'  directed  him  to  cross  over  into  Africa  so  soon  as 
he  should  have  secured  Sicily  ;  and  this  first  object  being  already 
eftected,  he  set  sail  witlt  two  legions,  about  the  middle  of  the 
summer,  and  reached  the  African  coast  in  safety  after  a  passage 
of  two  days  and  three  nights.  The  Roman  province  of  Africa 
was  at  this  time  held  by  P.  Alius  Varus,  an  officer  attached  to  the 
cause  of  Pompey,  but  little  scrupulous,  as  it  appears,  of  disregard- 
ing the  forms  of  the  commonwealth.  He  had  been  opposed  to 
Csssar  in  Italy,  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion  ;  and  being  then 
state  of  that  dcsertcd  by  his  soldiers,  he  left  Italy,  and  hastened 

province.  to  Afrlca,'^^^  a  province  which  had  formerly  fallen 

to  his  lot  to  govern  in  the  year  that  followed  his  prsetorship.  His 
old  authority  in  that  country  was  still  favourably  remembered  ; 
and  the  late  prseto?-,  C.  Considius,  having  returned  to  Rome,'^^^  and 
left  the  province  under  the  care  of  his  lieutenant,  Q,.  Ligarius,  till 
the  appointment  and  arrival  of  a  successor,  P.  Varus  thought 
proper  to  take  the  chief  command  upon  himself,  in  order  to  secure 
so  valuable  a  portion  of  the  empire  from  the  usurpation  of  Caesar. 
Ligarius  was  a  quiet  man,  and  was  glad  to  be  released  from  a 
situation  of  much  difficulty  and  danger,  so  that  he  willingly  al- 
lowed Varus  to  supersede  him.  But  soon  after,  L.  Tubero"^ 
arrived  off  the  coast,  as  the  lawful  successor  of  C.  Considius,  hav- 
ing received  Africa  as  his  province,  amongst  the  various  appoint- 
ments made  by  the  authority  of  the  senate  just  before  they  were 
compelled  by  Caesar  to  abandon  the  capital.  It  seems,  however, 
that  Tubero  had  no  inclination  to  accept  the  office,  and  had  only 
been  persuaded  to  do  so  by  the  strong  remonstrances  of  some  of 
his  friends,  who  represented  his  compliance  as  a  duty  which  he 
owed  to  his  country  in  these  times  of  peril.  A  man  thus  reluc- 
tantly engaged  in  the  cause,  appeared  to  Varus  unfit  to  be  trusted 
with  a  post  of  such  importance  as  the  command  of  Africa  ;  and 
thus  availing  himself  of  the  license  of  civil  wars.  Varus  forcibly 
excluded  the  lawful  officer  of  the  commonwealth  from  taking 
possession  of  his  province,  and  would  not  even  suffer  him  to  set 
his  foot  upon  the  shore.  Tubero,  thus  repelled,  showed  the  in- 
justice of  the  suspicions  entertained  against  him,  by  repairing 
immediately  to  the  standard  of  the  commonwealth  in  Macedonia  f^'' 
while  the  possession  of  Africa  was  to  be  disputed  between  two 
parties,  both  of  whom  were  equally  destitute  of  a  legal  title  to  it. 
Varus,  however,  professed  to  act  as  an  officer  of  the  common- 

233  Csesar,  de  Bello  Civili,  I.  30  ;  II.  23.         23s  Cicero,  pro  Ligario,  2. 

234  Ceesar,  de  Bello  Civili,  1.31,  Cicero,         ^^  Cicero,  pro  Ligario,  7.  Caesar,  I.  31. 
pro  Ligario,  2.  ^''  Cicero,  pro  Ligario,  8. 


DEFEAT  OF  CESAR'S  LIEUTENANTS. 


261 


wealth,  and  a  partisan  of  Pompey ;  and  as  such  j,,ba,  king  of  Mauri- 
was  strongly  supported  by  Juba,  Idng  of  Mauritania.  ofThec?mmoimeaUh 
That  prince  was  the  son  of  HiempsaV^^  who,  in  '°Aftica. 
the  civil  wars  between  Marius  and  Sylla,  had  supported  the  party 
of  the  aristocracy,  and  had  been  rewarded  for  his  services  with 
the  kingdom  of  Mauritania,  when  Pompey  overthrew  tlie  united 
forces  of  Domitius  and  Hiarbas,  and  established  the  authority  of 
Sylla  in  Africa.  Juba,  therelbre,  was  disposed,  naturally,  to  assist 
Pompey  as  the  benefactor  of  his  family ;  and  his  assistance  was 
given  with  double  readiness,  when  he  found  that  the  army  against 
which  it  was  required  was  commanded  by  Curio ;  for  it  seems 
that  Curio,^^^  during  his  tribuneship,  had  proposed  a  law  to  declare 
the  kingdom  of  Mauritania  forfeited  to  the  Roman  people.  The 
succour  which  Juba  afforded  w^as  prompt  and  de-  Defeat  and  death  of 
cisive.^^"  Curio  obtained  at  first  some  advantages  ^"™' 
over  the  Roman  forces  under  Varus  ;  but  being  too  much  elated 
by  his  success,  he  neglected  the  necessary  precautions  ;  and  at- 
tacking the  army  which  Juba  brought  up  to  the  relief  of  Varus, 
without  duly  acquainting  himself  with  its  strength,  he  and  the 
entire  force  under  his  command  were  cut  to  pieces.  By  this  vic- 
tory the  province  of  Africa  remained  under  the  authority  of  the 
commonwealth,  and  became  afterwards  the  favourite  refuge  of  the 
constitutional  party,  when  the  defeat  of  Pharsalia  had  ruiiied  their 
cause  in  Greece  and  Asia. 

With  regard  to  the  operations  in  Illyricum,  our  information  is 
exceedingly  defective.  It  appears  that  Caesar,  be-  Defeatofca^sar-.iieu- 
fore  his  departure  for  Spain, ^*'  had  left  C.  Anto-  tenants  m  niyricum. 
nius,  the  brother  of  Marcus,  with  a  certain  naval  and  military 
force  in  Illyricum,  whicii  country  was  comprised,  together  with 
the  Cisalpine  and  Transalpine  Gaul,  within  the  limits  of  his 
original  province.  Its  occupation  at  the  present  moment  was  of 
considerable  importance  to  Cassar's  interests,  because  it  might 
otherwise,  during  his  absence  in  Spain,  have  afforded  to  Pompey 
a  passage  to  the  north  of  Italy,  and  thus  have  enabled  him  to 
cut  off'  the  resources  which  Ca3sar  drew  in  abundance  from  the 
attachment  of  the  people  of  that  country.  Reports,  indeed,  were 
prevalent  at  Rome  as  early  as  the  month  of  April,  that  Pompey 
was  actually  making  this  attempt  ;'^^^  but  his  plans  were  of 
another  kind,  and  his  armaments  were  not  yet  in  such  a  state  of 
forwardness  as  to  encourage  him  to  act  on  the  offensive.  To  the 
southward  of  Illyricum,  the  mouth  of  the  Adriatic'^^^  ^y^^  guarded 
with  a  small  squadron  by  P.  Cornelius  Dolabella,  the  son-in-law 

233  Dion  Cassius,  XLI.  172,  edit.  Leun-  2"  Appian,  de  Bel!o  Civili,  II.  41. 

clav.     Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  12.     Auctor  ^42  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  X.  epist.  VI. 

de  Beilo  Africano,  56.  243  Cicero,  ad   Alticum,  X.  epist.    VII, 

239  Caesar,  II.  25.  Appian,  II.  41. 

2*0  Caesar,  II.  36,  et  seq. 


262  PREPARATIONS  OF  POMPEY  FOR  WAR. 

of  Ciceio;  but  like  most  others  of  the  young  nobility  of  bad 
character,  engaged  in  the  cause  of  Cgesar.  Inferior  as  Caesar 
was  to  his  adversaries  in  naval  means,  he  could  only  expect  Do- 
labella  to  keep  the  sea  for  a  time,  till  the  fleets  of  the  enemy 
should  be  brought  together ;  after  which  it  became  his  business 
to  preserve  his  ships  with  the  utmost  care,  as  Cgesar  was  ill  able 
to  replace  them,  if  they  should  be  taken  or  destroyed.  But 
whether  from  want  of  caution  on  the  part  of  Dolabella,  or  from 
any  other  cause,  he  was  attacked  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Adri- 
atic by  the  ships  of  the  commonwealth,  under  M.  Octavius  and 
L.  Scribonius  Libo,^^*  and  was  defeated  with  the  loss  of  his  entire 
fleet.  His  disaster  was  only  the  prelude  to  another  of  greater 
magnitude  ;  for  C.  Antonius"^^  coming  up  in  the  hope  of  relieving 
him,  was  surrounded  by  the  victorious  forces  of  the  enemji^,  who 
putting  on  shore  a  portion  of  their  seamen,  blockaded  him  by 
land  and  sea,  till  he  was  obliged  to  surrender  himself  prisoner 
with  all  the  troops  under  his  command.  The  soldiers  were  in- 
corporated with  Pompey's  army :  and  these  successes  tended, 
probably,  to  facilitate  the  levies  which  were  now  going  on,  in 
the  name  of  the  commonwealth,  in  Greece,  and  in  the  eastern 
provinces  of  the  empire. 

It  is  now  proper  to  notice  more  particularly  the  proceedings 
Preparations  of  Pom-  of  Pompcy  siuce  his  arrival  in  Greece  in  the  early 
pey  for  war.  p^rt  of  the  ycar  704.     He  found  himself  attended 

by  both  the  consuls,  and  about  two  hundred  senators, ^^^  so  that 
he  might  fairly  consider  himself  as  being  supported  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  commonwealth.  For  the  present,  indeed,  almost 
all  the  magistrates  of  the  republic  were  at  his  quarters  ;  but  as 
their  power  would  expire  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  as  it  was 
impossible  to  observe  the  proper  forms  of  election  in  any  other 
place  than  at  Rome,  it  was  resolved  that  the  present  officers 
should  be  continued  in  their  commands,  with  the  titles  of  pro- 
consuls, proprastors,  &c.,  by  a  decree  of  the  senate.  This  ap- 
pears to  have  been  perfectly  consistent  with  the  constitutional 
power  of  that  order  ;  and  a  place  was  accordmgly  marked  out  at 

244  Florus,  IV.  2.     Dion  Cassius,  XLI.  very  possibly  have  deserted  to  the  enemy 

171.     Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  36.     Caesar,  on  this  occasion,  and  might  have  carried 

III.  5.  to  them  some  useful  information,  the  im- 

2'*'   Florus,    Dion    Cassius,   ubi    supra,  portance   of  which    Csesar   would    gladly 

Livy,  Epitome,   CX.     Caesar  asserts  that  exaggerate,  so  as  to  ascribe  the  loss  of  the 

Antonius  was  betrayed  by  one  of  his  offi-  army  chiefly,  or  entirely  to   this  cause. — 

cers,  T.  Pulcio,  who  afterwards  served  in  The  treason  of  T.  Pulcio,  whatever  it  was, 

Pompey's  army  ;  Cssar,  III.  67.     It  has  is  not  even  hinted  at  by  Florus,  Suetonius, 

been  a  favourite  resource  with  others  be-  the  epitomizer  of  Livy,  Appian,  nor  Dion 

sides  Caesar  to  attribute  their  disasters  to  Cassius  ;  writers,  none   of  whom   can  be 

treason  ;  but  such  statements,  when  resting  called  unfavourable  to  Caesar,  and  the  two 

merely  on  the  assertion  of  the  vanquished  latter  of  whom  have  rather  a   bias  in  his 

party,  should  be  received  with  great  sus-  favour, 
picion.  An  officer  in  Antonius's  army  might        246  Dion  Cassius,  XLI.  173. 


STRENGTH  OF  POMPEY'S  ARMY 


263 


Thessalonica,  and  duly  consecrated  by  the  augurs,  The  senate  assembles 
that  the  auspices  might  be  taken  with  the  usual  atxhessaionrca. 
solemnities,  and  that  the  senate  might  not  assemble  on  profane 
ground ;  a  circumstance  which  would  have  violated  all  its  acts. 
Meanwhile  Pompey  was  busily  employed  in  collecting  troops  and 
ships,  and  supplies  of  provisions  from  all  quarters.  Many  of  the 
petty  princes  and  states  of  Asia  Minor  and  the  eastern  coast  of 
the  Mediterranean,  were  indebted  to  him  for  their  crowns  or  their 
dominions  during  his  long  commands  in  that  part  of  the  empire, 
so  that  his  private  influence  came  powerfully  in  aid  of  the  name 
of  the  Roman  republic,  in  procuring  their  support,  strength  of  Pompeys 
He  had  under  his  immediate  standard  an  army  of  ^'°'^- 
nine  legions  of  Roman  citizens,^^''  five  of  which  he  had  brought 
with  him  from  Italy,  two  had  been  raised  by  order  of  Lentulus 
in  the  Roman  province  of  Asia,  one  was  composed  of  the  veteran 
soldiers  who  had  settled  in  Crete  and  Macedonia  after  their  term 
of  service  had  expired,  and  one  had  been  formed  out  of  the  sol- 
diers of  two  veteran  legions  which  had  been  quartered  in  Sicily. 
With  these  was  joined  an  auxiliary  force  of  infantry  which  Pom- 
pey had  lately  raised  in  Greece ;  and  a  reinforcement  of  two 
legions  more  was  expected  ere  long  to  be  added  to  the  army, 
which  Scipio,  Pompey's  father-in-law,  was  to  bring  with  him  from 
his  province  in  Syria.  The  cavalry  is  said  to  have  amounted 
to  seven  thousand,  but  it  seems  to  have  consisted  of  the  troops  of 
so  many  different  nations,  that  much  time  and  a  careful  discipline 
must  have  been  needed  before  such  various  elements  could  coa- 
lesce into  one  body.  The  light  infantry  were  also  numerous,  but 
they,  like  the  cavalry,  were  a  motley  force  of  Greeks,  Cretans, 
Syrians,  and  nativ^es  of  Pontus,  whose  steadiness  was  little  to  be 
trusted  in  the  hour  of  difficulty.  It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the 
real  numbers  of  the  whole  army,  because  we  know  not  whether 
the  legions  contained  their  full  compliment  of  men,  or  whether 
some  of  them  were  not  mere  skeletons,  which  it  was  intended  to 
fill  up  from  time  to  time  with  new  levies.  But  whatever  was  the 
numerical  strength  of  Pompey's  troops,  they  were  so  decidedly 
inferior  in  quality  to  those  of  the  enemy,  that  their  general,  under 
present  circumstances,  could  not  venture  to  oppose  them  to  Cae- 
sar's veterans  in  the  open  field.  He  was  fully  sensible,  indeed,  of 
their  inferiority,  and  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost,  during  the  in- 
terval of  leisure  that  was  afforded  him,  in  improving  their  disci- 
pline, and  training  them  incessantly  in  those  military  exercises 
which  the  nature  of  ancient  warfare  rendered  so  important.^^^ 
Pompey  himself  took  part  in  these  exercises  with  all  the  spirit 
and  activity  of  youth,  and  added  at  once  to  his  own  popularity 

SIT  Csesar,  III.  4.  248  piutarch,  in  Pompeio,  64.    Appian, 

II.  49. 
18 


264         LANGUAGE  HELD  BY  POMPEY'S  PARTY. 

and  to  the  confidence  of  his  soldiers  by  his  skill  and  strength  in 
throwing  the  javelin,  and  the  perfect  address  with  which  he  man- 
aged his  horse,  while  he  was  directing  the  manoeuvres  of  the 
cavalry.  He  hoped  to  keep  the  enemy  at  a  distance  by  the  aid 
His  fleet.  of  his  numcrous  fleet,  till  he  had  sufficiently  organ- 

ized and  disciplined  his  army,  to  return  to  Italy  wiih  every  pros- 
pect of  final  success.  All  the  maritime  countries  of  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Mediterranean  had  contributed  their  quotas  of  ships,*^*^ 
and  the  whole  naval  force  was  placed  under  the  command  of  M. 
Bibulus,  the  colleague  of  Caesar  in  his  first  consulship,  who  felt  a 
strong  personal  enmity  against  him  in  consequence  of  their  dif- 
ferences at  that  period.  Finally,  ample  magazines  of  corn  had 
been  collected  from  Thessaly,  Asia  Minor,  Egypt,  and  Cyrene, 
that  the  army  might  be  enabled  to  wait  patiently  the  issue  of 
their  general's  plans,  and  might  not  be  driven  to  risk  any  despe- 
Language  held  by  his  ^'^tc  mcasurcs  from  the  want  of  provisions.  Mean- 
p"'^  time   the  language   held   by  Pompey  was  in  the 

highest  degree  lofty  and  uncompromising.  Not  only  were  Cae- 
sar's partisans  deservedly  spoken  of  as  rebels,  and  threatened  with 
the  vengeance  of  the  laws,  but  all  who  had  remained  in  Italy, 
and  had  taken  no  share  in  the  defence  of  the  commonwealth, 
were  considered  as  guilty  of  an  abandonment  of  their  duty,  and 
it  was  proposed  to  confiscate  their  property,  in  order  that  the 
faitliful  soldiers,  by  whose  aid  the  constitution  should  be  preserved 
and  restored  to  its  independence,  might  be  rewarded  by  its  distri- 
bution. Cicero  several  times  speaks  in  the  strongest  terms  of  the 
severities  which  would  have  followed  the  victory  of  the  constitu- 
tionalists,"" and  declares  that  they  would  have  ordered  a  general 
proscription,  as  unsparing  as  that  of  Sylla.  We  are  told,  indeed, 
by  Plutarch,*^'  that  a  resolution  w^as  passed,  at  Cato's  suggestion, 
by  the  senate  assembled  at  Thessalonica,  declaring  that  no  Roman 
citizen  should  be  put  to  death  out  of  the  field  of  battle,  nor  any 
city  subject  to  the  Roman  government  given  up  to  plunder.  If 
this  be  true,  Ave  must  -suppose  that  the  declaration  was  meant  to 
apply  only  to  the  period  of  actual  hostilities  ;  nor  is  it  unlikely 
that  the  humanity  of  Pompey  and  Cato  might  have  been  able 
thus  far  to  mitigate  the  horrors  of  warfare,  while  the  violence  of 
some  of  their  associates  would  have  defied  any  such  restraint  in 
the  event  of  the  final  triumph  of  their  party.  The  character  of 
Pompey  himself  is  most  remote  from  cruelty,  although  he  may 
have  been  unable  to  check  the  excesses  of  his  partisans,  or  may 
have  threatened  to  punish,  perhaps  with  an  excessive  severity, 
the  treasons  from  which  he  himself,  as  well  as  the  common- 
wealth, had  sufiered  so  heavily.     But  it  is  also  consistent  with 

2<9  Caesar,  III.  3.  5.  X.  epist.  VII. ;  XI.  epist.  VI.     Ad  Fa- 

25"  Ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  VII.  X.  XI.  ;     miliares,  IV.  epist.  IX. ;  VII.  epist.  IIL 

251  In  Pompeio,  65  ;  in  Catone,  53. 


PilOCEEmNGS  OP  POMPBVS  p«ET 
Other  parts  of  his  hTp  tn  h^^■         ,  ^^5 

now  feel,  while  wn.-^'^^'?^'  *^^  whatever  irritatmn  l.        • 

opposmon  from  Italy  tl 'e  fiS  °  '™"T"  ^""'o»      •"SSKSff"' 
"^^"^  by  an  enemv's  o-^vv.-  ,  °^n  of  Oncum  252 

hood  •  so  ,h«,  ??    >'  ^  S''^^'  ™aiiy  otl,e,  nr"i  •  ^,""'  P«°P''=  "f 

the  coast  of  G-ce^^s^i^^^^-nemy^^^^^^^  J^^t 

^^  Cesar,  III  11  ^      °  ^^^  ^^  haste  from  Corcyra 

*"  Cffisar,  III.  12.  "'*  Cffisar,  III.  8.  ' 


266  PROCEEDINGS  OF  POMPEY'S  FLEET. 

in  the  hope  of  intercepting  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  transports  em- 
ployed in  the  passage :  bnt  CaBsar  had  already  landed  in  safety, 
and  Bibuliis  only  succeeded  in  cutting  off  about  thirty  of  the  empty 
vessels,  which  Caesar  had  ordered  instantly  to  return  to  Brundis- 
ium.  His  vexation  at  his  own  want  of  vigilance,  combined  with 
his  general  hatred  against  Csesar,  led  him  to  commit  an  atrocious 
act  of  cruelty  upon  the  masters  and  crews  of  the  vessels  which 
thus  fell  into  his  hands  ;  for  having  set  the  ships  on  fire,  he  burnt 
the  men  in  the  same  flames.  He  then  lined  the  coast  with  detach- 
ments of  his  fleet  from  Salone  to  Oricum,  a  distance  of  about  two 
hundred  miles  ;  and  as  a  mark  of  his  resolution  to  use  every  pos- 
sible exertion,  it  is  said  that  he  lived  entirely  on  board  his  ship, 
even  at  that  inclement  season.  The  ancient  ships  of  war,  it  should 
be  remembered,  being  calculated  chiefly  for  coasting  voyages,  and 
accustomed  to  send  their  crews  ashore  on  every  occasion  to  take 
their  meals  and  to  sleep,  were  very  ill  provided  with  accommoda- 
tions in  themselves,  and  could  neither  hold  a  large  supply  of 
provisions,  nor  afibrd  tolerable  quarters  on  board  for  the  officers 
and  men.  To  remain,  therefore,  continually  at  sea,  was  attended 
with  great  inconvenience,  and  considerable  distress  ;  and  thus 
when  CaEsar's  occupation  of  the  landing-places  on  the  coast  pre- 
vented the  enemy  from  coming  on  shore,  or  from  getting  supplies  of 
wood  and  water,  he  retaliated  upon  them  to  the  full  the  annoyance 
which  he  suffered  from  their  blockade.  But  Bibulus,  and  the  of- 
ficers and  men  under  his  command,  bore  their  privations  with  the 
utmost  patience  and  resolution ;  transports  were  employed  in 
bringing  them  regular  supplies  of  wood,  water,  and  provisions, 
from  Corcyra  f^^  and  when  the  badness  of  the  weather  on  one 
occasion  interrupted  this  communication,  they  are  said  to  have 
wrung  the  dew  from  the  skins  with  which  the  holds  of  their  ships 
were  covered,  and  thus  to  have  allayed  the  intensity  of  their  thirst. 
They  enjoyed,  however,  the  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  they  were 
effTectually  stopping  the  passage  of  the  second  division  of  Caesar's 
army,  which  it  had  been  intended  to  transport  without  loss  of 
time  on  board  the  vessels  which  had  returned  to  Brundisium,  after 
carrying  over  the  first  division.  The  troops  were  actually  em- 
barked, and  had  just  left  the  harbour,  when  a  despatch  arrived 
from  Caesar,  announcing  the  strict  blockade  maintained  on  the 
opposite  shore  by  the  enemy's  cruisers.  Immediately  the  ships 
returned  to  Brundisium  ;  and  one  single  private  vessel,  which  had 
no  troops  on  board,  resolving  still  to  attempt  the  passage,  was  taken 
by  Bibulus  off  Oricum,  and,  according  to  Caesar,"^*  the  whole  ship's 
company,  both  freemen  and  slaves,  were  by  his  orders  put  to 
death.  Caesar  thus  seemed  left  to  his  fate  in  an  enemy's  country 
with  only  half  his  army,  cut  off"  from  all  relief,  and  obliged  to 

*=*  Csesar,  III.  15.  ^^«  Ctesar,  III.  14. 


OPPOSITION  OF  THE  TWO  ARMIES.  267 

depend  for  subsistence  only  on  the  narrow  district  immediately  sub- 
ject to  his  control. 

But  his  system  of  always  acting  on  the  offensive,  tended  at  once 
to  keep  up  the  confidence  of  his  own  soldiers,  and  casar  attempts  m 
to  make  public  opinion  think  favourably  of  his  situ-  rhicWum."™'^  ^'' 
ation.  After  having  gained  possession  of  Oricum  and  ApoUonia, 
he  hastened  forward  in  the  hope  of  surprising  Dyrrhachium,  one  of 
Porapey's  principal  magazines,  and  the  place  in  which  he  had  de- 
signed to  fix  his  winter-quarters,  in  order  to  be  at  hand  to  counter- 
act CsBsar's  expected  invasion  in  the  spring.  At  the  moment  of 
Caesar's  landing,  Pompey  was  in  the  interior  of  Macedonia,^'^  pro- 
ceeding slowly  towards  his  intended  winter-quarters,  by  the  great 
road  which  crossed  the  whole  country  from  Thessalonica,  on  the 
Mgea.n,  to  Dyrrhachium  and  Apollonia  on  the  Ionian  gulf.  He 
was  already  advanced  as  far  as  Caudavia,  which  lies  at  nearly 
equal  distances  between  the  two  seas,  when  he  was  met  with  the 
news  of  Caesar's  invasion.  He  immediately  hastened  his  march 
towards  Apollonia  ;  but  finding  that  this  town  had  already  fallen, 
he  turned  off  to  the  right,  and  pressed  on  with  a  rapidity,  al- 
most resembling  a  flight  of  a  beaten  army,  in  order  to  save  his 
magazines  at  Dyrrhachium.  As  the  troops  marched  by  day  and 
night  without  halting,  many  of  the  soldiers,  unable  to  bear  the  fa- 
tigue, dropped  behindj^^s  threw  away  their  arms,  and  deserted ; 
and  this  produced  so  much  disorder  and  consequent  dejection,  that 
although  Pompey  accomplished  his  object,  and,  having  outstripped 
his  antagonist,  encamped  his  army  in  front  of  Dyrrhachium  to 
cover  the  town,  yet  T.  Labienus,  and  the  other  principal  officers, 
thought  it  expedient  to  renew,  in  a  public  and  solemn  manner, 
their  oath  of  fidelity  to  their  general,  swearing  that  they  would 
abide  by  him  in  every  extremity  of  fortune.  The  troops  all  follow- 
ed this  example  ;  and  soon  afterwards  their  spirits  -r^e  two  armies 
were  revived  by  an  order  to  make  a  movement  another ot'"  the 
somewhat  in  advance  ;  for  Caesar,  finding  himself  ■*^''^"^- 
cut  off  from  Dyrrhachium,  had  halted  on  the  river  Apsus,  intend- 
ing to  winter  there  under  canvass,  in  order  to  protect  the  country 
in  his.  rear  which  had  espoused  his  cause,  and  proposing  there  to 
await  the  arrival  of  the  rest  of  his  army  from  Italy.  Caesar  thus 
having  fixed  himself  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Apsus,^^^  Pompey  ad- 
vanced with  his  army  from  Dyrrhachium,  and  occupied  a  line  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  same  river,  to  which  he  brought  together  his 
entire  force,  both  Roman  and  auxiliary.  A  pause  of  some  length 
then  ensued  in  the  operations  on  both  sides,  partly  on  account  of 
the  season  of  the  year,  and  partly  because  neither  general  wished 
to  risk  an  action  at  present ;  the  one  being  desirous  of  improving 

2"  Caesar,   III.  11.     Strabo,  VII.  374,         ^58  Casar,  III.  13. 
edit.  Xyland.  "»  Ceesar,  III.  13.     Appian,  II.  56. 


268        INEFFECTUAL  OVERTURES  FOR  PEACE. 

Still  further  the  discipline  of  his  soldiers,  and  the   other  being 
anxious  to  gain  an  accession  to  his  numbers. 

Daring  this  interval  some  proposals  of  peace  were  exchanged 
ineffectuaiovertures  between  the  two  parties,  but  without  producing  any 
for  peace.  efFcct.     Indeed,  the  officer  from  whom  Pompey  had 

received  the  first  tidings  of  Caesar's  landing  in  Greece,  was  himself 
the  bearer  of  a  message  from  Csesarj^s"  conjuring  Pompey  to  con- 
sider the  evils  which  a  protracted  contest  would  certainly  bring 
upon  their  country;  proposing  that  each  commander  should  take 
an  oath,  in  the  presence  of  his  army,  to  disband  his  forces  within 
three  days;  and  that  the  terms  of  a  permanent  peace  might  be 
settled  at  Rome  by  the  senate  and  people  ;  offering,  meantime,  as 
a  pledge  of  his  sincerity,  to  disband  at  once  all  his  own  soldier.", 
whether  they  were  in  the  field  or  in  garrison.     There  was  no  time 
for  replying  to  these  propositions,  till  Pompey's  army  was  settled  on 
the  Apsus  ;  then,  when  L.  Vibullius  Rufus,  the  bearer  of  them,  was 
proceeding  to  state  them  in  detail,  Pompey  is  said  to  have  inter- 
rupted him,^^^  and  to  have  declared,  '4hat  he  valued  neither  his 
life  nor  the  enjoyment  of  his  country,  if  he  must  receive  them  as 
a  favour  from  Caesar."     A  little  before  this,  Bibulus  and  L.  Scri- 
bonius  Libo,'^"  who  were  maintaining  their  blockade  off  the  har- 
bour of  Oricum,  proposed  to  Caesar's  officers,  commanding  in  the 
town,  that  a  truce  should  be  concluded  between  the  fleet  and 
Caesar's  troops  stationed  along  the  coast,  in  order  to  allow  time 
for  entering  upon  a  negotiation  for  peace.     Caesar  himself  had 
just  left  his  lines  on  the  Apsus,  and  had  marched  southward 
with  a  single  legion,  to  secure  some  of  the  towns  that  were  situa- 
ted at  a  greater  distance  in  his  rear,  and  to  procure  some  supplies 
of  corn.     In  pursuit  of  these  objects,  he  was  now  at  Buthrotum, 
a  town  on  the  main  land  of  Epirus,  immediately  opposite  to  Cor- 
cyra,  when  he  received  intelligence  from  his  officers  at  Oricum,  of 
the  proposals  made  by  Bibulus  and  Libo.     He  at  once  hastened 
in  person  to  the  spot,  and  Libo  came  on  shore  alone  to  meet  him  ; 
Bibulus,  it  seems,  thinking  that  an  interview  between  himself  and 
Cassar  was  more  likely  to  inflame  the  existing  quarrel  than  to 
allay  it.     Libo  assured  Cassar  that  nothing  could  be  concluded 
without  Pompey's  authority ;  and  only  requested  that  a  truce 
might  be  arranged  till  proposals  of  peace  shoifld  be  presented  to 
Pompey,  and  till  his  answer  to  them  could  be  known.    He  asserted, 
that  Pompey  was  most  anxious  to  terminate  the  contest ;  and  that 
for  himself,  his  advice,  and  that  of  the  other  officers,  would  all 
lead  to  the  same  conclusion.     Caesar,  in  return,  pressed  Libo  to 
guarantee  the  safety  of  the  officers  whom  he  might  send  to  Pom- 
pey's camp  ;  and  with  regard  to  the  naval  armistice,  he  said  that 

*«"  Ceesar,  III.  10,  11.  «««  Csesar,  III.  15,  16,  17. 

28'  Cffisar,  III.  18. 


CiESAR'S  ACCOUNT  SUSPICIOUS.  359 

he  was  willing  to  grant  it,  if  the  enemy's  fleet  would  renounce  their 
blockade,  and  allow  the  free  passage  of  his  troops  from  Italy. 
Libo  replied,  that  he  could  guarantee  nothing,  but  referred  every 
thing  to  Pompey  ;  at  the  same  time  he  again  urged  the  conclusion 
of  the  naval  armistice.  But  Caesar  perceiving,  as  he  says,  that 
nothing  more  was  designed  by  the  enemy  than  to  procure  some 
relief  for  their  ships,  by  obtaining  leave  to  get  supplies  from  the 
shore,  broke  off  the  conference,  and  turned  his  thoughts  to  the 
active  prosecution  of  the  war. 

Such  is  the  representation  of  these  transactions  which  Cassar 
or  his  partisans  have  given  to  the  world.  We  may  ca..ar's  account  ot 
repeat  it,  in  the  absence  of  all  other  testimony  ;  but  be^^'reg^rTa"  with 
we  should  remember,  that  it  is  the  statement  of  the  suspicion. 
chief  of  a  victorious  party,  and  that  it  relates  to  matters  of  which 
he  himself,  when  his  account  was  published,  was  the  only  wit- 
ness who  dared  to  deliver  his  evidence.  In  the  narrative,  also,  of 
this  very  transaction,  there  is  one  remarkable  expression,  which 
seems  to  imply  that  the  writer  was  anxious  to  record  nothing  that 
would  not  redound  to  Caesar's  honour.  Libo,  it  seems,  daring 
his  conference  with  Ceesar,  entered  into  some  representation  of 
the  merits  of  the  cause  which  he  espoused,  and  of  the  amount  of 
Pompey's  forces ;  "  but  on  these  points,"  says  the  historian,^^'' 
"  Caesar  thought  proper  to  make  no  reply  at  the  time,  nor  do  we 
see  any  sufficient  reason  for  dwelling  on  the  subject  now."  The 
writer  of  this  sentence,  whether  it  was  Caesar  himself,  or  one  of 
his  officers  writing  under  his  authority,  was  well  aware  that  the 
merits  of  his  cause  could  not  bear  any  minute  detail,  and  that 
the  manner  in  which  the  friends  of  the  commonwealth  repre- 
sented them  was  too  forcible,  and  in  the  main  too  just,  to  admit  of 
any  satisfactory  reply.  He  acted  wisely,  therefore,  as  a  party 
writer,  in  passing  by  the  subject  altogether;  but  he  has  by  so 
doing  left  us,  at  the  same  time,  a  sufficient  proof  how  little  he 
deserves  the  title  of  a  historian. 

Yet  the  narrative  of  this  writer,  such  as  it  is,  and  rendered  in 
parts  still  more  defective  from  the  corrupt  state  of  the  text  in  our 
present  copies,  is  our  sole  authority  for  any  particular  account  of 
the  operations  of  this  important  campaign.  The  English  reader 
will,  perhaps,  have  a  more  lively  sense  of  its  incompetence,  if  he 
considers  what  sort  of  a  history  could  be  drawn  up  of  the  events 
of  more  modern  wars,  if  we  had  no  other  materials  than  the  ga- 
zettes or  bulletins  of  one  party  only.  We  must  request  those, 
therefore,  who  may  follow  us  through  our  narrative  of  the  ensu- 
ing transactions,  to  remember,  once  for  all,  that  we  are  fully  aware 
of  the  unsatisfactory  foundation  on  which  it  rests  ;  and  that  if  we 

263  a  ^jm;  aJJit  pauca  (Libo)  de  causa,     timavit  ;  neque  nunc,  ut  memoriae  proda- 
et  de  copiis  auxiliisqiie  suis.     Quibus  re-     tur,  satLs  causae  putamus,"  III-  16,  17. 
bus  neque  turn  respondendum  Csesar  exis- 


270  COMMUNICATION  OF  THE  TWO  ARMIES. 

do  not  repeat  our  sense  of  its  uncertainty  in  every  page,  it  is  only 
to  avoid  unpleasant  and  needless  interruptions  to  the  course  of 
our  relation.  Besides,  in  ordinary  cases,  we  are  willing  to  leave 
the  reader  to  the  exercise  of  his  own  judgment,  whenever  the 
story  becomes  justly  suspicious,  rather  than  attempt  on  every  oc- 
casion to  dictate  to  him  ourselves.  Unquestionably,  the  writer  of 
Ceesar's  "Commentaries"  had  the  best  opportunities  of  knowing 
the  truth  ;  and  he  is  perfectly  free  from  those  blunders  in  indiffer- 
ent matters  which  are  the  result  of  mere  ignorance.  His  misrep- 
resentations and  misstatements  are  for  the  most  part  wilful ;  and 
it  becomes  a  matter  of  great  difficulty  and  uncertainty,  to  say 
how  often  the  temptation  was  sufficiently  strong  to  induce  him 
to  write  against  that  better  knowledge,  which  makes  him,  where 
no  such  temptation  has  interfered,  so  respectable  a  witness. 

Whilst  the  two  armies  were  encamped  on  the  Apsus,^^'^  several 
Irregular  communi-  attcuipts  werc  made,  ou  Cassar's  part,  to  keep  up  a 
^idlers'^ofThe"  two  correspoudeuce  bet  wen  the  soldiers  of  either  party, 
^™^^-  and  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  Pompey's  followers, 

his  own  eagerness  to  terminate  the  contest.  The  generals  of  the 
commonwealth,  remembering  the  issue  of  a  similar  correspendence 
between  the  troops  of  Sylla  and  Scipio  in  the  last  civil  war,  were 
no  way  inclined  to  expose  their  newly-raised  and  ill-assorted 
soldiers  to  the  seductions  of  Caesar's  veterans  ;  it  being  sufficiently 
obvious  which  side  was  most  likely  to  entice  the  other  from  its 
It  i3  suddenly  broken  duty.  Thc  mcetiugs  bctweeu  the  men  and  the  in- 
?ais.'*'  ""P'^^^s'^''^'  ferior  officers  of  the  two  parties,  which  had  gone 
on  to  a  considerable  extent,  were  at  last  forcibly  broken  oft',  on 
one  occasion,  by  Pompey's  generals,  and  some  of  the  centurions 
and  soldiers  of  Caesar's  army  were  wounded.  This  was  in  the 
same  spirit  with  the  conduct  of  Petreius  in  Spain,  and  was  dic- 
tated by  a  similar  sense  of  danger.  It  was  a  proceeding  of  great 
severity,  but  yet  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  war,  as  the 
meetings  were  not  authorized  by  the  commander-in  chief  of  the 
commonwealth's  army,  who  alone,  as  Caesar  had  been  on  a  late 
occasion  particularly  informed,  had  power  to  guarantee  the  safety 
of  any  negotiator  from  the  enemy.  The  assertion  of  Cassar  that 
Labienus  himself  appeared  at  the  conference,  and  was  actually 
in  conversation  with  P.  Vatinius,  Cassar's  officer,  when  the  meet- 
ing was  broken  off  by  acts  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  Pompey,  is 
intended  to  convey  a  charge  of  wilful  treachery,  of  which  we 
cannot,  in  fairness,  convict  Labienus  on  the  sole  testimony  of  his 
personal  as  well  as  political  adversary. 

While  the  war  was  thus  pausing  in  its  course,  and  M.  Anto- 
Tumuits  excited  at  ulus,  with  tlic  secoud  divisioii  of  Caesar's  army, 
Ri^s.  ^'  "  *'"'     was  still  detained  at  Brundisium,  unable  to  join  his 

'«4  Caesar,  III.  19. 


TUMULTS  EXCITED  AT  ROME  BY  C.ELIUS  RUFUS.  371 

comraander,  a  wild  attempt  was  made  to  effect  a  coimter-revolu- 
tion  ill  Italy.^^^  Tiie  name  of  M.  Caslius  Rufus  has  already  been 
mentioned  in  our  account  of  the  turbulent  period  of  Pompey's 
third  consulship.  He  was  then  one  of  the  tribunes,  and  exerted 
himself  warmly  in  behalf  of  Milo,  amidst  the  agitations  which 
followed  the  murder  of  P.  Clodius ;  he  also  made  himself  partic- 
ularly notorious  by  his  opposition  to  the  laws  then  proposed  by 
Pompey  with  a  view  to  the  regulation  of  Milo's  trial ;  and  he  so 
provoked  Pompey  as  to  draw  from  him  the  threat,  "  that  if  he 
met  with  any  more  obstructions,  he  would  protect  the  interests  of 
the  commonwealth  by  force  of  arms."  Like  Curio,  he  was  elo- 
quent, unprincipled,  and  ambitious  of  distinction  ;  and  therefore, 
during  the  height  of  Pompey's  power  at  Rome,  he  delighted,  like 
Curio,  in  appearing  to  defy  him,  as  the  readiest  means  of  gaining 
favour  with  the  multitude,  who  are  ever  ready  to  admire  a  spirit 
of  resistance  to  authority.  He  thus  was  led  to  favour  the  preten- 
sions of  Caesar,  to  which  he  was  further  induced  by  his  friendship 
for  Curio,2S6  and  his  enmity  to  Appius  Claudius,  who  was  now 
closely  connected  with  Pompey.  Yet  his  intimacy  with  Cicero, 
to  whose  notice  he  had  been  early  recommended  by  his  father,^^'' 
and  who  had  defended  him  some  years  before  under  a  criminal 
prosecution,  might  have  restrained  him  from  openly  taking  part 
against  the  commonwealth,  had  he  not  been  led  to  accompany 
Curio  to  Ariminum  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,'^^^  ^nd  been  brought 
to  a  personal  meeting  with  Casar,  by  consenting  to  be  the  bearer  of 
a  message  to  him  from  Cicero,  urging  him  to  lay  aside  his  designs  of 
hostility.  It  seems  that  Caesars's  winning  address  and  behaviour, 
together  with  a  nearer  view  of  the  resources  by  which  he  was 
supported,  decided  him  in  remaining  with  the  rebel  army,  and 
accepting  employment  in  Cesar's  service.  He  accordingly  at- 
tended him  on  his  way  towards  Spain,*^^^  and  on  his  return  thence, 
at  the  end  of  the  year,  he  was  elected  praetor,  as  a  reward  for  his 
attachment  to  his  cause.^'"  But  the  death  of  Curio  had  removed 
the  principal  link  between  him  and  his  present  associates  ;  and 
although  he  was  one  of  the  prastors,  yet  he  held  only  the  less 
dignified  rank  of  PrcBtor  Peregrinus  ;  the  office  of  Prcetor  Ur- 
banus,  which  possessed  exclusive  jurisdiction  in  all  causes 
between  citizens  and  citizens,  was  conferred  on  C.  Trebonius, 

'^^'^  Caesar,  III.  20,  21,  22.  Spain  :  and  that  he  was  engaged  in  some 

'■^^''  Cicero,  pro  CmUo,  3.  attempts  to  excite  disturbances  among  the 

'^^  Cicero,    ad    Familiar.    VIII.  epist.  legions  left  for  the  protection  of  Italy.  Pos- 

XVII.  sibly,  therefore,  Caesar   did  not   take   him 

*•**  Cicero,    ad    Familiar.   VIII.    epist.  with  him   into   Spain,  but   left  him  with 

XVII.  those  troops,  in  Cisalpine  Gaul,  which  did, 

2®"  Cicero,  ad  Familiar.  VIII.  epist.  XV.  in  fact,  break  out  into  mutiny,  as  already 

^'''^  It  appears  from  some  brief  intima-  related,  about  the  time  of  CcEsar's  return 

tions  in  Cicero's  letters    to  Atticus,  that  from  Spain.     Vide  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  X. 

Caelius  was  already  disgusted  with  Caesar's  epist.  XII.   XV.  XVI. 

party  before  the  end  of  the  campaign  in 


272  VIOLENT  MEASURES  OF  C^LIUS. 

who  had  conducted  the  operations  by  land  at  the  late  siege  of 
Massilia.  His  love  of  distinction,  therefore,  was  ill  gratified  by 
his  present  situation  ;  he  felt  himself  slighted,  and  was  desirous 
of  at  once  revenging  his  fancied  affronts  upon  Caesar's  party,  and 
of  regaining  the  friendship  of  the  aristocrats,  who  were  his  old 
and  natural  connexions,  and  whom  his  late  behaviour  had 
alienated. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  motives,  Cselius  began  to  tread 
Violent  measures  of    in  the   stcps  of  tho  old   popular  tribunes,^^^  and, 

CcbIius  in  hia  pra;tor-  ,..^  c   /-a  ii^  i.-  -.i 

ship.  complanniig  of  Caesars  late  regulations  with  re- 

gard to  the  payment  of  debts,  he  declared  that  he  would  support 
any  debtor  who  should  appeal  against  a  sentence  of  the  PrcBtor 
Urhanus,  adjudging  payment  according  to  the  terms  fixed  by 
Caesar.  Finding,  if  we  may  believe  Caesar,  that  no  appeals  were 
brought  to  hiai,  he  proceeded  to  propose  a  law  of  his  own,  direct- 
ing that  debts  were  to  be  paid  at  six  instalments,  without  any 
interest.  It  is  very  probable  that  many  of  the  timid  and  indolent 
part  of  the  aristocracy,  who  preferred  remaining  at  Rome  under 
Cassar's  government,  rather  than  submitting  to  the  labours  and 
perils  of  a  civil  war,  were  delighted  to  find  their  new  circum- 
stances suddenly  reconciled,  by  these  innovations  of  Cajlius,  with 
the  line  they  would  naturally  take  in  politics.  P.  vServilius,  Cae- 
sar's colleague  in  the  consulship,  whose  father  had  in  like  manner 
been  the  colleague  of  Sylla,  and  who  himself,  a  few  years  before, 
had  been  remarked  as  affecting  to  imitate  Cato,""  was  now  called 
upon,  while  supporting  the  government  of  Caesar,  to  act  like  the 
high  aristocratical  consuls  of  former  times,  L.  Opimius,  or  Cn. 
Octavius,  or  Q,.  Catulus.  Supported  by  the  other  magistrates,  he 
resisted  the  measures  of  Caelius,  who  finding  his  present  law  not 
sufficiently  stimulating,  proposed  two  others  of  a  tendency  still 
more  revolutionary  ;  one  releasing  all  tenants  of  houses  in  Rome 
from  their  liability  to  be  sued  for  rent  during  one  year  ;  and  the 
other  proclaiming  a  general  release  to  all  insolvent  debtors  from 
the  claims  of  their  creditors.  Caelius  had  now  degraded  himself 
low  enough  to  become  the  head  of  the  most  worthless  portion  of 
the  community:  mobs  assembled  as  in  the  days  of  L.  Saturninus, 
P.  Sulpicius,  and  P.  Clodius;  and  Trebonius  was  driven  by  vio- 
lence from  his  seat  of  judgment.  Servilius  laid  the  consideration 
of  these  disturbances  before  the  senate,  and  that  body  passed  a 
resolution,  the  very  same  which  had  formerly  been  passed  against 
Caesar  himself  in  his  praetorship,  that  Caelius  should  be  suspended 
He  is  obliged  toicave  ^''^"^^  the  dutics  and  privileges  of  his  office.  He  still 
^°™^-  attempted  to  harangue  the  people,  but  was  forcibly 

pulled  down  from  the  rostra ;  and  the  support  of  the  mere  rabble 

^''^  Caesar,   III.   20.       Livy,   Epitome,         '^''^  Cicero,  ad  Atticuni,II.  epist.  I. 
CXI.     Dion  Cassius,  XLII.  195. 


ATTEMPT  TO  REVIVE  POMPEY'S  INTERESTS  IN  ITALY.        273 

being,  as  usual,  utterly  powerless  in  the  time  of  need,  he  re- 
solved to  quit  Rome,  professing  that  he  was  going  over  to 
Macedonia,  to  offer  to  Caesar  an  explanation  and  apology  for 
his  conduct. 

There  is  still  extant  a  letter  from  Caelius  to  Cicero,^"  written 
apparently  when  he  was  jnst  entered  on  this  career  of  fruitless 
opposition  to  Cassar's  government.  He  flatters  himself  that  he 
had  alienated  the  general  feeling  at  Rome  from  the  cause  of  Cae- 
sar ;  and  that  the  poorer  citizens  who  had  hitherto  regarded  it  as 
the  popular  side,  now  thought  that  it  had  abandoned  their  in- 
terests, and  were  ready  to  receive  the  friends  of  Pompey  with 
open  arms.  He  assures  Cicero  that  it  was  Pompey's  own  fault 
that  he  had  not  recovered  possession  of  Rome,  for  that  every  body 
there,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  usurers,  was  now  become  his 
partisan.  He  promises  to  insure  the  triumph  of  the  aristocracy, 
even  against  their  will,  and  laments  the  blindness  of  Pompey  in 
neglecting  the  fair  field  that  was  open  to  him  in  Italy,  and  per- 
sisting to  combat  Caesar's  veteran  army  in  direct  and  open  war- 
fare. Bnt  a  short  time  proved  how  greatly  he  had  overrated  the 
effect  of  his  measures  and  of  his  abilities.  On  He  invites  mho  to  join 
leaving  Rome  he  had  entered  into  a  correspond-  }!"■  ve\he  Tn tereau  o" 
ence  with  his  old  associate,  T.  Miloj^^"  who  was  Pompey  in  itaiy. 
ready  to  join  in  any  attempt  against  Caesar,  as  he  had  been  alone 
excepted  by  him  from  the  general  pardon  granted  to  all  who 
had  been  banished  by  the  sentence  of  the  tribunals  in  Pompey's 
third  consulship.  Milo  still  retained,*^"  either  in  his  service  or 
under  his  influence,  some  of  those  numerous  gladiators  whom  he 
had  formerly  employed  in  his  contests  with  Clodius.  At  the 
head  of  a  party  of  these  he  appeared  in  arms  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Capua  ;  and  professing  that  he  had  received,  through 
Bibulus,  a  commission  to  levy  troops  in  Pompey's  name,  he  began 
to  solicit  the  inhabitants  of  the  different  towns  to  join  him.  His 
character  and  resources,  however,  held  out  little  encouragement ; 
but  having  collected  a  certain  number  of  runaway  slaves,  and  of 
those  who  were  kept  at  work  in  fetters  in  some  of  the  work- 
houses, he  made  an  attempt  upon  the  town  of  Compsa,'^''^  and 
there  lost  his  life  by  a  stone  discharged  from  one  of  the  engines 
on  the  walls.  Caelius,  meantime,  had  not  entirely  thrown  off  the 
mask.  He  had  secretly  endeavoured  to  surprise  Capua  by  the 
help  of  some  gladiators  who  were  then  kept  at  Naples,  and  of 
some  partisans  in  the  town  itself;  but  the  plot  being  discovered 
in  time  to  prevent  its  execution,  he  continued  his  journey  south- 
ward, as  if  still  pursuing  his  original  design  of  going  to  Caesar 
in  Greece.     But  when  he  reached  Thurii,  he  conceived  hopes 

2"  Cicero,  ad    Familiar.    VIII.   epist.         «"  0^353^^  HI    21,22. 
XVII.  "«  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  68. 

"*  Caesar,  III  21. 


274  DEATH  OF  M.  BIBULUS. 

of  gaining  that  important  place  for  Pompey,  and  accord- 
ingly he  began  to  tamper  with  some  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
also  with  some  Gaulish  and  German  horse  whom  Csesar 
had  left  there  as  a  garrison.  To  have  secured  a  harbour  for 
Pompey's  ships  on  the  coast  of  Italy,  would  have  been  one 
of  the  most  signal  services  that  could  have  been  rendered  at 
this  period  to  the  cause  of  the  commonwealth ;  but  the  at- 
tempt was  unsuccessful,  and,  according  to  Csesar,  Caelius  was 
CcEiius and Miio are  ki^ed  by  somc  of  those  soldiers  whose  fidelity  he 
^'^^'^-  was  endeavoin'ing  to  corrupt.      Like  most  other 

fruitless  insurrections,  the  disturbance  excited  by  Caelius  and  Milo 
being  thus  quickly  suppressed,  rather  tended,  we  may  suppose, 
to  strengthen  Caesar's  authority  ;  and  persons  possessed  of  prop- 
erty were  more  reconciled  to  his  government  when  they  found  it 
ready  to  protect  them  against  the  violence  of  the  needy  and  the 
desperate. 

About  this  time  Pompey  sustained  a  severe  loss  in  the  death 
of  M.  Calpurnius  Bibulus,  the  commander-in-chief 
of  his  fleet.^"  The  vigilance  which  this  officer 
had  lately  exerted,  in  order  to  atone  for  his  previous  neglect  in 
suffering  Caesar  to  cross  the  Ionian  gulf,  had  thus  far  been  com- 
pletely successful  in  preventing  the  passage  of  the  troops  under 
M.  Antonius,  but  it  proved  in  the  end  fatal  to  himself  Fatigue, 
anxiety,  and  insufficient  accommodations,  severely  affected  his 
health  ;  he  refused,  however,  to  quit  his  post,  and  persisted  in 
struggling  against  his  complaints  till  he  sank  under  them.  On 
his  death,  his  place  as  commander-in-chief  was  left  vacant,  pos- 
sibly from  some  intrigues  at  Pompey's  head-quarters,  which  made 
it  difficult  for  the  general  to  fix  upon  a  successor.  But  the  bad 
effects  of  this  omission  were  soon  notorious,  for  each  separate 
commander  of  a  squadron  began  to  act  for  himself;  and  L.  Scri- 
bonius  Libo,^^^  departing  from  the  defensive  system  of  Bibulus, 
crossed  the  Ionian  gulf  with  the  fifty  ships  which  formed  his  own 
division,  and  proposed  to  blockade  the  port  of  Brundisium  itself, 
by  occupying  a  small  island  which  was  opposite  to  the  mouth  of 
the  harbour.  His  sudden  appearance  enabled  him  to  surprise 
some  vessels  laden  with  corn,  which  he  burnt  or  captured ;  he 
disembarked  also  a  party  of  troops,  with  which  he  dislodged  a 
body  of  Caesar's  cavalry  from  one  of  their  posts  near  the  shore  ; 
and,  elated  with  these  exploits,  he  wrote  to  Pompey  to  assure  him 
that  he  might  safely  venture  to  bring  the  rest  of  the  fleet  into  port 
to  refit,  for  that  he  himself,  with  his  single  squadron,  would  engage 
to  prevent  the  passage  of  Caesar's  reinforcements.  A  short  time, 
however,  proved  the  emptiness  of  these  promises,  for  the  island 
which  Libo  occupied  was  unable  to  furnish  the  ships  with  a  suf- 

»"  Caesar,  III.  18.  "s  c^sar,  23,  24. 


ANTONIUS  EMBARKS  AT  BRUNDISIUM. 


275 


ficient  supply  of  fresh  water ;  and  after  the  first  surprise  was  over, 
Antoniiis  stationed  his  parties  of  cavahy  along  the  shore  in  such 
numbers,  that  they  could  not  be  dislodged,  and  thus  etTectually  cut 
oft'  the  enemy  from  all  communication  with  the  land.  The  ina- 
bility of  an  ancient  fleet  to  act  with  success  without  military  co- 
operation was  thus  again  proved  ;  and  Libo  was  obliged  to  abandon 
the  blockade  of  Brundisium,  and  resume  his  original  station  on  the 
coast  of  Greece. 

At  length  the  winter  was  an  end,"'  and  Pompey's  naval  force 
had  kept  the  sea  through  the  most  unfavourable  cssar  becomes  im- 
season  of  the  year  with  unabated  resolution.  Their  ^fhjfexplcted^re^ 
task  would  now  become  much  easier,  and  the  diffi-  inforcements. 
culty  of  effecting  a  passage  would  be  proportionably  increased  to 
Cassar's  second  division.  He  himself  complains  that  his  officers 
at  Brundisium  had  neglected  some  opportunities  of  which  they 
might  have  availed  themselves  ;  and  being  impatient  of  their  long 
delay,  he  wrote  to  them  in  very  strong  terms,  enjoining  them  to 
put  to  sea  with  the  first  fair  wind,  and  recommending  them  to 
steer  for  the  coast  of  Apollonia,  if  possible,  which,  from  its  want 
of  harbours,  was  less  guarded  by  the  enemy's  fleet ;  adding,  that 
they  might  there  run  their  ships  aground,  and  that  the  loss  of  the 
vessels  was  comparatively  of  no  importance.  But  trusting,  above 
all  things,  in  the  effect  of  his  own  presence,  he  made  a  bold  at- 
tempt to  cross  over  in  person  to  Brundisium  ;  and  having  left  his 
army  secretly  by  night,  he  embarked  in  disguise  on  board  of  a 
small  vessel,  and  although  the  weather  was  very  tempestuous, 
and  the  wind  against  him,  he  endeavoured  at  the  utmost  hazard 
to  effect  the  passage  of  the  Ionian  gulf;  nor  was  he  induced  to 
desist  till  he  found  it  utterly  impossible  to  accomplish  his  purpose.^^" 
His  letters,  however,  had  produced  a  sufficient  effect ;  the  soldiers 
themselves,  he  tells  us,  pressed  their  officers  to  risk  the  voyage  ; 
and  M.  Antonius  and  Q,.  Fufius  Calenus,  with  four  m.  Antonius  embarks 
legions  and  about  eight  hundred  cavaly,  at  length  smm™"^^  ^^ 
set  sail  with  a  south  wind  from  Brundisium.  But,  with  the  wind 
in  such  a  quarter,  they  not  only  failed  to  reaching  Apollonia,  but 
could  not  even  make  any  land  southward  of  Dyrrhachium.  They 
were  thus  seen  from  Dyrrhachium  by  C.  Coponius,*^^'  one  of  the 
proprasters,  who  commanded  the  Rhodian  squadron  at  that  port, 
and  he  instantly  put  to  sea  in  pursuit  of  them.     Flight  was  their 

2^^  Caesar,  III.  25.  ing  himself  to  him  in  the  midst  of  the 

^^^  Valerius    Maximus,    IX.    8.      The  storm,  and  telling  him  not  to  be  afraid,  for 

Story,  as  given  in  the  text,  is  copied  from  that  he  carried  with  him  CcBsar  and  Ms 

Valerius  iWaximus,  the  earliest  writer  in  fortune,  resemble  those  embellishments  of 

whom  we  have  found   any  mention  of  it.  some     simple     expression    or   occurrence 

The    famous    additions  to  it,  which    are  which  anecdotes  of  great  men   are  apt  to 

given  by  Florus,   Dion   Cassius,  Appian,  gain  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  per- 

and  Plutarch,  that  Caesar  encouraged  the  sons  who  successively  report  them, 
terrified  master  of  the  vessel,  by  discover-         ""^  Caesar,  III.  26,  27. 


276  ANTONIUS  LANDS  AT  NYMPHiEUM. 

only  resource,  and  they  ran  before  the  wind  northward,  towards 
the  harbour  of  Nymphseum,  which,  though  open  to  the  south,  and 
threatening  the  loss  of  their  ships,  still  held  out  a  chance  of  their 
effecting  a  landing.  But,  by  one  of  those  remarkable  instances  of 
good  fortune  which  have  occurred  in  our  own  naval  history  on 
some  memorable  occasions,  the  wind  suddenly  shifted  to  the  south- 
west, as  soon  as  the  transports  had  reached  Nymphseum  ;  and 
thus,  owing  to  the  position  of  the  harbour,  they  were  now  in  per- 
fect safety,  whilst  sixteen  of  the  enemy's  ships,  that  \vere  most 
forward  in  the  chase,  were  all  driven  on  shore  and  wrecked.  Of 
the  crews  a  considerable  number  perished,  and  many  were  taken 
by  Csesar's  soldiers ;  but  these  last,  he  tells  us,  he  treated  with 
humanity,  and  dismissed  them  unhurt  to  their  own  homes. 

Two  of  Antonius's  transports,  being  heavier  sailers  than  the 
rest,'^^'^  were  overtaken  by  the  night,  and,  not  knowing  what  was 
become  of  their  companions,  came  to  an  anchor  off  Lissus.  Ota- 
cilius  Crassus,  who  commanded  Pompey's  garrison  in  the  town, 
sent  off  a  number  of  armed  boats  and  vessels  to  attack  them,  and 
summoned  them  both  to  surrender.  One  of  them,  which  had  on 
board  220  men  of  a  newly-raised  legion,  submitted  immediately  f^^ 
but  the  other  contained  about  200  veterans,  who,  although  weak- 
ened and  wretched  from  the  confinement  and  sickness  of  a  stormy 
voyage,  preserved  their  courage,  and  compelled  the  master  of  the 
transport  to  run  the  ship  on  shore.  They  found  a  position  favour- 
able for  their  defence ;  and,  after  repulsing  an  attack  that  was 
made  upon  them  on  the  following  morning,  they  reached  the  main 
HeiandsatNjmphK-  body  of  tho  army,  which  had  landed  atNymphasum 

um,  on  the  coast  of         .,,"'        ^       ,  ^  -i  t         i  ±\  i  t  • 

iiiyricum,  and  occu-  without    loss.      Immediately    atterwards,    Lissus, 

pies  the  town  of  Lis-         i-i  -.i-xi        i--./"/-i  i  •  r 

BUS.  which  was  within  the  limits  of  Csesars  province  of 

Iiiyricum,  and  had  received  some  favours  from  him  during  his 
government  as  proconsul,  opened  its  gates  to  Antonius  ;  and  that 
officer,  having  sent  back  most  of  the  transports  to  Italy,  to  bring 
over  some  reinforcements  that  w^ere  yet  expected,  sent  word  to 
Csesar  of  his  landing,  informing  him  of  the  numbers  that  he  had 
brought  with  him,  and  of  the  part  of  the  country  at  which  he  had 
effected  his  descent. 

As  the  transports  had  been  seen  from  the  shore  passing  by 
Apollonia  and  Dyrrhachium,^^^  their  arrival  in  the  neighbourhood 
was  known  both  to  Csesar  and  Pompey ;  but  neither  was  at  first 
aware  of  the  precise  point  at  which  they  might  have  come  to 

^^'^  Cffisar,  III.  28,  29.  rative  a  statement  of  this  nature,  which  is 

^^'  Caesar  adds,  that  they  were  all  mas-  utterly  improbable  in  its  present  form,  al- 

sacred,  although  their  lives  had  been  sol-  though  it  be  very  likely  founded  on  some- 

emnly  promised  to  them.     We  can  only  thing  which  did  actually  happen  under  dif- 

regret  that  we  have  not  the  report  of  Ota-  ferent  circumstances. 

cilius  Crassus  on  this  affair ;  but  as  it  is,         '"'''  Caesar,  III.  30. 

we  cannot  admit  into  the  body  of  our  nar- 


C^SAR  FOLLOWS  POMPEY  TO  ASPARAGIUM.  211 

shore.  Both  generals  immediately  broke  up  from  their  positions 
on  the  Apsus  ;  Pompey,  with  the  hope  of  surprising  and  cutting 
off  the  troops  under  Antonius,  and  Cassar  with  the  view  of  effect- 
ing his  junction  witli  them.  But,  as  Ca^.sar  was  delayed  by  being 
obliged  to  march  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Apsus  for  some  distance, 
in  order  to  find  a  ford,  Pompey  might  possibly  have  succeeded  in 
his  object,  had  not  his  approach  been  communicated  to  Antonius 
by  some  of  the  people  of  the  country.  Thus  aware  of  his  danger, 
Antonius  suspended  his  march,  (for  it  seems  that  he  had  set  out 
from  Lissus  to  meet  Cassar,)  and  kept  his  troops  during  one  whole 
day  within  the  protection  of  their  camp ;  till,  on  the  next  day, 
Csesar,  having  recovered  the  ground  which  he  had  lost,  came  up 
with  the  main  body  of  his  army.  It  was  now  He  effects  hisjunction 
Pompey's  turn  to  be  apprehensive  for  his  safety  ;  '""'^  *^*^'"'- 
and,  accordingly,  he  fell  back  to  avoid  being  surrounded,  allowed 
the  enemy's  two  divisions  to  effect  their  junction,  and  marching 
with  his  whole  force  to  Asparagium,  a  small  town  subject  to  the 
people  of  Dyrrhachium,  but  whose  exact  situation  is  not  known, 
he  there  encamped  his  army  again  in  a  favourable  position. 
Cassar,  on  the  other  hand,  now  found  himself  enabled  to  extend 
the  scene  of  his  operations.^^^  To  maintain  a  large  force  on  the 
coast  was  become  less  important ;  he  diminished,  therefore,  the 
number  of  his  troops  in  that  quarter,  and  sent  three  considerable 
detachments  into  J^tolia,  Thessaly,  and  Macedonia,  as  he  had 
reason  to  expect  that  the  inhabitants  of  those  countries  would 
declare  in  his  favour,  as  soon  as  they  could  do  so  with  safety  ;  and 
as  his  supplies  by  sea  were  rendered  worse  than  precarious  by  the 
superiority  of  the  enemy's  navy,  it  was  highly  expedient  that  he 
should  command  the  resources  of  a  more  extensive  district  than 
that  narrow  strip  of  coast  to  which  he  had  hitherto  been  confined. 
He  himself,  as  soon  as  he  learned  the  new  position  cssar  follows  Pom- 
in  which  Pompey  had  placed  his  army,'^^^  followed  I'ey  to  Asparagium. 
him  thither,  and  offered  him  battle.  The  challenge  was  declined  ; 
for  if  Pompey  had  not  thought  proper  to  meet  his  enemy  in  the 
field  before  the  arrival  of  Antonius,  he  was  much  less  likely  to 
risk  a  general  action  now.  But  an  army,  which  feels  itself  supe- 
rior to  its  antagonists,  enjoys  a  great  advantage  in  the  freedom 
of  its  movements ;  for,  as  it  is  its  interest  to  bring  on  a  general 
engagement,  it  may  attempt  any  enterprise  it  pleases,  with  the 
twofold  chance  either  of  winning  that  particular  object,  or  of 
forcing  the  enemy  to  a  battle  if  he  endeavours  to  offer  any  oppo- 
sition. In  this  manner,  Caesar,  finding  that  his  adversary  was 
resolved  to  avoid  an  action,  conceived  the  plan  of  marching  upon 
Dyrrhachium,  which,  as  we  have  already  stated,  was  one  of  the 
principal  magazines  of  Pompey,     To  mislead  his  enemy,  he  set 

»8*  Caesar,  IIL  34,  35,  et  seq.  «««  Cffisar,  IIL  41,  42. 


278  CESAR  PROPOSES  TO  BLOCKADE  POMPEY. 

out  at  first  from  his  camp  in  a  different  direction  ;  and  it  was  not 
till  the  following  morning  that  Pompey,  having  discovered  in  the 
mean  time  his  real  intention,  commenced  his  own  march  towards 
He  marches  upon  Dyrrhachium,  in  order  to  counteract  it.  Ca3sar, 
^n^'camps^beforethe  howevcr,  had  gained  in  time  more  than  he  had  lost 
'°^™-  in  distance  by  the  circuitous  route  which  he  had 

taken ;  he  pressed  his  march,  moreover,  with  the  utmost  activity, 
allowing  his  men  to  rest  only  during  a  short  portion  of  the  night, 
and  thus  he  appeared  in  front  of  Dyrrhachium  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  formed  his  camp  before  the  town,  so  as  to  cut  off  all  ap- 
pompey  encamps  at  proach  to  it.  Pompcy,  finding  himself  shut  out 
cwuni."^'^^  Dyrrha-  ^^,q^^  Dyrrliachium,  took  up  a  position  on  some  high 
ground  near  the  sea,  known  by  the  name  of  Petra,  or  Cliff,  and 
which  commanded  a  small  harbour  or  bay,  where  vessels  with 
some  winds  might  ride  at  anchor,  or  be  drawn  on  the  beach  with 
safety.  Hither,  accordingly,  he  collected  a  part  of  his  fleet,  and 
hither  he  ordered  his  supplies  to  be  brought  by  sea  from  all  the 
parts  of  the  empire  which  acknowledged  his  authority. 

Thus  were  the  two  contending  parties  opposed  to  one  another 
at  Dyrrhachium  ;  and  notwithstanding  Cassar's  good  fortune  in 
seeing  his  whole  army  united  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Ionian 
gulf,  he  had  as  yet  no  prospect  of  bringing  the  war  to  a  speedy 
termination.  The  naval  force  of  the  enemy  preserved  and  even 
improved  its  ascendency  f^''  and  not  only  cut  off  all  chance  of 
supplies  from  Italy,  but  had  lately  made  one  or  two  successful 
attacks  on  some  of  the  ports  of  Epirus,  which  were  in  the  posses- 
sion of  his  troops,  and  had  burnt  or  captured  most  of  the  ships 
which  he  had  detained  there  out  of  the  fleets  used  in  transporting 
his  army  from  Brundisium.  Nor  had  Pompey  been  obliged  to 
divide  his  own  forces  in  order  to  oppose  the  detachments  which 
Caesar  had  recently  sent  into  Thessaly  and  Macedonia  ;  for  his 
father-in-law,  Scipio,^^^  had  just  arrived  from  Asia  with  the  le- 
gions which  he  had  raised  in  his  province  of  Syria,  and  was  able 
to  occupy  the  attention  of  Ceesar's  lieutenants,  without  requiring 
any  assistance  from  the  commander-in-chief  Under  these  cir- 
caesar  proposes  to     cumstauces,  CsBsar  fomicd  the  plan  of  blockading 

blockade  Pompey  iii-r,  ,'  ...  •.•iT-»i  i 

his  position.  Pompey's  army  in  its  position  at  Petra,  by  con- 

structing lines  of  circumvallation  extensive  enough  to  intercept 
all  the  enemy's  communications  with  the  interior  of  the  country  ; 
a  measure  to  which,  as  he  tells  us,  he.  was  led  by  several  con- 
siderations ;^^^  for  he  hoped,  in  the  first  place,  to  render  useless 
the  fine  and  numerous  cavalry  of  Pompey,  and  to  secure  his  own 
foraging  parties  from  its  attacks  ;  and  he  wished,  besides,  to  pre- 
serve the  reputation  of  his  arms,  and  to  gain  the  credit  of  block- 

2"  CsEsar,  III.  40.  42.  28'  Caesar,  III.  43. 

288  Cffisar,  III.  31—38. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  LINES  AND  OPERATIONS.  279 

ading  Pompey  the  Great  in  his  camp,  and  forcing  him  thus  prac- 
tically to  confess  his  own  inferiority.  Above  all,  it  was  necces- 
sary  for  him  to  employ  his  army  in  some  active  operations  ;  in 
the  course  of  which,  he  flattered  himself,  circumstances  might 
arise  which  might  bring  his  troops  into  contact  with  the  enemy, 
in  spite  of  Pompey's  determination  to  avoid  every  engagement, 
and  to  trust  to  time  and  his  naval  superiority  for  a  successful  ter- 
mination of  the  war. 

An  attempt  to  detail  minutely  all  the  operations  that  followed, 
would  scarcely  be  of  any  value,  without  a  more     Description  of  the 

•     .ii-Mi  'i^i  i  •  c  rf  1         lines  and  operations 

mtelligible  guide  than  our  present  copies  oi  Otesar  s  in  the  neighbour- 
"  Commentaries  "  can  supply,  and  without  a  more  um.  °  ">''*''<^'>'- 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  ground  than  it  is  now,  perhaps,  possible 
to  obtain.  We  shall  content  ourselves,  therefore,  with  a  gene- 
ral view  of  the  object  pursued  by  each  party,  and  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  this  first  act  of  the  campaign,  if  we  may  use 
the  expression,  was  brought  to  a  conclusion.  No  sooner  did 
Pompey  perceive  his  adversary's  design  of  hemming  him  in  on 
the  sea  coast,^^"  than  he  began  to  construct  lines  on  his  side, 
which  he  continually  carried  out  to  a  greater  distance,  that  he 
might  command  a  larger  space  for  the  quarters  of  his  own  army, 
and  might  multiply  the  labour  and  difficulty  of  the  operations  of 
the  enemy.  The  fortifications  of  each  party  consisted  of  forts 
placed  on  the  most  commanding  points  of  the  country,  and  con- 
nected with  one  another  by  a  rampart  and  ditch.  Frequent  con- 
tests took  place  between  the  troops  employed  in  these  works  ;  as 
the  possession  of  any  important  height,  if  gained  by  Caesar,  ena- 
bled him  to  draw  his  lines  more  closely  around  the  enemy  :  or, 
if  secured  by  Pompey,  threw  back  his  adversaries  to  a  greater  dis- 
tance, and  gave  a  greater  freedom  of  movement  to  his  own  army. 
The  result  was,  that  Pompey  raised  no  fewer  than  twenty-four 
forts,  all  connected  with  each  other  by  continuous  works,  and 
thus  gained  a  space  of  fifteen  miles  in  circuit  for  the  accommo- 
dation and  subsistence  of  his  soldiers  ;  while  Caesar,  persevering 
in  his  original  design,  completed  a  blockading  line  of  the  extra- 
ordinary length  of  eighteen  miles,'^^'  following  the  whole  extent 
of  the  works  of  the  enemy.  Nor  was  this  all ;  for,  where  his 
hne  came  down  to  the  sea,  he  constructed  a  second  line  parallel 
to  it  at  the  distance  of  about  two  hundred  yards,  and  facing  to- 
wards the  opposite  direction,  to  prevent  his  main  line  from  being 
attacked  in  the  rear,  if  Pompey  should  embark  troops  on  board 
his  ships,  and  direct  them  to  cause  a  diversion,  by  landing  on 
the  outside  of  the  blockading  line,  and  attacking  it  on  that  quar- 
ter. For  further  security,  these  two  lines  were  to  be  connected 
by  a  transverse  line  parallel  to  the  sea,  and  closing  up  the  open- 

'»"  Cajsar,  III.  44.  291  c^esar,  III.  63. 

19 


2S0  INCONVENIENCES  SUFFERED  BY  BOTH  ARMIES. 

ing  between  them ;  but  this  third  work  was  not  completed, 
owing  to  the  immense  magnitude  of  the  labour  which  the  army 
had  to  perform  in  other  quarters  ;  and  the  omission  was  after- 
wards attended,  as  we  shall  see,  by  some  important  consequences. 
Both  armies  suffered  some  privations  in  this  extraordinary 
kind  of  warfare.*^"^  Caesar's  soldiers  were  most  pressed  by  the 
scarcity  of  wheat,  an  article  which  they  seem  to  have  consider- 
inconven.ences  suf-  ed  SO  iudispeusably  ueccssary,  that  their  general 
tered  by  both  armies,  praiscs  tliclr  fortltudc  lu  high  terms  for  enduring 
the  want  of  it ;  although  their  condition  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  very  deplorable,  if,  as  Caesar  admits,  they  were  plentifully 
supplied  with  meat,  vegetables,  barley,  and  a  root  which  he  calls 
chara,  and  which,  he  tells  us,  they  used  to  prepare  with  milk, 
and  make  cakes  of  it.  On  the  other  side,  Pompey's  troops  had 
wheat  in  abundance  ;  but  their  situation  in  other  respects  was 
much  worse  than  that  of  the  enemy.  As  their  position  was  near 
the  sea,  the  streams  naturally  flowed  down  through  it  from  the 
higher  ground  occupied  by  Caesar's  lines  ;  and  Caesar  was  thus 
enabled  either  to  turn  their  course,  or  to  pond  up  the  water  with 
great  labour  in  those  narrow  valleys  or  gorges  into  which  the 
springs  of  the  hills  first  discharged  themselves,  before  they  reach- 
ed the  lower  and  more  open  country.  Deprived  thus  of  the 
natural  supply  of  running  water,  Pompey's  soldiers  were  obliged 
to  dig  basins  or  reservoirs  in  the  marshy  grounds  near  the  sea  ; 
and  the  water  thus  gained  was  not  only  bad  in  itself,  but  quickly 
dried  up  under  the  heat  of  the  sun,  as  the  season  was  now  ad- 
vanced to  the  middle  of  summer.  In  addition  to  this  most  severe 
suffering,  they  were  reduced  to  the  greatest  want  of  forage  for 
their  horses,  insomuch  that  they  were  obliged  to  give  them  leaves 
from  the  trees,  and  the  roots  of  reeds,  to  eke  out  the  supplies 
which  they  received  by  sea  ;  and  thus  most  of  the  draught  ani- 
mals of  the  army,  being  less  considered  than  the  cavalry  horses, 
died,  and  the  stench  of  their  carcasses  in  the  hot  summer  weather, 
and  in  the  low  and  comparatively  confined  space  occupied  by  the 
troops,  produced  a  considerable  effect,  we  are  told,  on  the  health 
of  the  men.  How  far  Caesar  may  have  exaggerated  the  distress 
which  his  blockade  occasioned  to  his  adversaries,  it  is  not  easy 
to  decide  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  in  one  respect  his  views  were 
answered,  and  that  Pompey  suffered  in  general  estimation,  by 
allowing  himself,  with  an  unbroken  and  numerous  army,  to  be 
hemmed  in  by  his  antagonist.  "  He  cannot  escape  with  honour," 
says  Dolabella  in  a  letter  to  Cicero,*^^^  written  about  this  time  from 
Rome,  "  driven  as  he  has  been  from  Italy ;  deprived  of  Spain 
with  the  loss  of  a  veteran  army  ;  and  now  even  blockaded  in  his 
camp ;  a  disgrace  which  scarcely  any  other  of  our  commanders 

«">  Cffisar,  III.  47,  48,  49.  58.  '-^^  Cicero,  ad  Familiar,  IX.  epist.  IX. 


POMPEY  FORCES  a^SAR'S  LINES.  33  j 

has  ever  endured."  Yet  Pompey,  it  is  likely,  was  daily  improv- 
ing the  quality  of  his  troops,  by  exercising  them  in  those  partial 
conflicts  to  which  the  nature  of  the  operations  on  both  sides  con- 
stantly gave  occasion  ;  and  it  may  be  conjectured  that  Caesar  had 
better  reasons  for  praising  the  patience  and  fortitude  of  his  sol- 
diers than  he  chooses  to  confess  ;  for  every  account  of  these 
transactions  dw^ells  upon  the  distress  which  they  suffered  from 
the  want  of  provisions,  in  a  manner  not  very  consistent  with  Cae- 
sar's statement,  that  they  had  every  thing  in  abundance  except 
wheaten  bread.    At  length  Pompey  thought  that  the    Pompey  resolves  to 

.         1   •    I       1  •     I  i         i  release  himself  from 

tmie  was  come  at  which  he  might  act  on  a  more  his  blockade. 
vigorous  system.  Whether  he  was  urged,  as  Ca3sar  says,  by  the 
distress  which  he  suffered  in  his  present  position,  or  whether  he 
wished  at  last  to  make  some  trial  of  the  fitness  of  his  soldiers  to 
oppose  the  enemy  in  the  field,  he  resolved  to  break  out  from  his 
confinement,  and  force  a  passage  through  Caesar's  lines.  Having 
been  accurately  informed  by  some  deserters  of  the  disposition  of 
the  enemy's  troops,^^^  and  of  all  the  defects  of  their  works,  par- 
ticularly of  the  opening  left  between  their  first  and  second  line 
near  the  sea,  owing  to  the  unfinished  state  of  the  transverse  line 
which  was  intended  to  connect  them  together,  Pompey  prepared 
his  plan  of  attack  accordingly.  Directing  his  main  effort  against 
the  weak  point  of  Cajsar's  works,  he  assaulted  the  first  line  in 
front  with  his  legionary  soldiers,  whilst  he  embarked  on  board 
his  small  craft  a  large  force  of  his  light  infantry,  and  caused  them 
to  be  landed,  some  on  the  outside  of  the  second  line  to  attack  it  in 
front,  and  some  in  the  opening  between  the  two  lines,  where  they 
could  distract  the  defenders  of  both  by  assailing  them  in  the  rear. 
These  combined  movements  were  crowned  with  complete  suc- 
cess. The  attack  was  made  at  daybreak,  the  lines  were  forced 
with  great  slaughter,  and  Pompey  had  taken  up  a  new  position 
beyond  the  works  which  had  been  constructed  with  so  much  la- 
bour to  confine  him,  before  Caesar  could  come  up  to  the  support  of 
his  men  from  the  remote  part  of  his  lines  in  which  He  forces  CKsar-s 
he  had  fixed  his  usual  quarters.  When  he  did  ar-  "'"''• 
rive  on  the  spot,  and  saw  that  all  his  plans  must  at  once  be 
changed,  he  gave  orders  to  form  a  new  camp  near  that  of  Pom- 
pey. But  scarcely  was  the  work  completed,^^^  when  some  of  his 
reconnoitering  parties  brought  him  word  that  a  portion  of  the 
enemy's  army,  apparently  amounting  to'  an  entire  legion,  was 
stationed  by  itself  at  some  distance  from  its  main  body,  and 
might  possibly  be  cut  off*  by  a  sudden  attack.  Eager  to  retrieve 
the  loss  which  he  had  sustained  in  the  early  part  of  the  day, 
Caesar  caught  at  the  chance  of  success  thus  held  out  to  him,  and 
advanced  with  about  three  legions  to  assail  the  single  legion 

"*  Caesar,  59,  et  eeq.  '**  Caesar,  III.  G6,  et  seq. 


232  CiESAR  RETREATS  FROM  DYRRHACHIUM. 

of  the  enemy.  Bat  the  ground,  it  seems,  was  intersected  with 
walls  and  ditches  which  had  been  made  in  some  of  the  multiplied 
operations  of  the  last  few  weeks,  and  these  impediments  delayed 
and  disarranged  the  order  of  the  advancing  troops,  and  gave 
Pompey  time  to  come  up  with  a  strong  reinforcement.  Caesar's 
Affair  of  Dyrrha-  soldlers,  coufuscd  amldst  the  difficulties  of  the 
cssw'isdefeale'd!  grouud,  and  now  themselves  attacked  both  in  front 
and  rear,  were  seized  with  a  panic  and  fled.  In  vain  did  Cassar 
attempt  to  stop  the  rout ;  when  he  caught  hold  of  the  colours 
which  the  terrified  bearers  were  carrying  oft'  in  their  flight,  they 
were  thrown  away,  or  left  in  his  grasp ;  when  he  stopped  the 
horses  of  any  of  his  fugitive  cavalry,  the  riders  leaped  off",  and 
ran  away  on  foot.  But  the  same  impediments  which  had  first 
thrown  the  vanquished  party  into  disorder,  obstructed  in  their 
turn  the  pursuit  of  the  conquerors  ;  and  Pompey,  himself,  it  is 
said,  surprised  at  his  easy  victory,  suspected  that  the  flight  of  the 
enemy  was  counterfeited,  in  order  to  draw  him  into  some  ambus- 
cade, and  accordingly  did  not  press  upon  them  so  closely  as  he 
might  have  done.  Still  he  had  gained  a  great  and  decisive  ad- 
vantage, for  Csesar  at  once  felt  that  he  could  not  continue  the  ■ 
campaign  on  his  present  ground  ;  and  having  brought  together  all 
his  scattered  detachments,  and  abandoned  all  his  lines,  he  deter- 
mined to  retreat  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Dyrrhachium  with 
the  greatest  expedition,  and  began  to  concert  measures  to  preserve 
his  army  during  its  retreat  from  the  annoyance  likely  to  be  offered 
by  the  victorious  enemy. 

For  this  purpose  he  sent  off  all  his  baggage  with  the  sick 
cssar  retreats  from  ^ud  woundcd  xu  the  early  part  of  the  night,  under 
Dyrrhachium.  jj^g  cscort  of  3.  siuglc  Icgiou.^ss     The  main  body 

of  the  army  commenced  its  march  a  little  before  daybreak,  but 
Caesar  remained  in  the  camp,  with  two  legions,  for  some  little 
time  longer ;  and  then,  after  the  usual  order  had  been  given 
for  the  soldiers  to  prepare  to  march,  he  set  out  with  the  utmost 
expedition  and  soon  overtook  the  other  legions,  which  had 
already  made  some  progress.  The  order  for  marching  was  gen- 
erally, it  appears,  conveyed  through  the  camp  Avith  consider- 
able noise,^"  being  notified  by  repeated  calls  to  get  the  bag- 
gage together,  and  thus  it  might  easily  be  heard  by  an  enemy, 
when  posted  at  the  little  distance  which  was  customary  in  Ro- 
man warfare.  Pompey,  accordingly,  no  sooner  heard  this  sig- 
nal, than  he  put  his  own  army  in  motion,  supposing  that  the 
enemy  were  only  then  beginning  their  retreat ;  but  Csesar,  through 
the  precautions  which  he  had  employed,  was  so  much  in  ad- 
vance that  he  could  not  be  overtaken  till  he  came  to  the  Genusus, 
a  river  which  falls  into  the  sea  a  little  to  the  south  of  Dyrrha- 
chium, and  whose  steep  and  rocky  banks  necessarily  occasioned 

^96  Cffisar,  III.  75.  '"  Caesar,  de  Bell.  Civili,  I.  66. 


HE  IS  PURSUED  BY  POMPEY  WITHOUT  EFFECT.     283 

some  delay  ere  the  passage  of  it  could  be  effected.  Here  Pompey's 
cavalry  came  up  with  the  rear  of  the  retreating  army  ;  but  Caesar 
ordered  his  own  cavalry  up  to  the  scene  of  action,  and  by  sup- 
porting them  with  a  detachment  of  his  light-armed  legionary  in- 
fantry, enabled  them,  according  to  his  own  account,  though 
greatly  inferior  in  numbers,  to  repulse  the  enemy  with  some  loss. 
Having  thus  crossed  the  Genusus  in  safety,  he  led  his  troops  into 
a  camp  which  they  had  formerly  occupied,  described  before  as 
being  close  to  Asparagium,^^^  and  which  was  distant  about  eight 
miles  from  the  position  which  they  had  quitted  in  the  morning.^^' 
The  cavalry  were  immediately  sent  out  to  forage,  as  if  Csesar  in- 
tended to  halt  here  for  the  night ;  but  they  were  ordered  to  re- 
turn quickly  to  the  camp,  by  the  gate  furthest  removed  from  the 
enemy,  and  about  noon  the  order  was  given  to  resume  the  march, 
and  the  army  contiiuied  its  retreat  for  eight  miles  more  without 
the  least  disturbance.     Pompey,  on  his  part,  had       He  is  pursued  by 

d,   •  1  1  *  •  1  Pompey   without 

his  old  camp  near  Asparagmm,  and  con-      effect. 

eluding  that  Csesar  would  move  no  further  during  that  day,  had 
not  only  sent  out  his  cavalry  as  usual  to  collect  wood  and  forage, 
but  had  allowed  many  of  the  soldiers  to  return  to  their  position 
of  the  morning,  in  order  to  collect  various  articles  of  their  bag- 
gage which  they  had  been  forced  to  leave  behind  when  sum- 
moned so  suddenly  to  move  in  pursuit  of  Cassar.  It  was  thus 
impossible  for  him  to  follow  his  adversary,  and  the  advance 
which  Csesar  had  gained  was  so  important,  that  no  subsequent 
exertions  of  Pompey  could  make  up  for  it.  Accordingly,  on  the 
fourth  day  he  discontinued  the  pursuit,  and  Caesar  arrived  at 
Apollonia  without  interruption.  This  town,  it  seems,  was  one  of 
his  most  valuable  posts,^°°  and  he  had  placed  there  his  military 
chest,  which  he  now  required  for  the  payment  of  his  soldiers  ;  he 
judged  it  also  to  be  the  place  where  he  could  most  securely  leave 
behind  his  wounded  ;  and  for  both  these  reasons  he  had  fixed 
upon  it  as  his  first  point  of  retreat.  He  had  no  intention,  how- 
ever, to  remain  there  long,  as  he  had  decided  to  move  at  once 
into  Thessaly.  Accordingly,  having  sent  orders  to  Cn.  Domitius 
Calvinus,  the  commander  of  that  part  of  his  army  which  was  in 
Lower  Macedonia,  to  join  him  as  soon  as  possible,  and  having 

"'"  Cffisar,  III.  76.  rather  than  advance  a  few  miles  at  the 
299  This  is  spoken  of  as  a  day's  march,  price  of  having  to  undergo  the  whole  la- 
although  it  was  completed  some  time  be-  hour  of  raising  the  customary  works  for 
fore  noon,  and  the  distance  seems  very  in-  itself  The  passage  of  the  Genusus,  more- 
considerable.  It  should  be  remembered,  over,  was  probably  more  fatiguing  than  a 
however,  that  it  was  now  midsummer,  a  march  of  some  length  over  a  plain  coun- 
season  at  which  it  would  be  desirable,  in  try  ;  and  the  armies  had  both  moved  at  an 
the  climate  of  Greece,  to  avoid  marching  unusual  pace  during  the  whole  day  ;  so 
in  the  heat  of  the  day ;  and,  besides,  the  that  altogether  it  was  not  unnatural  to 
circumstance  of  finding  a  camp  ready  suppose  that  Csesar  might  really  intend 
formed,  would  be  a  reason  why  the  army  to  halt  in  his  camp  at  Asparagium. 
should  halt   a   little   sooner   than    usual,  2°"  Caesar,  III.  78. 


284  C^SAR  MARCHES  INTO  THESSALY. 

left  garrisons  at  Apollonia,  Lissus,  and  Oricum,  to  facilitate  his 
communications  with  Italy,  he  set  out  once  more  to  commence 
what  may  be  called  a  new  campaign  ;  and  turning  aside  from  the 
coast,  he  commenced  his  march  towards  the  interior  of  the  coun- 
try, through  Epirus  and  Athamania.^" 

The  final  success  of  Caesar  at  Pharsalia,  ought  not  so  far  to 
impose  upon  us  as  to  prevent  us  from  seeing  that  his  plans,  up  to 
the  moment  of  his  retreat  from  Dyrrhachium,  had  entirely  failed, 
He  resolves  to  march  ^^^^  ^^at  Pompcy's  coufidcnce  iu  the  wisdom  of  his 
intoThessaiy.  Q-^yj^  systcm  had  hitherto  been  fully  justified.     By 

exposing  his  soldiers  gradually  in  partial  encounters,  and  under 
favourable  circumstances,  he  had  enabled  them  to  meet  and  to 
vanquish. CcBsar's  veterans ;  while  Caesar,  after  undergoing  a  series 
of  labours  for  the  purpose  of  tempting  his  adversary  to  fight,  and 
having  seen  the  patience  of  his  troops  tried  to  the  utmost  from 
the  want  of  provisions  arising  from  the  enemy's  naval  superiority, 
had  imposed  all  this  suffering  upon  them  without  deriving  the 
least  benefit  from  it ;  and  when  at  last  he  did  meet  Pompey  in 
battle,  he  was  beaten  and  obliged  to  change  his  whole  plan  of  the 
campaign.  But  although  he  had  thus  been  baffied,  he  allowed 
no  signs  of  dejection  nor  of  a  sense  of  difficulty  to  appear  in  his 
conduct.  He  had  so  artfully  soothed  the  vanity  of  his  soldiers 
by  extenuating  their  defeat, ^""^  and  imputing  it  to  any  cause 
rather  than  to  a  want  of  courage  or  zeal  on  their  part,  that  the 
men  were  less  dismayed  than  irritated  by  their  disaster  ;  and  feel- 
ing grateftil  to  their  general  for  the  kindness  of  his  behaviour 
towards  them,  they  were  impatient  for  an  opportunity  of  retrieving 
their  disgrace,  and  of  proving  to  him  that  his  confidence  in  them 
had  not  been  bestowed  unworthily.  The  success  with  which 
the  retreat  to  Apollonia  had  been  conducted,  was  likely  to  lessen 
His  reasons  for  so  ^heir  imprcssiou  of  the  events  at  Dyrrhachium  ;  and 
*°'°s  they  now  had  the  prospect  of  resuming  at  once  the 

offensive,  of  drawing  away  the  enemy  from  the  neighbourhood  of 

^'"  The  reading  in  the  only  two  editions  clear  and  correct.     See  also  Strabo,  VII. 

of  Caesar  which  we  have   consulted,  (nei-  378,  and  IX.  491.      Plutarch  also  says, 

•her  of  them,  it  must  be  confessed,  of  any  expressly,  £/?<iJi^c(5i'  ' AOa^iai'^v  di  OtrraXiav. 

great  value,  or  of  recent  date,)  is  "  Acar-  in  Pompeio,  66.     Another  blunder  occurs 

nania;"  "perEpirum  atque  Arcarnaniam  in  the  very  next  chapter  in   the  same  edi- 

iter  facere  ccepit,"  78.     It  is  evident   that  tionsofCaesar,where  the  Heraclen,  through 

Cajsar  could  not  march  through  Acarna-  which  Pompey  passed,  is  called  Heraclea 

nia;  but  Athamania   is  the  name  of  that  Sentica.      Heraclea   Sentica,    or   Sintica, 

wild  mountain  region  which  lies  between  was  near  the  eastern  frontier  of  Macedo- 

Epirus  and   Thessaly,  and  which  immedi-  nia,  between  the  Strymon  and  the  Axius  ; 

ately  overhang?  the  valley  in  which  Gom-  Vid.  Livy,  XLV.  29  ;    but  the  Heraclea, 

phi  stands.     Vid.  Livy,  XXXI.  41.     "  Im-  through  which  Pompey  passed,  was  on  the 

minet  Althamania  huic  urbi ;"  sc.  Gomphis.  western  frontier,  and  was,  in  fact,  situated 

It  should  be  remembered,  that  in  the  part  on  the  Ignatian  way,  at    the    eastern   foot 

of  his  history  from  which  these  words  are  of  the  Candavian  mountains.  Vid.  Strabo, 

quoted,    Livy,   has    so    generally    copied  VII.  374. 

Polybius,  that  his  geography  is  unusually  ^°-  Caesar,  III.  73,  74. 


HIS  REASONS  FOR  SO  DOING. 


285 


the  sea,  which  had  hitherto  given  him  so  great  an  advantage,  and 
of  enjoying  the  suppUes  which  the  approaching  harvest  promised 
them  in  the  rich  and  comparatively  unwasted  plains  of  Thessaly. 
Still,  however,  the  utmost  expedition  was  necessary ;  for  it  was 
not  to  be  doubted  that  Pompey,  after  having  ceased  to  pursue 
Cassar,  would  at  once  march  into  Macedonia  by  that  great  and 
direct  communication  called  the  Ignatian  way,^"^  which,  as  we 
have  already  mentioned,  crossed  the  whole  country  from  Dyrrha- 
chium  on  the  Ionian  gulf,  to  Thessalonica  on  the  JEgean  sea. 
Whichever  general  should  first  arrive  to  support  his  officer  who 
commanded  in  Lower  Macedonia,  was  likely  to  gain  an  import- 
ant advantage  by  overwhelming  the  detachment  of  the  enemy; 
and  thus,  whilst  Pompey  was  hastening  to  join  Scipio,  Caesar  was 
equally  anxious  to  unite  his  army  with  that  of  Cn.  Domitius. 

Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus  had  been  consul  with  M.  Messala  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  the  year  700,  after  the  long  interregnum 
which  lasted  through  all  the  earlier  months  of  it.  He  was  then 
reputed  a  partisan  of  the  aristocracy,  but  was  implicated,  while  a 
candidate,  in  that  corrupt  agreement  with  the  consuls  of  the  pre- 
ceding year  which  forms  so  remarkable  an  instance  of  audacious 
profligacy. ^"^  Such  a  man  had  probably  Jittle  to  guide  him,  ex- 
cept his  interest  or  his  passions ;  and  accordingly  he  was  now 
an  officer  under  Caesar,  and  had  been  sent  into  Macedonia  some 
time  before  with  two  legions,  to  gain,  if  possible,  that  important 
province. ^^5  Here  he  had  been  opposed  to  Scipio,  who  had  just 
brought  with  him  from  Asia  an  army  of  nearly  equal  force  ;  and 
as  Scipio  imitated  the  policy  of  Pompey  and  declined  an  ac  ion, 
the  two  armies  lay  opposite  to  one  another  for  some  time  on  the 
banks  of  the  Haliacmon,  without  engaging  in  any  affair  of  im- 
portance. It  seems,  however,  that  this  system  of  warfare  was 
as  annoying  to  Caesar's  lieutenants  as  to  himself,  Tor  we  find  that 
Cn.  Domitius,  having  exhausted  the  resources  of  the  country  im- 
mediately around  him,  was  obliged  to  change  his  position,  and 
had  moved  towards  Heraclea,^''^  a  town  situated  on  the  Ignatian 
way,  and  at  the  eastern  foot  of  the  Candavian  mountains,  which 
are  the  central  chain  from  whence  the  streams  flow  eastward  to 
the  J^gean,  and  westward  to  the  Ionian  gulf.  This  movement 
took  place  exactly  at  the  time  that  Pompey  was  marching  to  join 
Scipio  ;  and  as  Heraclea  was  one  of  the  towns  through  which 
his  road  lay,  he  would  have  cut  off  Domitius  and  his  troops  with- 
out difficulty,  had  they  not  escaped  in  the  utmost  haste  only  four 
hours  before  his  arrival.  The  news  of  Caesar's  defeat  at  Dyr 
rhachium,  exaggerated  as  usual  by  report,  had  produced  every 
where  a  strong  sensation ;  and  the  people  of  the  country,  con- 

30'  Strabo,  VII.  374,  edit.  Xyland.  ^os  c^sar,  III.  34. 

3M  Vide  p  216.  306  c^sar,  79.     Strabo,  VII.  374. 


286        C^SAR  SUBDUES  MOST  OF  THE  THESSALIAN  TOWNS. 

sidering  his  cause  desperate,  hoped  to  recommend  themselves  to 
the  conqueror,  by  cutting  off  his  communications,  and  practising 
against  him  all  those  desultory  modes  of  annoyance  which  a  re- 
treating or  beaten  army  is  so  apt  to  suffer  from  such  hands.  For 
a  long  time,  therefore,  neither  Caesar  nor  Domitius  could  receive 
He  joins  cn.  Domi-  ^^Y  intelligence  from  each  other  ;  but  at  last  Domi- 
on^ihe^ (mnue"To{  ti^^^s,  liaviug  leamt  at  once  the  march  of  Caesar  to- 
Thessaiy.  wards  Thcssaly,  and  his  own  danger  from  the 

advance  of  Pompey,  fell  back  southwards  with  all  his  haste,  and 
met  Caesar  at  ^^^ginium,^"'^  a  town  of  considerable  natural  strength, 
standing  amongst  the  mountains  of  Athamania,  which  immedi- 
ately overhang  the  plains  of  Thessaly.  Scipio,  who  had,  perhaps, 
been  earlier  informed  of  the  approaching  change  of  the  peat  of 
war,  left  the  banks  of  the  Haliacmon,  and  stationed  himself  at 
Larissa,  on  the  Peneus,  one  of  the  principal  cities  of  Thessaly, 
and  which  it  was  of  importance  to  lose  no  time  in  securing.  As 
for  the  detachment  which  had  been  sent  by  Ccesar  into  Thessaly 
while  he  was  himself  opposed  to  Pompey  near  Dyrrhachium,^"^ 
it  had  been  driven  out  of  the  country  by  Scipio,  just  before  Cn. 
Domitius  began  to  engage  the  whole  attention  of  that  olhcer  in 
Macedonia ;  so  that  Caesar,  when  he  arrived  at  ^Eginium,  had 
nothing  else  to  trust  to  for  a  favourable  reception  except  the  affec- 
tions of  the  Thessalians  themselves,  and  those,  he  tells  us,  had 
been  greatly  alienated  by  the  exaggerated  reports  which  prevailed 
of  the  desperate  situation  of  his  atfairs. 

On  descending  from  ^ginium  into  the  plain  of  Thessaly,  the 
He  takes  Gomphi,  ^^'st  towu  of  importaucc  ou  the  line  of  Cassar's 
Sf^he"'ThlLXn  march  was  Gomphi.^""  He  found  the  gates  shut 
ir?he''"pia"nrTf  agalust  him,  although  he  tells  us  that  the  citizens 
pharsaiia.  -^^^  ggj-j^  jq  j^jj^^  souic  time  bcforc  to  off^er  him  their 

services,  and  to  invite  him  to  garrison  their  city.  But  when  he 
represented  to  his  soldiers  the  importance  of  striking  terror  into 
the  Thessalians  by  vigorously  chastising  this  first  act  of  hostility, 
and  encouraged  them  by  promises  of  the  plunder  of  a  wealthy 
town,  they  were  animated  with  such  a  spirit  that  they  scaled  the 
walls  within  three  or  four  hours  after  their  arrival  before  the 
place,  and  sacked  the  town  with  all  the  eagerness  of  men  who 
had  been  long  unused  to  every  indulgence.  The  example,  how- 
ever, produced  the  desired  effect.  Metropolis,  the  next  place  on 
the  army's  route,  submitted  at  once ;  and  here,  as  a  contrast  to 
the  fate  of  Gomphi,  the  soldiers  were  forced  to  oljserve  the  greatest 
forbearance.  With  such  a  lesson  before  their  eyes,  the  other 
towns  of  Thessaly  followed  generally  the  behaviour  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Metropolis,  so  that  Caesar  rapidly  advanced,  till  he  found 

307  Cajsar,    79.      Livy,    XXXI.     41;         ^^^  CmsaT,36. 
XXXII.  15.  309  cggsar,80. 


CONFIDENCE  OP  POMPEY'S  ARMY.  537 

himself  in  the  midst  of  a  country  covered  with  crops  of  corn 
almost  ready  for  harvest,^'"  where  he  determined  to  await  the  ap- 
proach of  Pompey,  and  again,  if  possible,  try  the  fortune  of  a 
battle.  His  camp  was  pitched  a  few  miles  to  the  south  of  La- 
rissa,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  right  bank  of  the  river  Enipeus, 
in  the  ever-memorable  plains  of  Pharsalus  or  Pharsalia. 

Meanwhile  the  victory  of  Dyrrhachium  and  the  retreat  of 
CaBsar  had  produced  a  fatal  effect  on  the  mind  of  confidence  of  pom- 
Pompey,  and  made  him  less  firm  in  resisting  the  p'^*'^  '''■'"^• 
rash  and  violent  counsels  of  his  officers.  His  soldiers  had  saluted 
him  with  the  title  of  imperator  on  the  field  of  battle,  a  name 
usually  given  in  this  manner  by  an  army  to  its  victorious  gen- 
eral, and  expressive  of  the  sense  entertained  by  his  troops  of  the 
greatness  of  his  success.  But  it  is  mentioned,  that  although 
Pompey  adopted  the  title  thus  conferred  on  hini,^"  he  abstained 
from  the  general  custom  of  wreathing  his  fasces,  or  surrounding 
his  letters  Avith  laurel ;  implying  that  he  intended  to  claim  no  tri- 
umph for  a  victory  gained  over  his  own  countrymen.  His  gen- 
erals immediately  began  to  propose  various  plans  for  the  future 
operations  of  the  army.  Ij.  Afranius  (who  had  brought  with  him 
from  Spain  a  part  of  the  troops  which  he  had  formerly  com- 
manded there,^'^  having  enlisted,  perhaps  afresh,  some  of  those 
soldiers  who  had  been  discharged  according  to  the  capitulation 
granted  them  by  Caesar)  strongly  urged  that  Pompey  should  avail 
himself  of  the  first  renown  of  his  victory, ^'^  and  should  transport 
his  army  at  once  into  Italy,  that  he  might  thus  easily  recover  the 
seat  of  government,  and  might  deprive  his  adversary  of  the  re- 
sources which  he  now  drew  from  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Gaul,  and 
Spain.  But  Pompey  replied,  that  he  would  never  consent  to  ex- 
pose Italy  and  Rome  itself  to  the  miseries  of  war  ;  that  besides, 
by  leaving  Greece  at  this  moment  he  abandoned  Scipio  and  his 
two  legions  to  certain  destruction  ;  whereas,  by  effecting  a  junc- 
tion with  him,  he  might  reasonably  hope  to  complete  the  work 
which  they  had  so  well  begun,  and  might  return  to  Rome  within 
a  short  period,  without  leaving  behind  them  any  cause  for  appre- 
hension or  future  anxiety.  It  is  said  that  some  of  the  members 
of  the  high  aristocratical  party  were  in  the  habit  of  reproaefiing 
Pompey  for  his  procrastinating  system  of  warfare,^'^  and  accused 
him  of  wishing  to  protract  the  contest,  that  he  might  the  longer 
enjoy  the  distinction  of  seeing  the  flower  of  the  nobility  of  Rome 
obeying  him  as  their  commander-in-chief.  But  his  policy  was  so 
evidently  wise,  that,  inclined  as  he  was  to  defer  too  much  to  pub- 
lic opinion,  he  yet  persevered  in  his  own  plans  till  after  the  battle 

3'"  Caesar,  81.  ^"  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  66.     Appian, 

3«i  Caesar,  71.  II.  65. 

"*  Cassar,  88.  ^'^  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  67.     Appian, 

II.  67.     Cffisar,  82. 


288  CESAR  OFFERS  POMPEY  BATTLE. 

of  Dyrrhachium.  The  unexpected  panic  which  he  had  on  that 
occasion  witnessed  among  Caesar's  veterans,  inclined  him,  per- 
haps, to  think  that  he  had  judged  too  highly  of  their  superiority  ; 
while  his  confidence  in  his  own  soldiers  would  be  proportionably 
raised.  He  thought  that  his  long  course  of  cautious  training  had 
at  last  been  brought  to  perfection  ;  and  that  with  a  more  numerous 
army,  now  flushed  with  victory,  and  a  very  superior  cavalry,  he 
need  not  fear  to  face  his  enemy  in  the  field.  This  feeling  was 
heightened  when  he  found  that  the  plains  of  Thessaly  were  to 
become  the  scene  of  the  contest ;  for  on  no  ground  could  his  cav- 
alry act  with  more  advantage ;  and  we  are  told  that  he  placed 
his  main  reliance  on  that  part  of  his  forces.^'^  But  be  this  as  it 
may,  he  set  out  with  the  bulk  of  his  army  to  follow  Caesar,  as  we 
have  already  related,  having  left  fifteen  cohorts  at  Dyrrhachium, 
under  the  command  of  M.  Cato,  to  secure  his  magazines  in  that 
town.^"^  Two  other  distinguished  individuals  remained  also  at 
Dyrrhachium,  and  thus  were  not  present  at  the  battle  of  Phar- 
salia  ;  M.  Varro,  who  had  been  lately  one  of  Pompey's  lieutenants 
in  Spain,  and  who  was  accounted  the  most  learned  Roman  of  his 
time ;  and  M.  Cicero,  who,  though  warmly  attached  to  Pompey 
himself,  was  disgusted  at  the  language  and  conduct  of  some  of 
his  principal  officers,  and  was,  probably,  not  sorry  for  the  indis- 
position which,  according  to  Plutarch,?'^  prevented  him  from 
taking  a  more  active  part  in  the  contest.  He  had  always  been 
anxious  for  peace,  and  had  left  Italy  in  the  preceding  summer^ 
and  joined  Pompey  in  Greece  more  out  of  personal  friendship  to 
him,  and  a  regard  to  his  own  character,  than  from  any  ardent 
zeal  in  the  quarrel,  or  still  less  from  an  approbation  of  the  manner 
in  which  it  was  conducted. 

Pompey,  on  his  arrival  in  Thessaly,  formed  a  junction  with 
Scipio's  army,  and  then  advanced  and  pitched  his  camp  at  no 
great  distance  from  that  of  Caesar.  He  was  abundantly  supplied 
with  provisions  from  the  sea,  and  from  the  country  in  his  rear, 
while  Caesar  could  command  only  the  resources  of  that  part  of 
Thessaly  which  was  in  his  own  immediate  occupation ;  and 
these,  though  plentiful  at  present,  must  of  necessity  be  soon  ex- 
hausted. Caesar,  therefore,  lost  no  time  in  offering  battle  to  his 
antagonist ;  but  this  was  for  some  days  declined  ;  and  Pompey, 
though  he  drew  his  troops  out  in  order,  yet  kept  them  so  near  to 
the  protection  of  their  camp,  that  Caesar  could  not  venture  to  at- 
tack him.^'^  There  was  still,  perhaps,  a  struggle  in  Pompey's 
mind  between  his  own  better  judgment  and  his  deference  to  the 
wishes,  or  rather  the  clamours,  of  his  generals,  combined  with 
that  confidence  in  his  strength  with  which  his  late  victory  had 

"5  Cffisar,  86.  3"  In  Cicerone,  39. 

3'8  Cicero,  de   Divinatione,  I.  31.    Flu-         ^is  Caesar,  de  Bello  Civili,  III.  85. 
tarch,  in  Catone,  55. 


DISPOSITION  OF  THE  TWO  ARMIES.  339 

inspired  him.  At  length  Csesar  resolved  to  change  his  ground, 
calculating,  he  tells  us,  that  by  moving  often  from  place  to  place, 
he  should  be  able  to  subsist  his  troops  more  readily,^ '^  and  if  he 
was  pursued,  might  have  some  opportunity  of  forcing  the  enemy 
to  an  engagement  during  the  march.  Besides,  he  still  looked 
upon  Pompey's  soldiers  as  raw  levies  in  comparison  with  his  own 
practised  veterans,  and  hoped  to  weary  out  their  spirits  and  pa- 
tience by  harassing  them  incessantly,  and  keeping  them  in  con- 
tinual motion.  But  when  the  order  for  marching  had  been  ac- 
tually given,  when  the  tents  were  already  struck,  and  the  troops 
were  moving  out  of  the  gates  of  the  camp,  word  p^^p.^ ;,  persuaded 
was  brought  that  the  enemy  was  formed  in  line  of  to  hazard  a  battle. 
battle  at  a  greater  distance  from  his  intrenchments  than  usual,  as 
if  disposed  to  venture  an  action  on  equal  terms.  Immediately 
the  march  was  stopped,  the  red  ensign,  or  signal  of  battle,  was 
displayed  at  the  general's  quarters,^^"  and  the  soldiers,  freed  from 
the  load  which  they  were  accustomed  to  carry  when  marching, 
were  mstantly  led  out  into  the  plain  equipped  merely  for  battle, 
and  were  drawn  up  in  front  of  the  enemy. 

The  engagements  of  modern  warfare  cannot  be  understood 
without  an  exact  knowledge  not  only  of  the  grand-  Disposition  of  the 
er  features  of  the  scene  of  action,  but  even  of  '"'"  armies. 
the  minutest  details  of  its  hills,  valleys,  streams,  woods,  roads, 
villages,  and  insulated  houses.  A  space  of  several  miles  is  occu- 
pied by  the  contending  armies,  and  a  battle  is  for  the  most  part  a 
game  of  positions,  in  which  the  carrying  one  important  point 
renders  the  retreat  of  the  enemy  a  matter  of  necessity.  Generals, 
therefore,  are  obliged  to  calculate  time  and  distance,  with  the  ut- 
most exactness,  as  success  will  depend  on  the  combined  move- 
ments of  different  bodies  of  men  acting  out  of  sight  of  one  another, 
and  over  a  wide  extent  of  country  ;  and  meeting  with  obstacles 
of  a  very  unequal  nature  in  their  respectiv^e  operations.  But  in 
ancient  times,  the  great  battles,  which  decided  the  fate  of  a  cam- 
paign or  a  war,  were  conducted  on  a  much  more  simple  system. 
The  two  parties  descended,  as  by  agreement,  into  a  wide  field  for 
action  ;  both  were  drawn  up  in  parallel  lines,  and  there  decided 
the  contest  by  hard  fighting,  man  to  man,  with  seldom  any  other 
attempts  at  manoeuvring,  than  those  made  by  either  army  to  turn 
the  flank  of  its  antagonist.  In  this  manner,  Caesar  and  Pompey 
met  in  the  plains  of  Pharsalia.  Their  lines  fronted  one  another 
in  the  usual  order  of  battle  ;  the  right  flank  of  Pompey's  army, 
and  the  left  of  Caesar's,  were  covered  by  the  river  Enipeus,  whose 
banks  were  steep  and  broken  •,^'^'  while  Pompey  had  stationed 
his  whole  cavalry  on  his  left,  at  once  to  cover  that  extremity  of 

"9  Ccesar,  85.  32'  Cajsar,  III.  88. 

3'"  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  68. 


290  BATTLE  OF  PHARSALIA. 

his  own  line,  and  to  turn  the  wing  of  the  enemy.  To  obviate 
this,  Caesar  formed  a  reserve  of  six  cohorts,  which  he  had  drafted 
from  the  legions  of  his  third  line,  and  placed  them  on  his  right, 
behind  his  own  cavalry,  ready  to  present  a  front  and  to  charge 
the  cavalry  of  the  enemy  so  soon  as  they  should  prepare  to  ex- 
ecute their  intended  manojuvre.  He,  himself,  besides,  took  his 
station  on  the  right  of  his  line,  at  the  head  of  the  tenth  legion, 
the  most  distinguished  body  of  troops  in  his  army  ;  while  Pom- 
pey,  equally  aware  that  this  would  be  the  most  important  point 
in  the  field,  placed  himself  on  his  own  left  wing,  at  the  head  of 
the  two  legions  which  had  formerly  belonged  to  Caesar,  and  which 
had  been  recalled  from  his  army  in  Gaul,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
a  little  before  the  beginning  of  the  war.  The  numbers  on  each 
side  are,  as  usual,  uncertain  ;  the  writer  of  the 
"  Commentaries"  (for  the  more  we  read  them  the 
less  can  we  persuade  ourselves  to  consider  Caesar  as  their  author, 
although,  to  avoid  circumlocution,  we  often  speak  of  them  as  his 
work,)  states  the  amount  of  Pompey's  infantry  at  45,000,  and  that 
of  Caesar's  at  22,000.^^^  In  cavalry,  Pompey's  superiority  is  made 
out  to  be  still  greater  ;  he  had  7000  men,  and  Caesar,  only  lOOO.^^s 
Appian,  also,  without  referring  directly  to  the  '■'  Commentaries," 
gives  exactly  the  same  numbers,  following,  he  says,  the  most 
credible  authorities  on  the  subject  •,^'^^  but  he  mentions  several 
other  statements,  some  representing  the  disparity  between  the  two 
armies  to  have  been  greater,  and  others  to  have  been  less  than  he 
has  recorded.  The  auxiliary  troops  on  both  sides  were  very  nu- 
merous but  their  exact  amount,  says  Appian,  is  not  known  ;  be- 
cause the  Romans  considered  the  foreign  part  of  their  forces  as  of 
little  importance.  Almost  every  province  of  the  empire  had  given 
assistance  to  one  or  other  of  the  two  antagonists  ;  and  it  was  on 
the  foreign  troops  in  Pompey's  army  that  Caesar  ordered  his  sol- 
diers to  glut  their  fury,  while  he  commanded  them  to  spare  all 
who  were  Romans,  as  soon  as  they  should  cease  to  resist.  Yet 
it  was  the  most  beneficial  result  of  Caesar's  final  victory,  that  the 
distinction  between  the  Italians  and  the  inhabitants  of  other  parts 
of  the  empire  was  gradually  lessened,  till  it  was  at  last  removed 
altogether.  And  although,  to  effect  this  equality,  Rome  was 
somewhat  degraded,  as  well  as  the  provinces  raised,  yet  the  gen- 
eral interests  of  mankind  were  promoted  by  the  change,  inas- 
much as  a  larger  portion  of  it  became  admitted  to  that  rank  and 
that  civil  condition  which  were  the  highest  and  most  desirable 
existing  at  the  time  in  the  world. 

The  signal  for  attack  was  first  given  by  Caesar  ;^^^  and  his 
soldiers  rushed  forward  to  the  onset.  But  finding 
that  the  enemy  did  not  advance  to  meet  them,  and 

322  Caesar,  III.  88,  89.  324  Appian,  II.  70. 

»23  Ceesar,  84.  325  Caesar,  90.  92.     Floras,  IV.  2. 


BATTLE  OF  PHARSALIA. 


291 


fearing  to  exhaust  their  strength  before  they  closed,  they  haUed, 
of  their  own  accord,  for  a  few  minutes,  in  the  middle  of  their 
course,  to  recover  their  breath  ;  and  then,  renewing  their  charge, 
they  launched  their  javelins  against  the  adverse  ranks,  and  in- 
stantly drawing  their  swords,  engaged  the  enemy  hand  to  hand. 
The  soldiers  of  the  commonwealth  received  the  attack  with  cool- 
ness, and  the  action  soon  became  general ;  when  the  cavalry,^^^ 
which  was  stationed  on  the  left  of  Pompey's  line,  moved  forward 
to  charge  Ca3sar's  right,  accompanied  by  all  the  light  troops,  which 
formed  a  numerous  body.  Caesar's  cavalry,  unable  to  stand  the 
attack,  was  presently  beaten ;  and  the  victorious  cavalry  of  Pom- 
pey  were  beginning  to  fall  on  the  defenceless  flank  of  the  line  of 
infantry,  when  the  reserve  of  six  cohorts,  or  about  3000  men,  which 
Ca3sar  had  formed  for  this  very  purpose,  suddenly  advanced  ;  and 
without  waiting  to  receive  the  charge  of  the  cavalry,  itself  charged 
them  with  great  impetuosity.  Pompey's  cavalry,  as  we  have 
seen,  consisted  mainly  of  foreigners,  and  those  of  many  different 
nations.^'^^  Startled,  therefore,  at  this  unexpected  attack,  afraid 
of  the  high  courage  and  discipline  of  Caesar's  regular  infantry, 
galled  by  the  terrible  discharge  of  the  javelins,  and  perhaps,  in 
some  disorder  at  the  moment  from  not  having  completed  the  ma- 
noeuvre in  which  they  were  engaged,  the  soldiers  on  whom  Pom- 
pey  had  placed  his  chief  dependence  were  seized  with  a  shameful 
panic,  and  fied.^^^  The  light  troops,  abandoned  to  their  fate,  were 
instantly  cut  to  pieces ;  and  the  reserve,  still  pushing  its  success, 
fell  upon  the  flank  and  rear  of  the  line  of  Pompey's  infantry,  which 
was  at  that  moment  warmly  engaged  in  front  with  the  best  troops 
in  Caesar's  army,  the  famous  tenth  legion.  At  the  same  instant 
Caesar  brought  up  the  third  line  of  his  army,  which  had  not  hith- 
erto been  engaged  f^^  and  the  arrival  of  a  fresh  force  at  once  over- 
powered the  resistance  of  the  enemy  ;  who,  wearied  with  a  long 
contest  already,  and  attacked  at  once  in  front  and  in  rear,  were 
unable  to  withstand  this  third  attack,  and  broke  and  fled.  The 
impression  communicated  itself  rapidly,  and  the  whole  line  of 
*  Pompey's  infantry  began  to  give  ground.  Still,  however,  they 
disputed  the  approach  towards  their  camp ;  when  Caesar  issued 
the  order  to  give  quarter  to  all  Roman  citizens,  and  only  to  kill 
the  foreign  auxiliaries.^^"  Many  of  the  legionary  soldiers  instant- 
ly embraced  the  safety  thus  offered  to  them,  while  the  auxiliaries, 
deserted  by  the  most  effective  part  of  the  army,  were  slaughtered 

328  Csesar,  III.  93, 94.  advanced,  were  beaten  off  and  fled,  leav- 

327  Caesar,    III.    4.       Confer.     Lucan,  ing  the  artillery  and  infantry  to  their  fate. 

Pharsalia,  VII.  521,  et  seq.  And  it  is  remarkable,  that,  till   then,  the 

3-8  The  reader  will  recollect  the  similar  cavalry  had  been  regarded  as  the  particular 

circumstances  which   occasioned  the  dis-  kind  of  force  which  was  likely  to  be  most 

graceful  rout  of  Preston  Pans  in  the  rebel-  efficacious  against  the  Highlanders. 

lion  of  1745.     The  dragoons,  who  were  329  Caesar,  94. 

ordered  to  charge  the  Highlanders  as  they  33o  Appian,  II.  80. 


292  DEFEAT  OF  POMPEY. 

without  difficulty  and  without  mercy.     In  this  man- 
Defeat  of  pompey.  ,,  '  •      J     J.  -rt  1 

ner  the  conquerors  soon  arrived  at  Fompey's  camp, 

which  they  proceeded  to  storm,  and  carried  it  after  a  brief  but  sharp 
resistance  from  some  Thracians  and  other  auxiUaries  who  had 
been  stationed  to  defend  the  rampart. ^^'  From  the  camp  the  fu- 
gitives fled  in  a  body  to  some  very  high  ground,  which  rose  imme- 
diately behind  it  j"^  and  Csesar  having  authority  enough  to  call  off 
his  soldiers  from  the  spoil  that  was  lying  before  them,  instantly 
followed  to  complete  his  victory."^  But  the  enemy  finding  that 
their  position  was  destitute  of  water,  abandoned  it,  and  continued 
their  retreat  towards  Larissa.  Csesar  still  pursued  them  with  a 
part  of  his  forces,  having  left  the  other  part  to  secure  his  own  camp, 
and  that  which  he  had  just  taken  from  the  enemy.  The  fugitives, 
finding  that  he  was  gaining  ground  upon  them  by  moving  on  a 
more  practicable  road,  halted  again  on  another  height,  which  had  a 
stream  flowing  at  its  foot.  Night  was  coming  on,  and  the  exer- 
tions of  the  day  had  almost  exhausted  both  parties ;  but  Cassar 
encouraged  his  men  to  make  one  effort  more,  and  to  raise  works 
between  the  hill  and  the  stream,  that  the  enemy  might  not  supply 
themselves  with  water  during  the  night.  His  wish  was  accom- 
plished ;  and  the  unfortunate  fugitives,  exposed  to  all  the  horrors 
of  thirst  after  a  day  of  intense  fatigue,  and  at  the  hottest  season  of 
the  year,  sent  some  of  their  number  to  offer  an  immediate  surren- 
der.^^* Some  senators,  it  is  said,  who  were  on  the  hill,  not  choosing 
to  submit  to  Caesar,  escaped  during  the  night ;  but  the  rest  of  the 
Surrender  of  a  large  fugitivcs,  as  soon  as  moming  came,  were  ordered  to 
portion  of  his  army,  couic  dowu  luto  tlic  plain  and  give  up  their  arms; 
after  which  their  lives  were  granted  to  them;  and  in  the  cruelty 
of  ancient  warfare  they  had  reason  to  congratulate  themselves  on 
their  fortune,  in  being  preserved  alike  from  massacre  and  from 

231  Cffisar,  95.  compter  sur  vous  ?" — Memoires  de  Napo- 

332  Caesar,  95.  97.  leon,  I.  91. 

333  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Caesar  334  Pompey  was  murdered  the  day  be- 
exclaimed,  in  the  hearing  of  Asinius  Pol-  fore  his  birthday  ;  that  is,  according  to  0 
lie,  upon  witnessing  the  total  defeat  of  the  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  XXXVII.  2,  on 
commonwealth's  army,  "  Hoc  voluerunt :  the  29th  of  September,  which,  allowing 
tantis  rebus  gestis  C.  Caesar  condemnatus  for  the  disordered  state  of  the  Roman  cal- 
essem,  nisi  ab  exercitu  auxilium  petiissem."  ender  at  this  time,  was  really  about  one  of 
The  words  of  Napoleon  Buonaparte  were  the  latter  days  of  July.  Consequently  the 
in  the  same  spirit  when  he  was  exciting  battle  of  Pharsalia  must  have  been  fought 
the  indignation  of  his  soldiers  against  the  about  the  beginning  or  middle  of  July  ; 
Jacobin  members  of  the  Council  of  Five  but  we  have  found  no  record  of  the  pre- 
Hundred,  on  the  memorable  19th  Bru-  ciseday,  and  indeed  one  might  imagine, 
maire,  (10th  November,  1799.)  "  J'allais  from  some  words  of  Lucan,  that  it  was  not 
leur  faire  connaitre  les  moyens  de  sauver  exactly  known  even  in  his  time.  He 
la    repubiique,  et   de    nous    rendre    notre  says — 

gloire.     lis  m'ont  repondu  a  coups  de  po-  "  Teinpora  signavit  leviorum  Roma  ma- 

ignard.     lis  voulaient  ainsi  realiser  le  de-  lorum, 

sir  des  rois  coalises.     Qu'aurait  pu  faire  Hunc  voluit  nescire  diem." 

de    plus   I'Angleterre .'       Soldats,  puis-je  Phars.  VH.  410. 


PERSONAL  ADVENTURES  OF  POMPEY.  093 

slavery.  The  indefatigable  conqueror,  Iiaving  thus  completed  the 
destruction  of  the  enemy's  army,  ordered  the  legions  which  he  had 
with  him  to  be  relieved  by  those  which,  on  the  preceding  afternoon, 
he  had  sent  back  to  the  camp,  and  then  continuing  his  advance, 
he  reached  Larissa  on  that  day,  and  entered  it  without  resistance. 
Such  was  the  battle  of  Pharsalia.  It  is  needless  to  inquire 
what  was  the  number  of  the  slain  on  the  part  of  the  vanquished, 
or  of  the  conqueror  ;  for  a  victory  so  complete  is  to  be  estimated 
rather  by  its  results,  than  by  the  immediate  slaughter  in  the  field  ; 
and  where  the  empire  of  the  world  was  lost  and  won,  no  subor- 
dinate considerations  could  aggravate  the  defeat,  nor  materially 
lessen  the  joy  of  the  victory.  L.  Domitius,  who  had  been  named 
by  the  senate  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  as  Cgesar's  successor  in 
Gaul,  was  killed  in  the  pursuit  ;3"'  T.  Labienus  and  L.  Afranius 
had  escaped  to  Dyrrhachium ;  whilst  P.  Lentulus,  L.  Lentulus, 
the  late  consul,  Scipio,  and  Pompey  the  Great  himself,  were  seek- 
ing shelter  and  protection  from  foreigners.  But  the  fortunes  of 
Pompey  deserve  to  be  traced  more  particularly.  When  he  saw 
his  cavalry  defeated, ^^^  and  the  reserve  of  Csesar's  pergonal  adventures 
six  cohorts  threatening  to  surround  that  part  of  his  °^  Pompey. 
line  in  which  he  had  taken  his  place,  it  is  agreed  that  he  instant- 
ly left  the  field,  and  rode  back  to  his  camp.  As  he  entered  the 
gates,  he  addressed  himself  to  the  centurions  who  were  stationed 
there  on  guard,  charging  tliem  to  do  their  duty  in  defending  the 
camp,  if  it  should  be  needful,  and  adding,  "  that  he  was  going  to 
visit  the  other  gates,  and  to  increase  the  guards  at  every  point." 
Yet  we  are  told  that  he  went  directly  to  his  own  tent,  and  there 
remained  as  if  stupified,  till  he  found  that  the  enemy  had  already 
forced  their  way  into  his  intrenchments.  We  find,  indeed,  that 
when  he  saw  his  cavalry  routed,  he  suspected  that  he  was  betray- 
ed ;  and  this  feeling,  working  vaguely  on  his  mind,  was  likely, 
above  all  others,  to  make  him  helpless  and  irresolute.  Yet,  if  he 
were  afraid  of  treason  in  the  field,  it  waSj'perhaps,  his  wisest  plan 
to  retire  to  his  camp,  and  endeavour  to  secure  that  at  least  from  the 
enemy  :  and  his  subsequent  flight  did  not  take  place  till  all  hope 
of  resistance  had  clearly  vanished.  Then  he  changed  his  dress, 
and  withdrawing  from  the  camp  by  the  back  gate,  he  rode  off, 
attended  by  about  thirty  horsemen,  amongst  whom  were  Publius 
and  Lucius  Lentulus,  and  M.  Favonius,^"  the  friend  and  professed 
imitator  of  Cato.  He  fled  first  to  Larissa,  but  did  not  halt  there  ; 
and  thence  continuing  his  flight  during  the  whole  night,  he  reached 
the  sea  at  the  mouth  of  the  Peneus,  and  was  there  taken  on  board 
a  small  trading  vessel,  which  happened  to  be  passing  by  the  coast. 
At  first  he  bent  his  course  towards  the  mouth  of  the  Strymon,^^' 

335  Caesar,  III.  99.     Cicero,  de  Divina-         337  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  53. 
done,  I.  31.     Dion  Cassius,  XLII.  190.  338  Caesar,  III.  102. 

336  Caesar,  III.  94.  96. 


294  PERSONAL  ADVENTURES  OF  POMPEY. 

and  lay  there  at  anchor  for  one  night,  in  order  to  learn  the  state 
of  his  atiairs  ;  but  finding  them  desperate,  and  having  procured  a 
supply  of  money  from  his  friends  at  Amphipolis,  he  crossed  over 
to  Mitylene,  in  Lesbos,  where  he  had  left  his  wife,  Cornelia,  and 
his  younger  son,  Sextus.^^s  The  purity  and  tenderness  of  Pom- 
pey's  private  character,  rendered  his  meeting  with  his  family  par- 
ticularly affectionate,  Cornelia  had  heard  no  tidings  of  the  war 
since  the  exaggerated  reports  which  she  had  received  of  her  hus- 
band's success  at  Dyrrhachium ;  his  arrival,  therefore,  as  a  fugitive, 
was  a  shock  for  which  she  was  wholly  unprepared.  She  joined 
him  on  board  his  vessel  immediately ;  for  he  would  not  go  on 
shore,  although  warmly  invited  by  the  Mitylenaeans  to  do  so,  and 
although  he  was  detained  by  contrary  winds  for  two  days  off  the 
harbour.  He  would  not,  he  said,  expose  his  friends  to  the  resent- 
ment of  the  conqueror,  by  availing  himself  of  their  kindness  ;  but 
recommended  them  to  submit  to  Caesar,  adding,  that  they  would 
find  him  disposed  to  be  merciful.  But  being  here  joined  by  some 
other  small  vessels,  he  sailed  to  the  southward,  hoping  to  make  a 
stand  in  the  southern  part  of  Asia  Minor,  or  in  Syria  ;  and  trusting 
that  at  that  distance  he  might  rally  his  navy,  and  with  the  assist- 
ance of  the  eastern  provinces  again  renew  the  contest.  The  effect 
of  the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  however,  was  rapidly  felt  in  every 
quarter.  Rhodes,^^"  which  still  retained  some  part  of  its  old  naval 
renown,  and  which  had  contributed  a  squadron  to  Pompey's  fleet, 
now  refused  to  admit  the  fugitives  within  its  ports  ;  and  Pompey, 
mortified  at  this  first  check  to  his  hopes,  continued  his  voj^age 
along  the  coast  as  far  as  Cilicia,  without  meeting  any  where  with 
any  decided  encouragement  or  support.  His  views  were  now 
turned,  it  is  said,  towards  Syria.  That  province  was  still,  by  law, 
subject  to  the  government  of  his  father  in-law,  Scipio.  and  its  own 
resources  might  be  powerfully  supported  by  the  arms  of  Parthia ; 
a  power  to  which  Pompey  was  inclined  to  look  for  assistance  in 
this  extremity  of  fortune.  But  when  he  arrived  at  Paphos,  in  Cy- 
prus, he  learnt  that  Antioch,  the  capital  of  Syria,  had  declared 
against  him  f^^  that  the  citadel  of  that  place  had  been  secured  for 
the  very  purpose  of  excluding  him ;  and  that  the  citizens  had  given 
notice  that  none  of  the  fugitives  of  Pompey's  party  should  be  al- 
lowed to  enter  their  territories.  There  was  no  hope  then  of  renew- 
ing the  war  in  Syria ;  and  Pompey  was  strongly  advised  not  to 
take  refuge  at  the  court  of  Parthia  f^^  a  place  the  least  calculated 
to  offer  an  honourable  protection  to  a  Roman  lady,  who  was  now 
the  wife  of  Pompey,  and  whose  first  husband  had  been  the  son  of 
Crassus.  It  was  then  suggested  that  he  should  retire  to  Africa, 
where  the  friendship  of  Juba  and  the  triumphant  state  of  his  party 

339  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  74.  ^^^  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  15.  Cssar,  102. 

340  Cicero,   ad   Familiares,  XII.   epist.        342  Plutarch,  in  Pompeio,  76. 
XIV.     Caesar,  III.  102. 


HE  SEEKS  AN  ASYLUM  IN  EGYPT. 


295 


seemed  naturally  to  invite  him.  But  this  plan  he  declined,  and,  in 
an  evil  hour,  resolved  to  throw  himself  on  the  gratitude  of  the  king 
of  Egypt.  The  present  sovereign  was  a  mere  boy  ;  He  resolves  to  seek  an 
but  his  father  had  owed  the  recovery  of  his  kingdom,  ''^*''"'" '"  ^^ypt. 
as  we  have  seen,  to  Pompey's  influence  ;  and  this,  it  was  hoped, 
would  now  insure  a  hospitable  reception  from  the  son,  Pompev 
accordingly  sailed  to  Pelusium;^^^  and,  before  he  landed,  he  sent 
a  message  to  the  young  king,  to  request  an  asylum  at  Alexan- 
dria, and  assistance  for  himself  and  his  friends  in  their  distress.  It 
happened  that  Ptolemy  then  lay  with  an  army  on  the  most  eastern 
boundary  of  Egypt,  in  order  to  repel  an  expected  invasion  from 
his  sister,  the  famous  Cleopatra,  who,  having  been  left  by  her 
father's  will  joint  heir  of  the  kingdom  with  her  brother,  had  been 
since  expelled  by  him,  and  was  now  endeavouring,  with  some  aid 
which  she  had  procured  in  Syria,  to  effect  her  restoration.  Pom- 
pey's messenger,  accordingly,  found  the  king  near  Mount  Casius, 
some  miles  to  the  eastward  of  Pelusium ;  and  having  discharge'd 
his  commission,  was  sent  back  with  a  kind  answer,  and  an  invi- 
tation to  Pompey  to  join  the  king  immediately.  But  Ptolemy  had 
at  this  time  in  his  service  a  number  of  Roman  soldiers,  who, 
having  belonged  to  that  army  with  which. Gabinius  had  restored 
the  late  king  to  his  throne,  had  since  chosen  to  remain  in  Egypt, 
and  to  transfer  their  obedience  to  a  new  master.  Gabinius  had 
been  raised  entirely  by  Pompey's  influence,  and  many  ot  his  sol- 
diers had  served  against  the  pirates,  or  against  Mithridates,  and 
might  thus  be  supposed  to  retain  some  respect  and  affection  for 
Pompey,  their  old  and  most  illustrious  commander.  As  a  Roman 
proconsul,  Pompey  would  little  hesitate  to  recall  these  men  to  his 
own  standard  ;  and  as  the.  Roman  people  had  been  named  by  the 
late  king  as  his  executors,  their  officer  might  interfere,  more  than 
Ptolemy  wished,  in  the  quarrels  of  the  royal  family,  and  might 
even  attempt  to  dispose  of  all  the  resources  of  Egypt  by  his  own 
authority.  The  king's  council,  therefore,  resolved  to  tempt  Pom- 
pey into  their  power,  and  to  murder  him ;  an  act  by  which  they 
hoped  to  merit  the  favour  of  CcEsar,  while  they  freed  themselves 
from  a  guest  who  might,  if  once  admitted,  become  too  powerful  to 
be  dismissed  or  to  be  resisted. 

At  Cyprus^''^  Pompey  had  supplied  himself  with  money  from 
the  funds  of  the  farmers  of  the  revenue,  and  from 
the  contributions  of  some  private  individuals;  he  He  is  murdered. 
had  also  raised,  as  we  are  told,  about  2000  men,  chiefly  from  the 
large  slave  establishments  belonging  to  diflerent  persons  in  the 
island  ;  and  with  this  force,  having  been  joined  besides  by  several 
senators  from  different  quarters,  he  had  crossed  over  to  the  coast 
of  Egypt.     The  whole  of  his  little  squadron  followed  him  from 

313  Plutarch,  77.    Caesar,  103.  344  C£esar,103.    Plutarch,  78,  79. 

20 


296  POMPEY  IS  MURDERED. 

Peliisium,  when  he  went  to  meet  the  king  ;  and  on  board  of  his 
own  ship,  as  we  have  ah-eady  mentioned,  were  his  wife  CorneUa, 
and  his  son  Sextus.  As  he  came  near  Mount  Casius,  the  Egyp- 
tian army  was  seen  on  the  shore,  and  their  fleet  lying  off"  at  some 
distance,  when  presently  a  boat  was  observed  approaching  the 
ship  from  the  land ;  and  it  was  soon  found  to  contain  one  of  the 
king's  chief  officers,  a  man  of  the  name  of  Achillas,  attended  by 
two  or  three  other  persons  of  inferior  rank.  Among  these  was 
a  Roman,  named  L.  Septimius,  who  had  served  as  a  centurion 
under  Pompey  in  the  war  with  the  pirates,  and  who,  when  the 
boat  came  near  the  ship,  addressed  his  old  general  in  Latin,  by 
the  title  of  Imperator,  while  Achillas,  saluting  him  courteously  in 
Greek,  invited  him  to  enter  the  boat,  informing  him  that  there  was 
not  water  enough  near  the  shore  for  a  vessel  of  any  burden.  The 
king  himself,^^^  and  a  group  of  his  principal  officers,  were  at  this 
time  seen  on  the  shore,  as  if  waiting  to  bid  their  illustrious  guest 
w'elcome  ;  and  Pompey  accordingly  descended  into  the  boat,  ac- 
companied by  two  centurions,  by  one  of  his  freedmen,  and  by  a 
single  slave.  As  the  party  were  borne  towards  the  land,  Pompey 
is  said  to  have  recognised  L.  Septimius,  and  to  have  observed  to 
him,  "  that  he  thought  they  must  have  formerly  served  together ;" 
to  which  Septimius  answered  by  a  mere  movement  of  assent.  No 
one  seemed  willing  to  break  the  silence,  upon  which  Pompey  took 
out  an  outline  of  a  Greek  address  which  he  had  intended  to  de- 
liver on  his  introduction  to  the  king,  and  amused  himself  with 
reading  it.  At  last  the  boat  touched  the  shore,  and  several  of 
Ptolemy's  officers  crowded  down  to  the  water's  edge  as  if  to  receive 
Pompey  immediately  on  his  landing.  He  rose  from  his  seat,  and 
leaning  on  his  freedman's  arm,  was  in  the  act  of  stepping  on  shore, 
when  L.  Septimius  stabbed  him  in  the  back,  and  instantlj'',  on  this 
signal,  Achillas  and  his  Egyptian  soldiers  drew  their  swords  to 
complete  the  work.  It  is  said  that  Pompey  did  not  utter  a  single 
cry,  but  folding  his  gown  over  his  face,  received  the  blows  of  his 
assassins  without  attempting  to  resist  or  to  escape.  As  soon  as  the 
murder  was  finished,  his  head  was  cut  off"  and  embalmed,  in  order 
to  be  presented  to  Cassar,  and  his  body  was  cast  out  carelessly 
and  left  upon  the  beach.  His  freedman  lingered  near  it,  till  the 
crowd  was  dispersed,  and  then  burnt  it  on  a  rude  funeral  pile  of 
such  broken  pieces  of  wood  as  he  found  scattered  along  the 
shore,  assisted,  as  it  is  said,  by  an  old  Roman  soldier,  now  in 
the  Egyptian  service,  and  who  remembered  that  Pompey  the 
Great  had  once  been  his  general.  Cornelia  and  her  friends,  who 
saw  the  murder  committed,  instantly  put  to  sea  and  escaped  the 
pursuit  of  the  Egyptian  fleet,  which  at  first  threatened  to  intercept 
them.     Their  feelings,  as  is  natural,  were  for  the  moment  so  en- 

2^5  Appian,  Bell.  Civili,  II.  84.     Plutarch,  ubi  supra.     Caesar,  104. 


CHARACTER  OF  POMPEY.  gg-^ 

grossed  by  their  own  danger,  that  they  could  scarcely  comprehend 
the  full  extent  of  their  loss,^^«  nor  was  it  till  they  reached  the  port 
of  Tyre  in  safety,  that  grief  succeeded  to  apprehension,  and  they 
began  to  understand  what  cause  they  had  for  sorrow. 

But  the  tears  that  were  shed  for  Pompey  were  not  only  those 
of  domestic  affliction  ;  his  fate  called  forth  a  more 

1  J   1  1  1  •  TVT  11    Character  of  Pompey. 

general  and  honourable  mournmg.  JNo  man  had 
ever  gained,  at  so  early  an  age,  the  affections  of  his  countrymen  ; 
none  had  enjoyed  them  so  largely,  or  preserved  them  so  long  with 
so  little  interruption  ;  and  at  the  distance  of  eighteen  centuries  the 
feeling  of  his  contemporaries  may  be  sanctioned  by  the  sober 
judgment  of  history.  He  entered  upon  public  life  as  a  distinguish- 
ed member  of  an  oppressed  party  which  was  just  arriving  at  its 
hour  of  triumph  and  retaliation  ;  he  saw  his  associates  plunged 
in  rapine  and  massacre,  but  he  preserved  himself  pure  from  the 
contagion  of  their  crimes  ;  and  when  the  death  of  Sylla  left  him 
almost  at  the  head  of  the  aristocratical  party,  he  served  them  ably 
and  faithfully  with  his  sword,  while  he  endeavoured  to  mitigate 
the  evils  of  their  ascendency  by  restoring  to  the  commons  of  Rome, 
on  the  earliest  opportunity,  the  most  important  of  those  privileges 
and  liberties  Avhich  they  had  lost  under  the  tyranny  of  their  late 
master.  He  received  the  due  reward  of  his  honest  patriotism  in 
the  unusual  honours  and  trusts  that  were  conferred  on  him  ;  but  his 
greatness  could  not  corrupt  his  virtue  ;  and  the  boundless  powers 
with  which  he  was  repeatedly  invested  he  wielded  with  the  high- 
est ability  and  uprightness  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  task,  and 
then,  without  any  undue  attempts  to  prolong  their  duration,  he 
honestly  resigned  them.  At  a  period  of  general  cruelty  and  ex- 
tortion towards  the  enemies  and  subjects  of  the  commonwealth, 
the  character  of  Pompey  in  his  foreign  commands  was  marked 
by  its  humanity  and  spotless  integrity  ;  his  conquest  of  the  pirates 
was  effected  with  wonderful  rapidity,  and  cemented  by  a  merciful 
policy,  which,  instead  of  taking  vengeance  for  the  past,  accom- 
plished the  prevention  of  evil  for  the  future  :  his  presence  in  Asia, 
when  he  conducted  the  war  with  Mithridates,  was  no  less  a  relief 
to  the  provinces  from  the  tyranny  of  their  governors,  than  it  was 
their  protection  against  the  arms  of  the  enemy.  It  is  true  that 
wounded  vanity  led  him,  after  his  return  from  Asia,  to  unite  him- 
self for  a  time  with  some  unworthy  associates  ;  and  this  connex- 
ion, as  it  ultimately  led  to  all  the  misfortunes,  so  did  it  immediately 
tempt  him  to  the  worst  faults  of  his  political  life,  and  involved 
him  in  a  career  of  difficulty,  mortification,  and  shame.  But  after 
this  disgraceful  fall,  he  again  returned  to  his  natural  station,  and 
was  universally  regarded  as  the  fit  protector  of  the  laws  and 
liberties  of  his  country,  when  they  were  threatened  by  Caesar's 

^^  Cicero,  Tusculan.  Disputat.  III.  27. 


C298  CHARACTER  OF  POMPEY. 

rebellion.  In  the  conduct  of  the  civil  war  he  showed  something 
of  weakness  and  vacillation  ;  but  his  abilities,  though  consider- 
able, were  far  from  equal  to  those  of  his  adversary  :  and  his  in- 
feriority was  most  seen  in  that  want  of  steadiness  in  the  pursuit 
of  his  own  plans,  which  caused  him  to  abandon  a  system  already 
sanctioned  by  success,  and  to  persuade  himself  that  he  might  yield 
with  propriety  to  the  ill-judged  impatience  of  his  followers  for  bat- 
tle. His  death  is  one  of  the  few  tragical  events  of  those  times 
which  may  be  regarded  with  unmixed  compassion.  It  was  not 
accompanied,  like  thatof  Cato  and  Brutus,  with  the  rashness  and 
despair  of  suicide  ;  nor  can  it  be  regarded  like  that  of  Ca:}sar,  as 
the  punishment  of  crimes,  unlawfully  inflicted  indeed,  yet  sufiered 
deservedly.  With  a  character  of  rare  purity  and  tenderness  in 
all  his  domestic  relations,  he  was  slaughtered  before  the  eyes  of 
his  wife  and  son ;  whilst  flying  from  the  ruin  of  a  most  just  cause, 
he  was  murdered  by  those  whose  kindness  he  was  entitled  to 
claim.  His  virtues  have  not  been  transmitted  to  posterity  with 
their  deserved  fame  ;  and  while  the  violent  republican  writers  have 
exalted  the  memory  of  Cato  and  Brutus  ;  while  the  lovers  of  litera- 
ture have  extolled  Cicero  ;  and  the  admirers  of  successful  ability 
have  lavished  their  praises  on  Caesar  ;  Pompey's  many  and  rare 
merits  have  been  forgotten  in  the  faults  of  his  triumvirate,  and  in 
the  weakness  of  temper  which  he  displayed  in  the  conduct  of  his 
last  campaign.  But  he  must  have  been  in  no  ordinary  degree 
good  and  amiable,  for  whom  his  countrymen  professed  their  en- 
thusiastic love,  unrestrained  by  servility,  and  unimpelled  by  fac- 
tion ;  and  though  the  events  of  his  life  must  now  be.  gathered  for 
the  most  part  from  unfriendly  sources,  yet  we  think  that  they  Avho 
read  them  impartially  will  continually  cherish  his  memory  with  a 
warmer  regard,  and  will  feel  that  in  themselves  the  prophecy  ot 
the  poet  has  been  fulfilled. 

"  Haec  et  apud  seras  gentes,  populosque  nepotum 
Spesque,  metusque  simul,  perituraque  voto  movebunt. 
Attonitique  omnes,  veluti  venientia,  fata, 
Non  transmissa,  legent,  et  adhuc  tibi,  Magne,  favebunt." 

Lucan..  Pharsalia,  VII.  207. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CAIUS  JULIUS  CiESAR— A  SKETCH  OF  THE  ROMAN  HISTORY  FROM 
THE  APPOINTMENT  OF  CESAR  TO  THE  COMMAND  IN  GAUL  TO 
HIS  DEATH— FROM  U.C.  695  TO  710,  A.C.  59  TO  44.    [CONTINUED.] 

C^SAR  was  fully  aware  of  the  importance  of  pursuing  Pompey, 
as  he  knew  that  the  whole  cause  of  the  common-  From  u.  cess  to  710, 
wealth  depended  on  him  alone,  and  that  if  he  were  ca^a/p^suea  pom^ 
once   removed,  his   partisans  would   instantly  be  p'^^- 
divided,  and  probably  only  a  small  portion  of  them  would  be  in- 
clined to  continue  the  contest.     Accordingly,  while  M.  Antonius 
led  the  greater  part  of  the  victorious  army  back  to  Brundisium,^ 
Caesar  himself  crossed  by  the  Hellespont  into  Asia,  and  by  the 
fame  of  his  arrival  dissipated  an  assemblage  of  some  citizens  of 
rank,  who  had  been  called  together  at  Ephesus  to  sanction  the 
removal  of  the  treasures  of  the  temple  of  Diana,  for  the  service  of 
Pompey  and  the  commonwealth.     After  a  short  stay  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Asia,  he  received  information  that  Pompey  had  been 
seen  at  Cyprus ;  and  thinking  it  probable  that  he  would  seek  an 
asylum  in  Egypt,  he  resolved  to  follow  him  thither.      Already 
the  news  of  the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  and  of  the  flight  of  Pompey, 
had  induced  many  of  the  squadrons  which   had  been   sent  to 
support  the  cause  of  the  commonwealth  by  the  states  in  alliance 
with  Rome,  to  return  to  their  own  countries.     The  Eyptian  fleet 
had  been  one  of  this  number  ;  whilst  theRhodians,  taking  a  more 
decisive  part,  had  excluded  Pompey,  as  we  have  seen,  from  their 
harbours,  and  now  furnished  Cassar  with  ten  ships  of  war,  to  en- 
able him  to  follow  the  man  in  whose  cause  they  themselves  had 
been  so  lately  engaged.    These,  with  a  few  other  vessels  procured 
in  the  ports  of  the  province  of  Asia,  sufficed  to  transport  the  two 
incomplete  legions,  which  at  this  moment  were  the  whole  of  Cae- 
sar's disposable  force,  and  of  which  one  had  followed  him  imme- 
diately from  Pharsalia,  and  the  other  had  been  sent  for  from  the 
south  of  Greece,  where  it  had  been  employed  on  a  separate  service, 

>  Cicero,  Philippic,  II.  24.     Caesar,  III.  105,  106. 


300        C^SAR  ARRIVES  IN  EGYPT,  AND  IS  INVOLVED  IN  WAR. 

He  arrives  in  Egypt,  ^^^^  consequently  had  not  been  present  at  the  late 
and  i3  there  involved  battle.     With  these  two  lesions  he  landed  at  Alex- 

111  a  \va.r»  dj  nis  iiiier-  ^ 

rfHotewand'cieo'  andi'la,  and  there  was  niformed  of  Pompey's  mur- 
patra-  der,  and  saw  his  head  and  his  ring  presented  to  him 

as  a  grateful  offering  by  the  murderers.  He  is  said  to  have  shed 
tears  at  the  sight  f  and  those  signs  of  mere  physical  susceptibility 
so  little  imply  any  real  humanity  of  character,  that  they  flowed 
very  probably  from  a  spontaneous  feeling ;  and  Ca3sar  may  have 
indulged  them  with  pleasure,  flattering  himself  that  they  were 
a  proof  of  the  tenderness  of  his  nature.  At  any  rate  it  cost  him 
no  effort  to  refuse  any  expressions  of  gratitude  to  the  murderers  ; 
for  he  was  immediately  involved  in  a  quariel  with  them,  because 
he  claimed  the  right,  as  Roman  consul  to  arbitrate  in  all  disputes 
which  related  to  the  execution  of  the  late  king's  will.  Thus  the 
very  interference,  from  the  fear  of  which  Ptolemy's  counsellors 
had  resolved  to  murder  Pompey,  now  threatened  them  in  a  much 
more  alarming  shape,  when  Caesar  announced  it  as  his  de- 
cision that  Ptolemy  and  Cleopatra  should  both  dismiss  their 
armies,  and  repair  to  his  quarters  at  Alexandria,  there  to  state 
their  respective  pretensions  before  him.  The  king's  oflicers,  indig- 
nant at  the  affront  thus  offered  to  the  crown  of  Egypt,  instantly 
brought  up  their  army  from  the  Syrian  frontiers,  and  prepared 
to  attack  Ca3sar;  but  the  young  king  himself,  with  his  tutor, 
and  minister  Polhinus,  was  already  in  Alexandria,  and  in 
Caesar's  power ;  so  that  the  attempts  of  his  subjects  to  de- 
liver him  were  represented  by  his  oppressor  as  a  rebellion  against 
his  authority.  Cleopatra  too  was  in  Caesar's  quarters  ;  but  she  was 
no  unwilUng  prisoner,  if  the  common  stories  of  the  time  may  be 
credited,^  which  tell  us,  that  trusting  to  the  influence  of  her  charms, 
she  readily  obeyed  Caesar's  summons,  and  finding  that  access 
to  him  was  precluded  by  the  besieging  army  of  her  brother,  she 
caused  herself  to  be  wrapped  up  in  a  package  of  carpeting,  and  in 
this  manner  was  safely  conveyed  into  Caesar's  presence.  It  is 
added,  that  she  was  not  disappointed  in  her  expectations  ;  that 
Caesar's  interference  in  the  dispute  between  her  and  her  brother, 
which  had  originated  in  political  and  ambitious  motives,  was  con- 
tinued after  his  interview  with  Cleopatra  from  feelings  of  a  differ- 
ent nature,  and  that  his  passion  for  her  involved  him  more  deeply 
in  a  contest,  in  which  he  had  at  first  found  himself  engaged  un- 
expectedly, and  from  which,  when  it  became  serious,  he  might 
otherwise  have  deemed  it  politic  to  extricate  himself.  Be  this  as 
it  may,  Caesar  remained  some  months  at  Alexandria,  maintaining 
a  difficult  and  sometimes  a  perilous  struggle  with  the  Egyptians. 
Without  entering  here  into  the  detail  of  his  adventures,  we  must 

2  Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  48.     Livy,  Epit-         ^  Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  49.    Dion    Cas- 
ome,  CXII.  sius,  XLII.  201,  edit.  Leunclav. 

3  Cffi6ar,  III.  107. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  POMPEY'S  PARTISANS. 


301 


take  a  survey  of  the  state  of  the  Roman  empire  during  his  absence, 
and  describe  the  effects  of  his  victory  at  Pharsaha,  and  of  that  sub- 
sequent neglect  of  his  affairs  which  delayed  for  two  years  the  full 
enjoyment  of  its  advantages. 

If  Pompey  ever  received  intelligence,  during  his  flight,  of 
the  services  performed  by  his  navy  in  the  seas  proceedings  of  Pom- 
westward  of  Greece,  and  of  the  sudden  check  given  thr^atuf'or  phar- 
to  this  career  of  success  by  the  fatal  issue  of  the  ^""''• 
battle  of  Pharsalia,  he  must  have  been  most  bitterly  sensible  of 
his  error  in  staking  his  fortunes  on  the  event  of  a  general  action 
by  land.  At  the  very  moment  when  he  was  escaping  as  a  fugi- 
tive from  the  scene  of  his  defeat  in  Thessaly,  one  of  his  squadrons 
was  again  blockading  the  harbour  of  Brundisium  f  and  another, 
under  the  command  of  C.  Cassius,  was  infesting  the  coasts  of 
Sicily,  and  had  lately  burnt  the  entire  fleet  of  the  enemy,  amount- 
ing to  thirty-five  ships,  in  the  harbour  of  Messina.  But  the  news 
of  Pompey's  defeat  at  once  deterred  his  lieutenants  from  pursuing 
their  advantages ;  their  squadrons  retreated  from  the  coasts  of 
Italy  and  Sicily,  and  repaired  to  Corcyra,  at  which  place  the  prin- 
cipal surviving  leaders  of  the  party  of  the  commonwealth  were 
at  this  time  assembled.  We  have  already  mentioned  that  M.  Cato 
had  been  left  with  fifteen  cohorts  to  defend  Dyrrhachium,  when 
Pompey  set  out  in  pursuit  of  Ca3sar  into  Thessaly,  and  that  M. 
Cicero,  M.  Varro,  and  some  other  distinguished  individuals,  had 
remained  from  different  causes  at  Dyrrhachium  also.  In  the 
midst  of  their  anxiety  for  the  issue  of  the  campaign,  T.  Labienus 
arrived  a  fugitive  from  the  rout  of  Pharsalia,^  and  the  tidings 
which  he  brought  produced  at  once  a  general  consternation  and 
disorder.  The  magazines  of  corn  were  presently  sacked  by  the 
soldiers,  who,  considering  the  war  as  ended,  were  resolved  to  pay 
themselves  as  they  best  could  for  their  services :  nor  could  they 
be  induced  to  accompany  their  officers  in  their  flight,  but  proceed- 
ed to  burn  the  transports  in  the  harbour,  that  none  of  their  num- 
ber might  be  able  to  separate  their  fortunes  from  those  of  the 
rest.  But  the  ships  of  war  for  the  most  part  were  still  faithful, 
and  in  these  the  chiefs  of  the  vanquished  party  hastened  to  es- 
cape to  Corcyra.  When  they  had  reached  that  island  a  new 
scene  of  distraction  ensued.  The  command  of  the  forces  was  of- 
fered to  Cicero,  as  he  was  the  oldest  senator  present  of  consular 
dignity ;''  but  he  being  determined  to  take  no  further  part  in  the 
contest,  declined  it ;  and  being  protected,  as  it  is  said,  by  Cato,  from 
the  violence  of  Cn.  Pompeius,  Pompey's  eldest  son,  who  wish- 
ed to  kill  him  as  a  deserter  from  the  cause  of  the  commonwealth, 
he  returned  to  Italy  to  throw  himself  on  the  mercy  of  the  victori- 

5  Caesar,  III.  100,  101.  t  Plutarch,  ia  Cicerone,  39. 

*  Cicero,  de  Divinatione,  I.  31. 


302  Ci^TO  WITHDRAWS  TO  AFRICA, 

ous  party.  D.  Lselius,^  one  of  the  commanders  of  the  Asiatic 
squadron  in  Pompey's  fleet,  followed  the  example  of  Cicero, 
There  were  others,  and  these  formed  a  considerable  body,  who 
neither  chose  to  continue  the  war  nor  to  submit  to  Caesar,  but  who 
resolved  for  the  present  to  remain  in  Greece,  and  there  to  observe 
cato  withdraws  to  f^om  a  distauco  the  course  of  events  at  Rome, 
^"'•a.  ]3i^it  Cato,^  Cn,  Pompeius,'"    Labienus,  and  several 

others,  hoping  that  Pompey  would  be  able  to  make  a  stand  in 
some  of  the  eastern  provinces,  determined  to  carry  their  fleet 
thither  in  order  to  join  him  ;  and  accordingly  set  sail  to  the  south 
without  delay.  They  touched  at  Petrae,  on  the  coast  of  Pelopon- 
nesus, and  there  took  on  board  Petreius  and  Faustus  Sylla,  after 
which  they  continued  their  voyage  to  the  coast  of  Africa.  Here 
they  met  with  Cornelia  and  her  son  Sextus  Pompeius,  who,  find- 
ing no  secure  asylum  in  the  east,  were  now  probably  flying  to  the 
province  of  Africa,  which,  since  the  death  of  Curio,  had  remain- 
ed in  the  peaceable  possession  of  the  friends  of  the  commonwealth. 
On  receiving  the  disastrous  tidings  of  Pompey's  murder,  a  fresh 
division  took  place  amongst  his  partisans.  C.  Cassius,  afterwards 
so  distinguished,  abandoned  his  associates,  and  sailed  at  once 
with  the  Syrian  squadron,  which  he  commanded,  to  Syria,  intend- 
ing to  offer  his  submission  to  Caesar.  Cato,  and  those  who  with 
him  were  resolved  to  persist  in  their  opposition  to  the  prevailing 
party,  saw  that  the  province  of  Africa  was  now  the  quarter  which 
held  out  to  them  the  most  favourable  prospects.  The  command 
of  the  forces  was  by  common  consent  bestowed  on  Cato  ;  and  he 
resolved  to  attempt  to  carry  his  troops  by  land  across  the  desert 
,  from  Cyrene  to  the  frontiers  of  the  Roman  province ;  whether  it 
was  that  the  departure  of  the  Syrian  squadron  had  deprived  him 
of  the  means  of  transporting  his  whole  force  by  sea  ;  or  whether 
the  navigation  of  the  neighbourhood  of  the  great  Syrtes  was  look- 
ed upon  as  more  formidable  than  the  fatigues  and  privations  like- 
ly to  attend  on  the  march  by  land.  However,  the  army  arrived 
in  the  province  in  safety,  and  found  that  Scipio  had  already  es- 
caped thither  from  Pharsalia,  and  that  Juba,  king  of  Mauritania, 

8  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XI.  epist.  VII.  as  only  leaving  Cato  on  the  news  of  Pom- 
XIV.  pey's  death  ;  but  it  seems  probable,  from 

9  Diorii  Cassius,  XLII.  190,  191.  Plu-  one  of  Cicero's  letters,  that  he  sailed  di- 
tarch  in  Catone,  56.  recily  from   Corcyra  to    Syria  to  offer  his 

1"  We  had  originally  added  here  the  submission,  as  soon  as  he  had  received  the 
name  of  Afranius,  on  the  authority  of  Di-  news  of  the  battle  of  Pharsalia.  Epist. 
on  Cassius.  But  if  Afranius  had  been  ad  Familiar.  XV.  epist.  XV.  Appian  con- 
with  Cato,  the  command  would  naturally  founds  C.  Cassius  with  his  brother  Lucius, 
have  devolved  on  him,  as  being  a  person  and  supposes  him  to  have  been  in  the  Hel- 
of  consular  dignity  ;  exactly  on  the  same  lespont  with  his  fleet  when  Caesar  crossed 
principle  that  Cato,  on  his  arrival  in  the  over  into  Asia  in  pursuit  of  Pompey.  So 
province  of  Africa,  ceded  the  chief  author-  difficult  is  it  to  ascertain  the  truth,  even  in 
ity  to  Scipio.  Again,  we  have  followed  such  indifferent  matters,  when  good  con- 
Dion  Cassius  in  representing  C.  Cassius  temporary  testimony  fails  us. 


DEFEAT  AND  DEATH  OF  GABINIUS.  393 

was  disposed,  as  heretofore,  to  support  the  cause  of  Pompey  to 
the  uttermost.     Meantime  the  tyranny  and  exac-  unpromising  state  of 

,.  c   /-\     ri  •         T  •  111  /-^  11     Caesar's  afiairs  in  dif- 

tions  OE  d.  Cassnis  Longmus/'  whom  Uassar  had  ferem  parts  of  the  em- 
left  with  the  chief  command  in  what  was  called  Miftmy  of  the  tr^t^ps 
Further  Spain,  and  who,  when  tribune  of  the  Lo^igums.  ' 
people,  had  fled  with  M.  Antonius  from  Rome  to  Caesar's  quarters 
at  the  beginning  of  the  contest,  had  provoked  a  very  serious  mu- 
tiny among  the  legions  of  his  province.  The  troops,  supported 
by  the  inhabitants  of  Corduba,  transferred  their  obedience  to  M. 
Marcellus,  his  quaestor;  and  some  of  them  were  inclined  to 
espouse  the  cause  of  Pompey,  had  not  Marcellus,  though  not 
without  difficulty,  prevented  them  ;  being  himself,  it  is  said,  not 
inclined  to  take  so  decisive  a  step  till  the  state  of  Pompey's  affairs 
in  other  quarters  should  appear  more  promising.  At  length  the 
disturbance  was  appeased  by  the  arrival  of  M.  Lepidus,  procon- 
sul of  the  province  of  Hither  Spain,  who  took  the  command  of 
the  revolted  legions  without  resistance  ;  and  soon  after  C.  Trebo- 
nius  was  sent  to  supersede  Cassius  Longinus  in  the  command  of 
the  Further  Province  ;  and  the  ex-governor,  while  proceeding  to 
Italy  by  sea  with  the  plunder  which  he  had  acquired  by  his  ex- 
actions, was  lost  in  a  storm  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ebro.  It  appears 
that  Caesar  attached  great  importance  to  the  service  which  Le- 
pidus had  rendered  him  on  this  occasion,  insomuch  that  he  after- 
wards rewarded  him  with  the  honours  of  a  triumph;'^  and  in- 
deed the  mutiny  of  the  legions  in  Spain  produced  a  strong  sen- 
sation in  Italy, '^  coupled  as  it  was  with  the  tidings  of  the  great 
force  acquired  by  Scipio  and  Cato  in  Africa,  and  of  some  disas- 
ters which  had  befallen  Ca3sar's  arms  at  the  same  time  in  Illyri- 
cum  and  in  Asia  Minor.     M.  Octavius,'*  whom  we  2.  m  iiiyricum.  db- 

,  11IT  •,  .-.i  feat  and  death  of  A. 

have  already  had  occasion  to  mention  as  the  com-  cabinius. 
mander  of  one  of  the  squadrons  in  Pompey's  fleet,  had  lingered 
in  the  lllyrian  seas  after  Cato's  departure  from  Corcyra  ;  partly 
relying  on  the  courage  and  fidelity  of  some  of  the  native  tribes 
of  Iiiyricum,  and  partly,  perhaps,  hoping  to  organize  a  force  out 
of  the  remains  of  Pompey's  army,  which  were  still  numerous, 
although  in  a  state  of  dispersion  and  despondency.  The  absence 
of  Cassar  favoured  his  hopes  ;  many  persons  of  distinction,  who 
had  remained  in  Greece  rather  than  follow  Cato  into  Africa,  and 
who  would  have  submitted  to  Caesar  at  once  if  he  had  returned 
directly  to  Rome,  began  now  to  accuse  themselves  of  pusillanimity, 
when  they  heard  of  the  war  which  was  beginning  in  Egypt ;  and 
some  of  them  began  to  draw  together  into  Iiiyricum,  and  to  put 
themselves  in  a  hostile  attitude.     Upon  this  A.  Gabinius,  Cicero's 

11  Aiictor  de  Bell.  Al<'xanclrino,48,  et         '3  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XI.   epist.    X. 
seq.     Dion  Cassius,  XLII.  192.  XVI. 

12  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII.  214,  edit.  Le-         1*  Auctor  de  Bell.  Ale.xandrino,  42,  et 
unclav.  seq. 


304  DEFEAT  OF  DOMITIUS  CALVINUS. 

ancient  enemy,  who,  in  his  tribuneship,  had  proposed  to  invest 
Pompey  with  the  extraordinary  command  against  the  pirates,  and 
who  now,  hke  most  other  men  of  equal  profligacy,  was  the  par- 
tisan of  Caesar,  received  orders  to  cross  over  from  Italy  with  some 
legions  that  had  been  lately  raised,  and  secure  Illyricum  and  Ma- 
cedonia. But  Gabinius  found  himself  unequal  to  the  task  imposed 
on  him;  the  country,  which  was  the  seat  of  war,  was  unable  to 
support  his  army,  and  the  stormy  season  was  by  this  time  arrived, 
which  rendered  his  supplies  by  sea  very  precarious.  He  struggled 
to  relieve  his  wants  by  taking  some  of  the  strongholds  occupied 
by  the  enemy  ;  and  in  these  attempts,  being  often  repulsed  with 
loss,  he  was  at  last  obliged  to  retreat  to  Salona,  a  town  on  the 
sea  coast,  in  which  he  hoped  to  defend  himself  during  the  winter. 
But  the  Illyrians  attacked  him  on  his  march,  and  defeated  him 
with  considerable  loss,  so  that  he  reached  Salona  in  a  very  mis- 
erable condition  ;  and  being  blockaded  by  the  victorious  enemy, 
and  reduced  to  great  extremities,  he  was  taken  ill  in  the  course 
of  a  few  months,  and  died.  His  disasters  were  afterwards  re- 
trieved by  P.  Vatinius,  a  man  of  equally  profligate  character, 
who,  in  his  tribuneship,  had  rendered  himself  the  tool  of  Caesar, 
and  on  whose  motion  Caesar  had  been  originally  appointed  to  his 
fatal  command  in  Gaul.  Vatinius  obliged  Octavius  to  resign  the 
contest  and  escape  to  Africa  ;  and  in  a  short  time  from  his  first 
arrival  in  Illyricum,  lie  reduced  the  whole  province  to  a  state  of 
obedience.  But  before  this  change  took  place,  and  while  Gabinius 
was  shut  up  in  Salona,  the  aspect  of  Caesar's  affairs  was  very  un- 
3.  In  Asia.  Defeat  of  P^^ofi^ising  ;  and  it  was  at  the  same  time  that 
nus  h?  pharnace*^?son  auothcr  of  lils  licuteuants,  Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus, 
ofMithridates.  sustaiucd  a  severe  defeat  in  Asia  from  Pharnaces,  , 

the  son  of  the  famous  Mithridates.  This  prince  having  received 
from  the  Romans  the  kingdom  of  the  Bosphorus,'^  or  what  is 
now  the  Crimea,  as  the  reward  of  his  treason  against  his  father, 
now,  it  seems,  vv^ished  to  avail  himself  of  the  distracted  state  of 
the  Roman  empire  to  recover  some  other  parts  of  his  hereditary 
dominions,  and  began  to  invade  Cappadocia  and  the  lesser  Arme- 
nia, which  were  possessed  by  two  petty  princes  under  the  protec- 
tion of  Rome.  Application  was  presently  made  by  one  of  them  to 
Cn.  Domitius  Calvinus  for  aid,  as  Caesar  had  intrusted  that  officer 
with  the  chief  command  in  the  different  provinces  of  Asia  Minor  ; 
and  after  some  fruitless  attempts  at  negotiation,  Domitius  advanced 
with  an  army  into  the  Lesser  Armenia  ;  and  there  coming  to  an 
engagement  with  Pharnaces,  he  was  defeated,  and  obliged  to  fall 
back  as  far  as  the  province  of  Asia.  Pharnaces,  meanwhile, 
overran  the  whole  of  Pontus,  which  had  been  the  chief  seat  of 
his  father's  government,  and  congratulated  himself  on  having  so 

'5  Appian,  de  Bell.   Mithridat.   113.     Auctor  de  Bell.  Alexand.  34,  et  seq. 


STATE  OF  ROME  AND  OF  ITALY.  395 

soon  recovered  so  large  a  portion  of  that  which  Mithridates  had 
lost.  During  all  this  time  Cgesar  was  still  in  Egypt ;  and  the  va- 
rious reports  which  arrived  from  that  country,  together  with  the 
certain  ill  success  of  his  affairs  in  other  quarters,  produced  a  con- 
stant accession  of  strength  to  the  party  of  the  commonwealth  in 
Africa. 

From  this  sketch  of  the  condition  of  some  of  the  provinces,  we 
turn  back,  with  an  eager  curiosity,  to  inquire  what  state  of  Rome  and  of 
was  the  state  of  Rome  itself,  and  with  what  tern-  ^'^'y- 
per  the  bodies  which  still  retained  the  names  of  the  senate  and 
people,  were  disposed  to  receive  their  new  master.  After  Cicero 
had  crossed  over  into  Greece,  about  the  middle  of  the  year  704, 
to  join  the  army  of  the  commonwealth,  none,  it  is  probable,  re- 
mained in  Italy,  but  such  as  were  the  active  partisans,  or  the 
unresisting  slaves  of  Csesar.  Among  the  latter  was  T.  Pompo- 
nius  Atticus,  who,  according  to  the  tenets  of  the  Epicureans,  con- 
sidered it  an  unwise  disturbance  of  his  enjoyments  to  take  any 
part  in  political  contests,  calculating  that,  whatever  became  of  the 
liberties  of  his  country,  he  shoukl  still  retain  his  own  villas  and 
gardens  through  the  influence  of  his  friends  on  one  side  or  on  the 
other.  Men  of  this  stamp  were  a  clay  that  might  be  moulded  to 
any  shape  at  the  pleasure  of  the  conqueror ;  and  the  daily  growth 
of  this  selfish  spirit,  under  pretence  of  an  aversion  to  the  hor- 
rors of  a  civil  war,  will  easily  account  for  the  introduction  of  that 
mere  despotism  which  was  established  as  soon  as  the  contest  in 
Africa  was  decided.  Out  of  the  capital  it  seemed  vain  to  look 
for  any  remains  of  public  feeling :  some  of  the  boldest  and  hardi- 
est of  the  Italian  tribes  had  been  nearly  extirpated  by  Sylla's  vic- 
tories and  massacres ;  the  general  admission  of  the  Italians  to  the 
privileges  of  Roman  citizens  would  naturally  attract  the  most  en- 
terprising and  active  part  of  the  population  to  Rome  ;  and  their 
places  would  be  ill  supplied  by  that  multitude  of  disbanded  sol- 
diers wdiom  Sylla  had  converted  into  landed  proprietors,  by  set- 
tling them  in  the  districts  which  he  had  desolated.  It  is  probable, 
that  many  of  these  soldiers  would  soon,  moreover,  be  glad  to  part 
with  their  land,  either  to  cover  their  losses  in  farming,  or  to  sup- 
ply their  extravagances.  As  early  as  the  period  of  Catiline's  con- 
spiracy, we  find  many  of  them  ready  to  promote  a  new  scramble 
for  plunder ;  and  in  the  fourteen  years  which  had  since  elapsed, 
we  may  suspect  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  estates,  grant- 
ed by  Sylla  to  his  veterans,  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
great  nobility,  by  whom  the  soil  of  Italy  was  so  generally  monop- 
olized. Wherever  land  was  held  by  a  proprietor  of  this  descrip- 
tion, the  free  population  quickly  withered  away,  and  slaves  were 
the  only  cultivators,  and  the  only  inhabitants.  The  towns  were 
overwhelmed  by  the  disproportionate  greatness  of  the  capital,  and 
were  each  of  too  little  importance  to  form  a  rallying  point  in  op- 


306  STATE  OF  ROME  AND  OF  ITALY. 

position  to  Rome ;  whilst  the  local  distinctions  and  prejudices 
which  divided  the  Tuscan  from  the  Campanian,  or  the  Apulian 
from  the  inhabitant  of  Picenum,  were  still  too  strong  to  admit  of 
much  habitual  sympathy  of  feeling  or  concert  in  action  between 
tlie  people  of  different  parts  of  the  peninsula.  Besides,  they  had 
no  longer  that  peculiar  and  direct  interest  in  the  civil  wars  of 
Rome  which  they  had  felt  in  the  times  of  Marius  and  Sylla. 
Then  every  town  of  Italy  was  conscious  that  its  enjoyment  of  the 
envied  privileges  of  Roman  citizens,  the  elevation  of  its  people 
from  the  rank  of  subjects  to  sovereigns,  would  be  secured  by  the 
victory  of  Cinna  and  Carbo,  and  would  be  at  least  endangered  by 
the  triumph  of  the  aristocracy.  But  now,  whatever  was  the 
issue  of  the  war,  Nola  and  Volaterrge,  Asculum  and  Corfinium, 
would  only  share  the  fate  of  Rome  ;  and  what  the  capital  could 
submit  to  endure,  the  provincial  towns  could  scarcely  presume  to 
consider  as  an  evil.  It  was  this  want  of  confidence  in  themselves, 
this  political  helplessness,  leading  the  rest  of  Italy  to  follow  tame- 
ly in  the  steps  of  Rome,  and  disposing  the  people  of  Rome  itself 
to  rely  for  every  thing  upon  their  government,  and  to  be  incapable 
of  any  organized  exertions  among  themselves,  which,  above  all 
other  causes,  tended  to  lower  the  character  of  the  times,  and 
marked  each  successive  generation,  during  a  course  of  many  cen- 
turies, with  a  deeper  stain  of  timidity  and  weakness.'® 

Whatever,  therefore,  might  have  been  their  secret  wishes,  the 
people  of  Rome  and  of  Italy  had  remained  tranquil  during  the 
campaign  in  Greece,  had  given  no  support  to  the  attempts  of  Cae- 
lius  and  Milo,  and  were  now  ready  to  receive  the  destruction  of 
their  liberties  as  the  natural  consequence  of  the  battle  of  Pharsalia. 
After  that  battle,  M.  Antonius,  as  we  have  seen,  returned  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  victorious  legions  to  Italy.  It  was  soon  shown 
that  the  power  of  the  sword  was  henceforth  to  be  paramount ;  the 
troops  were  quartered  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  different  towns, 
and  indulged  themselves  in  the  full  license  of  unrestrained  sol- 
diers;'" the  general,  after  exhibiting  a  second  time  a  scene  of 
scandalous  debauchery  in  his  progress  through  the  country,  arrived 
at  Rome,  and  there  commenced  the  work  of  confiscation  and  pil- 
lage.    We  hear  nothing  further  of  P.  Servilius,  who  was  the  nom- 

16  It  implies  a  much  higher  national  peuple  Fran^ais  tenaitplus  a  I'egalite  qu'a 
character  to  be  anxious  for  the  general  la  liberte."  (Memoires,  I.  145.)  The  rev- 
liberty,  good  government,  and  positive  olution  succeeded  completely  in  destroy- 
amelioration  of  the  state  of  the  whole  ing  the  offensive  privileges  possessed  by 
people,  than  to  make  a  desperate  struggle  the  aristocracy  ;  but  it  may  be  doubted 
for  the  removal  of  invidious  distinctions  whether,  even  at  this  day,  the  French  en- 
betvveen  one  class  of  the  community  and  tertain  a  just  value  for  the  general  freedom 
another.  The  Romans  and  the  Italians  had  and  political  welfare  of  the  whole  state; 
vigour  enough  to  do  the  latter,  but  they  and  it  is  certain  that  they  did  not  do  so 
wanted  the  much  higher  qualities  requisite  twenty  years  ago. 
to  insure  the  former.  In  like  manner,  Na-  '^  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  25. 
poleon  Buonaparte  has  observed,  "  Quele 


DISTURBANCES  CAUSED  BY  DOLABELLA.  3O7 

inal  consul  of  the  republic  ;  the  government  of  Italy  seems  to  have 
been  vested  solely  in  Antonius,  although  he  possessed  no  other 
title  than  that  of  Cassar's  lieutenant.  But  it  was  soon  proposed 
that  the  ofhce  of  dictator  should  be  again  conferred  on  Gassar, 
although  he  was  then  far  from  Italy ;  and  when  this  power  was 
bestowed  on  him,  by  a  vote  of  the  people,  for  the  term  of  a  year, 
M,  Antonius  was,  at  the  same  time,  named  his  master  of  the  horse, 
and  thus  appeared  to  be  in  some  sort  invested  with  a  legal  authori- 
ty. It  is  said  by  Dion  Cassius.'^  that  a  vote  of  the  Ciesar  appointed  die- 
people  empowered  Caesar  to  punish  the  adherents  mLst'er of  th^horse"^ 
of  Pompey  as  he  thought  proper,  and  gave  him  besides  the  power 
of  consul  for  five  years,  and  that  of  tribune  of  the  people  for  life. 
There  was  no  reasonable  ground  for  bestowing  these  unusual  hon- 
ours ;  for  the  original  pretext  of  Cassar's  rebellion  was  merelj^  to 
place  himself  on  a  level  with  Pompey  in  retaining  or  resigning  his 
province,  and  to  obtain  the  right  of  becoming  a  candidate  for  the 
consulship.  He  was  now  at  this  time  consul,  and  Pompey's 
death  had  left  him  not  only  without  a  superior  in  dignity,  but 
without  an  equal.  He  had  already  gained,  therefore,  all  that  he 
pretended  to  fight  for ;  and  a  general  amnesty  might  now  have  been 
passed,  which,  while  it  saved  him  from  the  punishment  due  to  his 
treason,  would  have  left  him  in  undispuled  possession  of  the  first 
place  in  the  commonwealth.  Nor  had  he,  like  Sylla,  any  pub- 
lic evils  to  remedy ;  no  undue  preponderance  of  the  aristocratical 
or  of  the  popular  party  required  the  aid  of  a  legislator  with  abso- 
lute powers  to  restore  the  constitution  to  a  healthier  condition. 
There  were  no  wrongs  to  be  redressed,  but  those  which  he  had 
himself  caused  ;  nor  was  there  any  voice  which  called  for  a  re- 
form of  the  constitution,  except  that  of  his  own  ambition. 

It  is  probable  that  Cassar's  protracted  absence,  and  the  want 
of  all  ordinary  magistrates  at  Rome,  impelled  individuals  of  the 
victorious  party  to  aspire  to  greatness  independently  Disturbance,  caused 
ofthe  patronage  of  their  chief  P.  Dolabella,'^  Cice-  I'^b^/ne^wp*"^'"'''^ 
ro's  son-in-law,  procured  his  election,  as  one  of  the  "•  ^-  ™«- 
tribunes  of  the  people,  for  the  year  706  ;  and  when  he  had  entered 
on  his  office,  he  began  to  revive  the  laws  lately  proposed  by  M. 
Caelius,  for  exempting  tenants  from  all  demands  for  the  rent  of 
their  houses  during  one  year,  and  for  a  general  abolition  of  debts. 
The  master  of  the  horse  was  likely,  he  thought,  to  support  him, 
both  from  personal  friendship,  and  from  his  general  inclination  to 
uphold  the  cause  of  the  needy  and  the  profligate,  and  if  his  coun- 
tenance could  be  procured,  there  was  no  effectual  opposition  to  be 
dreaded.  L.  Trebellius,  indeed,  one  of  Dolabella's  colleagueSj^" 
attempted  to  defend  the  interests  of  landlords  and  creditors,  and 

18  XLII.  194.  20  Cicero,  Philippic.  VI.  4. 

>9  Dion  Cassius,  XLII.  198.     Cicero  ad 
Atticum,  XI.  epist.  XXIII. 


308  CESAR  LEAVES  EGYPT. 

scenes  of  great  disorder  were  frequently  exhibited  in  the  streets  of 
Rome  in  consequence  of  these  disputes,  in  the  course  of  wliich 
many  hves  were  lost  on  both  sides  ;  but  as  long  as  M.  Antonius 
allowed  Dolabella  to  go  on  with  impunity,  his  party  was  likely 
to  prevail  in  the  contest.  But  the  senate  called  upon  the  master 
of  the  horse  to  exert  his  power  for  the  preservation  of  the  public 
peace  ;  and  it  was  rumoured  that  he  was  made  acquainted  at  this 
time  with  a  criminal  intercourse  subsisting  between  Dolabella 
and  some  female  friend  or  relation  of  his  own.'^'  This  private 
injury  made  him  more  willing  to  listen  to  the  senate's  call ;  he 
brought  troops  into  the  city,  and  when  the  populace  broke  out  into 
a  riot  in  support  of  Dolabella's  laws,  he  chastised  them  with 
great  severity,  and  is  said  to  have  put  no  fewer  than  800  of  the 
rioters  to  the  sword. ^^  The  present  masters  of  the  common- 
wealth, although  at  the  beginning  of  their  career  they  professed 
to  espouse  the  popular  party,  had  now  obtained  a  power  which 
enabled  them  to  cast  off  their  old  connexions  ;  and  declared,  by 
their  conduct,  that  it  was  to  the  swords  of  a  disciplined  army,  and 
not  to  the  uncertain  favour  of  a  tumultuous  populace,  that  they 
were  resolved  to  owe  their  ascendency. 

Yet  at  this  very  time  the  obedience  of  the  army  itself  was  be- 
Discontent.  in  Caesar's  ginuiug  to  wavcr.  Autouius,  whllc  indulging  in 
army  in  Italy.  every  cxccss  himself,  connived,  it  is  probable,  at 

many  irregularities  in  the  conduct  of  the  soldiers ;  and  the  other 
ofRcers,*^^  from  a  wish  to  gain  popularity,  or  from  the  natural  re- 
laxation consequent  upon  victory,  permitted  the  discipline  of  the 
troops  to  be  seriously  impaired.  It  was  known  that  Caesar  in- 
tended to  transport  his  veteran  legions  into  Africa,  as  soon  as  the 
affairs  of  the  East  should  leave  him  at  liberty  ;  and  the  soldiers 
were  highly  dissatisfied  at  finding  that  they  were  to  be  exposed 
to  another  campaign, '^^  while  no  mention  was  heard  of  fulfilling  the 
promises  which  had  been  made  to  them  on  former  occasions. 
They  confirmed  one  another  in  their  resolutions  not  to  leave  Italy 
till  their  previous  claims  were  satisfied  ;  and  when  P.  Sylla,  an 
officer  of  high  rank,-^  who  had  commanded  the  right  wing  of 
Caesar's  army  at  Pharsalia,  endeavoured  to  pacify  them,  the  sol- 
diers of  the  twelfth  legion  assailed  him  with  stones,  so  that  he  nar- 
rowly escaped  with  his  life.  Several  other  persons  experienced 
the  same  treatment,  and  some  individuals  of  praetorian  dignity 
are  said  to  have  been  actually  murdered  by  the  mutineers.*^^  In- 
jaesar  leaves  Egjpt.  telligencc  of  thesc  disordci's  quickened  Caesar's  wish 
to  return  to  Italy.     He  had  at  last,  about  the  middle  of  the  year  706, 

21  Plutarch,  in  Antonio,  9.  25  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XI.  epist.  XXI. 

22  Livy,  Epitome,  CXIII.  XXII. 

23  Auctor  de  Bell.  Alexand.  65.  26  Plutarch,  in  Csesare,  51.     Dion  Cas- 

24  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XI.  epist.  XX.  sius,  XLIl.  209. 
XXII. 


C^SAR  RETURNS  TO  ROME. 


309 


brought  the  war  in  Egypt  to  a  conckision,  by  placing  Cleopatra 
and  her  younger  brother  on  the  throne,^''  as  the  elder  Ptolemy 
had  perished  in  the  course  of  the  contest ;  and  from  Egypt  he  had 
marched  into  Syria,  and  thence  to  Cilicia  and  Cap-  ^c  passes  through 
padocia  ;  arranging  on  his  way  the  affairs  of  those  sym  and  ciiicia. 
several  provinces,  receiving  the  submissions  of  all  the  petty  prin- 
ces or  chiefs  dependent  on  the  Roman  empire,  and  continuing 
them  in  their  respective  governments  on  such  conditions  as  he 
judged  proper.  These  matters  were  easily  and  quickly  settled  ; 
but  Pharnaces,  king  of  the  Bosphorus,  was  likely  to  occasion  a 
longer  yet  an  unavoidable  delay.  It  was  the  boast  of  the  Romans 
never  to  allow  a  foreign  power  to  take  advantage  of  their  domestic 
quarrels ;  and  it  would  have  reflected  disgrace  on  Caesar  had  he 
suffered  Pharnaces  to  enjoy  his  late  conquest  without  molestation, 
from  his  eagerness  to  prosecute  his  own  private  contest  with  his 
countrymen.  Accordingly  he  called  upon  Pharnaces  to  evacuate 
Pontus  without  delay  ;  and  finding,  according  to  the  statement  of 
his  anonymous  partisan, ^^  that  his  demands  were  evaded,  because 
it  was  well  known  how  anxious  he  was  to  return  to  Italy,  he 
marched  instantly  in  quest  of  the  enemy.  Pharnaces  was  at  this 
time  encamped  near  Zela,*^'  a  town  of  Pontus,  on  the  spot  on 
which  his  father  had  gained  one  of  his  most  famous  victories  over 
the  Romans  ;  and  when  Caosar  arrived  and  encamped  at  no  great 
distance  from  him,  his  confidence  in  the  fortune  of  the  place,  and 
in  his  own  recent  successes,  induced  him  to  attack  the  Roman 
army  in  the  strong  position  which  it  had  occupied.  He  defeats  phamaces 
His  rashness  was  ciuickly  punished  by  a  total  de-  v"nce''oi-pontis.^ ''"'" 
feat ;  he  himself  fled  from  the  field  of  battle  with  only  a  few 
horsemen  ;  and  the  whole  of  Pontus  was  lost  by  this  single  blow. 
Caesar,  unusually  delighted  at  this  rapid  and  most  seasonable 
conquest,  left  two  legions  to  secure  Pontus,  and  himself  hastened 
on  his  way  towards  Italy ;  still  however,  as  before,  employing  the 
time  on  his  journey  in  settling  the  affairs  of  the  provinces,  and  ac- 
customing the  petty  Asiatic  princes  to  look  upon  the  government 
of  Rome  as  already  become  monarchical.  It  was  late  in  the 
year,^"  according  to  the  corrupt  calendar  of  the  period,  when  he 
arrived  in  the  capital,  and  there  proceeded  to  exercise  that  sove- 
reign authority  with  which  his  office  of  dictator,  and  still  more 
the  swords  of  his  soldiers,  had  invested  him. 

M.  Antonius,  on  his  return  to  Italy,  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Pharsalia,^'  had  published  an  edict  by  Ca3-    "« ^<='«™ '» i^'""^- 
sar's  express  orders,  forbidding  all  the  fugitives  of  the  vanquished 
party  to  set  foot  in  Italy  without  having  received  their  pardon 

27  Auctor  rle  Bell.  Alexand.  33—65,  et         29  Auctor  de  Bell.  Alexand.  72,  et  seq. 
seq.  '"  Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  51. 

23  Auctor  "de  Bell.  Alexand.  71.  3i  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XI.  epist.  VII. 


310  CESAR'S  ACTS  OF  SPOLIATION. 

His  acts  of  spoliation  from  CsBsar  himself.  In  this  manner  a  multitude 
pSwer'!"*°"  ''""'''^  "^  of  distinguished  citizens  were  condemned  to  live 
in  banishment ;  but  their  property  was  not  in  every  instance  con- 
fiscated, and  some  were  afterwarcls  allowed,  as  Ave  shall  see  here- 
after, to  return  to  their  country.  The  rapacity  of  the  conqueror, 
however,  had  been  abundantly  gratified  in  the  eastern  provinces ; 
where  he  had  amassed  immense  sums,^-  partly  by  imposing  fines 
on  those  princes  or  states  who  had  supported  the  cause  of  the 
commonwealth,  partly  by  the  direct  plunder  of  their  wealthiest 
temples,  and  partly  by  receiving  a  price  for  the  grants  or  titles 
which  he  gave  or  confirmed  to  any  city  or  individual.  But  the 
demands  of  the  approaching  campaign  in  Africa  could  not  be  an- 
swered without  further  exactions  ;  and  although  he  had  a  very 
considerable  fund  in  the  mmierous  golden  crowns,  figures,  and 
other  articles,  which  were  presented  to  him  from  every  quarter 
through  fear  or  flattery,  he  deemed  it  expedient,  on  his  arrival  in 
Italy,  to  raise  money  to  a  large  amount  by  compulsory  loans  from 
ditferent  cities  as  well  as  from  private  individuals  ;  and  at  the 
same  time  he  proceeded  to  confiscate  and  expose  to  public  sale 
the  property  of  some  of  his  most  distinguished  opponents,^^  which 
Antonius  had  not  ventured  to  touch  by  his  own  authority.  It 
was  on  this  occasion  that  the  house  and  furniture  of  Pompey  the 
Great  were  set  up  to  auction  by  the  command  of  his  father-in- 
law  ;  and  that  Antonius,  amidst  the  general  grief  and  indignation 
of  the  Roman  people,  became  their  purchaser.  At  this  time,  also, 
if  we  may  believe  Dion  Cassius,^^  Caesar  made  some  additional 
regulations  in  favour  of  insolvent  debtors,  and  actually  enforced 
the  proposed  law  of  Dolabella,  for  relieving  tenants  from  rent  for 
one  year,  iir  all  cases  where  the  rent  amounted  to  five  hundred 
denarii,  or  about  15/.  12^.  6d.  His  chief  partisans  were  rewarded 
by  being  appointed  to  various  public  offices,  of  which  he  assumed 
the  complete  disposal ;  and  as  a  cheap  method  of  gratifying  the 
vanity  of  some  of  his  associates,  he  conferred  the  empty  title  of 
consuls,  for  the  short  remainder  of  the  year,  on  Q,.  Fufius 
Calenus,  his  late  lieutenant  in  Achaia,  and  on  P.  Vatinius,  who 
had  rendered  him  most  important  services  in  Illyricum.  The 
prostitution  of  a  dignity  so  respected,  excited  a  general  dis- 
gust ;  and  in  this  open  assumption  of  absolute  power  he  already 
betrayed  the  same  contempt  for  the  feelings  of  his  countrymen 
which  afterwards,  when  exhibited  with  still  greater  aggravation, 
contributed  principally  to  the  fatal  conspiracy  of  the  ides  of 
March.  But  amongst  all  this  distribution  of  honours  and  benefits, 
the  veteran  legions  found  that  they  were  still  to  trust  only  to 
promises  ;  and  that  the  period  when  they  should  obtain  their 

32  Dion  Cassius,  XLII.  208.  Suetonius,        ^3  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  26.  et  seq. 
in  Csesare,  54.  ^  XLII.  209. 


CAMPAIGN  IN  AFRICA. 


311 


discharge,  and  be  rewarded  with  settlements  of  lands,  was  still 
far  distant.  Aware  of  their  own  importance  on 
the  eve  of  another  campaign,  but  not  sufficiently  "''"'°  ^laarmj. 
appreciating  the  able  and  resohite  character  of  their  commander, 
they  broke  up  from  thsir  quarters  in  Campania, ^^  and  advanced 
to  Rome,  committhig  various  excesses  on  their  march,  and  filling 
the  country  and  the  capital  with  terror.  When  they  arrived  be- 
fore the  city,  CcEsar  allowed  them  to  enter  the  walls,  retaining 
only  their  swords,  and  instantly  presented  himself  before  them  in 
the  Campus  Martins,  and  demanded  why  they  had  left  their  quar- 
ters, and  what  they  wanted  at  Rome.  They  replied  that  they 
were  come  to  claim  their  release  from  any  further  service  ;  upon 
which  Cajsar  answered,  without  any  apparent  reluctance,  that 
their  claim  was  reasonable,  and  that  he  would  discharge  them 
instantly  ;  assuring  them  at  the  same  time  that  all  their  comrades 
who  had  served  then'  full  term  of  years  should  be  discharged  in 
the  same  manner,  and  promising  still  to  give  them  the  settlements 
in  lands  which  he  had  before  allowed  them  to  look  for.  The 
soldiers  were  not  prepared  for  this  treatment,  and  in  proportion  to 
his  seeming  readiness  to  part  from  them,  their  wish  to  continue 
in.  his  service  revived.  Caesar  perceived  his  ad-  Hequeiisitbyhit 
vantage,  and  persisted  in  giving  them  their  dis-  d?Sr^'  ^""^  ^'^' 
charge,  expressing  particularly  his  surprise  and  sorrow  to  find 
the  soldiers  of  his  favourite  tenth  legion  implicated  in  this  meet- 
ing. At  last,  on  their  repeated  entreaties  to  be  forgiven,  he  said 
that  he  would  retain  them  all  except  the  tenth  legion  ;  nor  could 
he  be  prevailed  on  to  receive  that  legion  into  his  favour,^*  so  that 
it  followed  him  to  Africa  without  his  orders,  from  the  mere  zeal 
of  the  soldiers  to  do  something  that  might  entitle  them  to  pardon. 
After  all,  he  punished  those  who  had  been  most  active  in  the 
mutiny,  by  depriving  them  of  a  third  part  of  their  share  of  the 
plunder  gained  in  Africa,  and  of  the  lands  which  he  afterwards 
bestowed  on  his  army  ;  some  also  he  actually  discharged  at  once, 
and  settled  them  in  different  parts  of  Italy ;  and  others,  it  is  said, 
he  found  means  to  employ  in  the  most  dangerous  services  in  the 
ensuing  campaign,"  and  thus  freed  himself  from  their  turbulence, 
while  he  made  their  deaths  useful  by  occasioning  a  loss  to  his 
enemies. 

Having  thus  re-established  his  authority  over  his  legions,  he 
proceeded  with  his  usual  activity  to  carry  the  war 
into  Africa.  He  arrived  at  Lilybgeum,  in  Sicily,^'  campaign  in  Africa. 
on  the  seventeenth  of  December,  and  having  waited  there  till  he 
had  assembled  a  force  of  six  legions,  and  about  two  thousand 
cavalry,  he  embarked   from  Sicily  on  the  twenty-seventh,  and 

35  Dion  Cassius,  XLII.  20^,210.    Ap-         3t  Dion  Cassius.XLII.  211.' 
pian,  de  Bello  Civili,  11.  9"^,  et  seq.  3*  Auctor  de  Bello  Afiicano,  1,  et  seq. 

•*  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  70. 

21. 


312  FORCES  OP  SCIPIO  AND  CATO. 

reached  the  coast  of  Africa  on  the  thirtieth.  He  landed  near 
Admmetiim  with  no  more  than  three  thousand  men,  the  rest  ol 
his  forces  having  been  dispersed  in  diflerent  directions  on  their 
passage  ;  and  as  he  knew  not  what  points  of  the  coast  might  he 
least  occupied  by  the  enemy,  he  had  been  unable  before  his  de- 
parture from  Sicily  to  appoint  any  particular  spot  as  the  place  of 
destination  for  the  whole  armament.  Finding  Adrumetum  too 
strongly  garrisoned  to  be  attacked  with  any  hope  of  success,  he 
put  his  troops  in  motion  again  on  the  first  of  Jamiary,  and  on  the 
evening  of  that  day  halted  at  Ruspina,  from  whence  he  again  set  out 
on  the  following  morning,  and  approached  Leptis.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  that  town  sent  to  offer  their  submission  to  him,  and  he 
accordingly  occupied  the  gates  with  a  guard,  and  having  given 
strict  orders  that  no  other  soldiers  should  be  allowed  to  enter  the 
walls,  he  encamped  for  the  night  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Leptis^ 
and  was  joined  on  that  very  evening  by  a  part  of  his  army  from 
Sicily,  vvhich  had  put  in  by  a  fortunate  accident  at  this  very  point 
of  the  coast.  On  the  third  of  January  he  returned  to  Ruspina, 
and  there  remained  for  some  time,  having  collected  considerable 
supplies  of  provisions  from  the  adjacent  country,  and  having  re- 
ceived a  large  accession  of  strength  by  the  arrival  of  another  di- 
vision of  the  troops  from  Lilyba3um.  But  his  numbers  were  as  yet 
very  inferior  to  those  of  the  enemy,  and  he  could  not  depend  for 
the  permanent  subsistence  of  his  army  on  the  resources  of  a  coun- 
try which  was  almost  entirely  possessed  by  his  opponents.  He 
waited  therefore  anxiously  for  the  arrival  of  additional  reinforce- 
ments, as  well  as  of  supplies  of  provisions  from  Sicily,  Sardinia, 
and  other  parts  of  the  empire  ;^'  whilst  he  secured  himself  for 
the  present  by  bestowing  extraordinary  care  on  the  fortifications 
of  his  camp,  and  by  carrying  lines  from  this  and  from  the 
town  of  Ruspina  down  to  the  sea-shore,  in  order  that  ships  might 
approach  the  land  with  safety,  and  that  the  succours  of  whatever 
kind,  which  might  be  contained  in  them,  might  reach  his  camp 
without  molestation. 

It  appears  that  the  supporters  of  the  commonwealth  had  by 
Forces  of  scipio  this  time  organized  a  very  large  army  in  Africa; 
and  cato.  ^ud  that  their  navy,  although  not  possessing  the 

command  of  the  sea  so  exclusively  as  during  the  campaign  in 
Greece,  was  yet  strong  enough  to  cause  great  annoyance  to  the 
enemy,  and  during  Caesar's  absence  in  Egypt  had  made  descents 
on  the  coasts  of  Sicily  and  Sardinia,^"  and  had  carried  off"  from 
them  several  vessels,  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  arms.  While 
Italy  was  suffering  under  the  misrule  of  Antonius,  and  Rome 
itself  was  distracted  by  the  turbulent  tribuneship  of  Dolabella,  it 
was  expected  that  Scipio  and  Cato  would  transport  their  forces 

»  Aoctor  de  Bello  Africano,  20.  *"  Dion  Cassius,  XLII.  211. 


DIVERSION  OF  SITIUS  IN  FAVOUR  OF  C^SAR.  313 

from  Africa,  and  avail  themselves  of  so  fair  an  opportunity  for 
regaining  possession  of  the  seat  of  government.*'  But  we  must 
suppose  that  they  had  not  yet  collected  an  army  sufficient  to  en- 
counter Caesar's  veteran  legions ;  and  perhaps  the  want  of  arms 
for  their  regular  infantry  was  a  principal  obstacle  to  such  an  at- 
tempt. With  cavalry  and  light  troops  they  were  abundantly  pro- 
vided; for  the  Numidians  of  the  Roman  province  were  admirably 
calculated  for  those  services,  and  to  them  was  added  the  whole 
force  of  the  kingdom  of  Mauritania,  which  .Tuba  furnished  to  the 
cause  of  the  commonwealth.  Utica,  the  most  considerable  city 
in  Africa,  was  held  by  M.  Cato,*^  and  he  had  made  it  a  great 
magazine  of  arms  and  provisions,  as  well  as  a  depot  for  the  new 
levies  which  he  was  constantly  forming  to  reinforce  the  main 
army  in  the  field.  That  army  was  commanded  by  Scipio,  with 
the  title  of  proconsul ;  and  although  the  military  talents  of  the 
general-in-chief  were  not  very  highly  distinguished,  yet  Labienus 
and  Petreius,  his  principal  lieutenants,  were  officers  of  great  ex- 
perience and  ability. 

In  landing  on  the  coast  of  Africa  with  a  force  very  inferior  to 
that  of  his  opponents,  Caesar  maybe  supposed  to  Difficulties  of  caesar 
have  had  two  objects  in  view  ;  first,  to  prevent  the  campai'gn."'"^"^"'* 
enemy  from  carrying  the  war  into  Italy,  and  to  preserve  his  usual 
character  of  being  always  the  assailant ;  and,  secondly,  to  deprive 
them  by  his  presence  of  some  part  of  the  resources  of  the  pro- 
vince, of  which  otherwise  they  would  have  had  the  complete  dis- 
posal. His  great  renown  as  a  general,  his  success  in  other  parts 
of  the  empire,  and  that  character  of  the  lawful  representative  of 
the  Roman  people,  which  he  derived  from  the  possession  of  the 
capital,  gained  him  immediately  some  partisans  among  the  cities 
and  tribes  of  Africa,*^  and  thus  produced  at  once  a  diversion  in 
his  favour.  Yet  soon  after  his  first  landing  he  was  severely  ha- 
rassed by  the  attacks  of  the  enemy's  cavalry  un^er  Labienus  and 
Petreius ;  and  had  Juba  united  his  forces  to  those  of  Scipio,  their 
combined  efforts  might  have  been  too  overwhelming  for  Ca3sar 
to  resist.  He  was  saved  from  this  danger  by  an  unexpected  in- 
terference.    P.  Sitius,  of  Nuceria,  had  been  in  his  Diversion  made  by  p. 

1       !•/•  J    •  .  .•  Sitiijs   in  his  favour. 

early  life  engaged  in  money  transactions,  on  a  very  Adventures  of  siuus. 
extensive  scale,**  not  only  with  many  persons  in  different  parts  of 
the  empire,  but  also  with  some  foreign  princes,  and  amongst  the 
rest  with  the  king  of  Mauritania,  the  father  of  Juba.  The  sums 
embarked  in  these  various  speculations  were  not  always  easily  to 
be  recovered :  Sitius  had  incurred  heavy  debts  at  Rome,  which 
brought  him  into  the  society  of  dissolute  and  desperate  men,  and 
had  made  him  acquainted  with  L.  Catiline  and  his  associates  at 

<i  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XI.  epist.  XV.  "  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  7.  32,  33 

<«  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  22.   36.        "  Cicero,  pro  P.  SyU4,  20. 
Plutarch,  in  Catone,  58. 


314  ADVENTURES  OF  SITIUS. 

the  eve  of  their  memorable  conspiracy.  Whether  he  himself  en- 
tered into  their  schemes  is  uncertain.  It  appears  that  he  went 
about  that  period  to  Africa,  professedly  to  settle  some  business 
with  the  king  of  Mauritania,  but,  as  many  asserted,^'  to  employ 
his  influence  with  that  prince  in  levying  an  armed  force  against 
the  commonwealth.  How'ever,  his  innocence  or  his  good  for- 
tune saved  him  from  the  fate  of  the  other  conspirators,  and  Cicero 
himself,  while  defending  P.  Sylla  from  the  same  charge  of  having 
been  Catiline's  accomplice,  took  occasion  equally  to  deny  the  ac- 
cusation against  Sitius.  But  he  was  a  man  of  ruined  fortunes, 
and  it  seems  that  he  was  afterwards  brought  before  the  tribunals 
for  some  private  oftence,^^  and  was  obliged  to  go  into  exile.  He 
repaired  again  to  Africa,  with  an  armed  force  which  he  had  raised 
in  Italy  and  Spain,  and  which  it  seems  could  easily  be  collected 
by  any  adventurer  of  notoriety,  while  every  part  of  the  empire 
was  full  of  slaves  and  other  needy  and  desperate  persons,  to  whom 
all  change  was  gain.  Thus  accompanied,  Sitius  appeared  in 
Africa,  like  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  free  companies  in  Italy  during 
the  fourteenth  century ;  and  sold  his  services  to  the  highest  bid- 
der in  the  constant  petty  wars  which  the  wild  tribes  and  barba- 
rian sovereigns  of  that  country  were  carrying  on  against  one 
another.  His  fame  soon  became  great,  for  the  party  which  he 
espoused  was  always  victorious ;  and  if  the  king  of  Mauritania 
was  slow  in  paying  his  debt  to  him,  we  may  the  less  wonder  that 
he  readily  associated  himself  with  those  inferior  chiefs  who  were 
constantly  engaged  in  predatory  warfare  with  that  more  powerful 
sovereign.  In  this  way  he  was  closely  united  with  a  prince  of 
the  name  of  Bogud,  according  to  Roman  orthography,  at  the  time 
that  Caesar  landed  in  Africa.  By  attacking  Juba  now,  Sitius 
might  hope  to  gain  far  more  than  plunder,  or  the  pay  of  a  poor 
barbarian  chief;  he  might  obtain  the  repeal  of  his  banishment, 
and  expect  besides  a  splendid  reward  from  the  sovereign  of  the 
Roman  empire  for  a  service  so  seasonably  rendered  to  him.  Bo- 
gud himself  had  before  shown  himself  friendly  to  Caesar,^^  proba- 
bly because  Juba  supported  the  party  of  Pompey  :  and  now  when 
Juba  was  on  his  march  to  join  Scipio  with  a  considerable  army, 
Bogud  and  P.  Sitius  attacked  his  kingdom,^'  took  Cirta,  one  of 
his  principal  cities,  and  committed  such  ravages  in  his  country, 
that  he  was  obliged  to  return  with  his  whole  force  to  oppose  them, 
and  even  to  recall  the  troops  which  he  had  before  sent  to  serve 
under  the  Roman  general,  his  ally.  Meanwhile  Crpsar  was  rein- 
forced by  the  arrival  of  two  veteran  legions  from  Sicily  ]*'  and 
when  at  length  Juba  yielded  to  Scipio's  pressing  applications,  and 

*5  Sallust,  de  Bello  Catilinar.  21.  Cice-  "  Auctor  de  Bello  Alexandrino,  59. 

ro,  pro  Sylla,  ubi  supra.  *^  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  25. 

«  Appian.de  BelloCivili.IV.  54.  Dion  "  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  34. 
Cassius,  XLIII.  214. 


BATTLE  OP  THAPSUS. 


315 


came  to  join  him,  leaving  one  of  his  generals  to  contend  with  Bo- 
gud  and  Sitius,'"  the  decisive  moment  was  already  passed,  and 
Caesar's  army  was  now  too  formidable  to  be  seriously  injured  by 
any  force  which  Juba  could  bring  against  it. 

From  this  time  the  event  of  the  campaign  might  be  looked  for 
with  little  hesitation.  Caesar  was  soon  after  reinforced  by  two  more 
of  his  veteran  legions,  the  ninth  and  tenth ;  and  he  was  anxious, 
as  before  in  Greece,  to  bring  the  enemy  to  a  general  action  as  soon 
as  possible.  But  his  situation  now  was  very  different  from  what 
it  had  been  in  his  campaign  against  Pompey.  Then  he  was  op- 
posed to  a  general  of  talents  far  less  disproportioned  to  his  own, 
and  of  reputation  equal  or  even  superior ;  the  fleets  of  his  adver- 
saries commanded  every  sea  and  cut  ofl'  all  hope  of  supplies  and 
reinforcements ;  and  the  army  of  the  commonwealth  was  as  yet 
unvanqnished  ;  and  under  the  command  of  its  great  leader  was 
daily  gaining  fresh  strength  and  confidence.  At  present,  he  was 
contmually  receiving  deserters  from  the  enemy's  army,*^  and  offers 
of  submission  and  assistance  from  the  towns  of  the  province  and 
of  Mauritania  ;  the  regular  infantry  of  his  opponents  was  utterly 
unable  to  resist  his  veteran  legions ;  and  the  only  annoyance 
which  he  experienced  was  from  their  superior  cavalry  and  light 
troops,  whose  attacks  became  daily  less  alarming  as  his  soldiers 
grew  more  familiar  with  them,  and  better  understood  how  to 
oppose  them  most  effectually.  Scipio,  indeed,  carefully  avoided  a 
battle ;  but  the  rapidity  of  Caesar's  movements,  and  the  extraor- 
dinary celerity  with  which  his  troops  were  accustomed  to  construct 
works  of  every  description,  at  last  obliged  him  to  depart  from  his 
system  of  caution.  On  the  fourth  of  April,  Caesar  gained  a  march 
upon  his  antagonists  by  night,**  and  appeared  on  the  following 
morning  before  the  town  of  Thapsus,  a  place  which 

,      J       1  1-  ..       1  1  ^       CI    •     •    5  Battle  of  Thapsus. 

had  shown  peculiar  attachment  to  bcipio  s  cause, 
and  which  was  at  this  time  defended  by  a  strong  garrison.  With- 
out loss  of  time,  Caesar  began  to  form  lines  of  circumvallation,  and 
to  occupy  every  important  post  in  the  neighbourhood  so  effectually, 
that  when  Scipio  arrived  to  protect  the  town,  he  found  his  com- 
munications with  it  already  cut  off,  Under  these  circumstances, 
Scipio,  unwilling  to  abandon  so  important  a  place  to  its  fate,  pre- 
pared to  form  his  camp  on  a  spot  upon  the  sea-shore,  from  which 
he  hoped  to  obstruct  the  operations  of  the  enemy ;  and  whilst  he 
was  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  rampart  and  ditch,  he 
drew  out  his  army  in  order  of  battle  to  cover  the  parties  engaged 
in  the  work.  In  this  situation  he  was  attacked  by  Caesar  and 
completely  defeated.  His  troops  first  fled  to  the  camp,  which  was 
as  yet  unfinished,  and  this  being  forced,  they  hastened  to  the  camp 

so  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  48.  62  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  79,  et  seq, 

*^  Auclor  de  Bello  Africano,  52.  56.  'I 


316  DEATH  OF  SCIPIO. 

they  had  left  the  day  before,  in  the  hope  of  being  enabled  there  to 
make  a  stand.  But  findhig  no  officer  to  rally  them,  if  we  may 
believe  the  statement  of  Caesar's  partisan,  they  fled,  as  a  last  re- 
source, towards  the  camp  of  Juba,  which  was  at  some  distance 
from  that  of  Scipio  ;  but  which  they  now  found  equally  in  posses- 
sion of  the  victorious  enemy.  Despairing  of  any  further  resistance, 
the  fugitives  halted  on  a  neighbouring  hill,  laid  down  their  arms, 
and  implored  quarter.  But  Caesar's  soldiers,  with  the  ferocity  natu- 
ral to  men  who  respected  no  law,  and  who  felt  that  their  swords 
were  disposing  of  the  empire  of  the  world,  not  only  massacred  the 
whole  of  this  defenceless  multitude,  but  wounded  and  murdered 
several  persons  of  distinction  who  were  present  in  their  own  army, 
against  whom  they  had  some  supposed  grounds  of  offence.  Csesar 
himself  was  an  eye-witness  of  this  butchery,  which,  according  to 
his  partisan's  narrative,  he  in  vain  endeavoured  to  prevent.  Such  a 
scene  might  have  taught  him  to  what  a  brutal  and  unmanageable 
power  he  had  subjected  his  country  ;  but  the  crimes  of  his  soldiers 
were  forgotten  in  the  splendour  of  their  victory,  by  which  the 
campaign  was  irrevocably  decided.  The  news  of  the  battle  spread 
rapidly  in  every  direction,  with  an  effect  as  powerful  as  the  tidings 
of  the  rout  of  Pharsalia  two  years  before.  Scipio,  with  three  or 
four  other  superior  officers,  escaped  by  sea  from  the  scene  of  their 
Deaths  of  scipo,     dcfcat,  lu  thc  liopc  of  finding  an  asylum  inSpain.^' 

Juba,  Afranius,  and       ^ni  i-v  ^  •      i      •     ^       j.i  ^ 

Petreius.  They  Were  driven  by  contrary  wnids  into  the  port 

of  Hippo,  where  they  were  surrounded  by  a  superior  naval  force, 
employed,  as  we  are  told,  in  the  service  of  the  fugitive,  P.  Sitius. 
Scipio's  ship  was  instantly  boarded,  and  he  killed  himself  to  avoid 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  ;  the  officers  who  were  with 
him,  amongst  whom  we  find  the  noble  name  of  L.  Manlius  Tor- 
quatus,  either  followed  his  example  or  were  put  to  death.  Of  the 
other  generals  of  the  vanquished  party,  Labienus  effected  his  es- 
cape into  Spain  with  Atius  Varus  and  Cn.  Pompeius,  who,  during 
the  late  campaign,  had  both  held  commands  by  sea.  Juba,  ac- 
companied by  Petreius,  fled  to  his  own  dominions  f*  but  finding 
that  the  forces  which  he  had  left  to  protect  them  had  been  totally 
defeated  by  Bogud  and  P.  Sitius,  and  being  shut  out  of  Zama,  his 
capital,  by  his  own  subjects,  who  wished  to  make  their  peace  with 
the  conqueror,  he  continued  his  flight  to  one  of  his  country  houses, 
and  there  Petreius  and  he  resolved  to  die  by  each  other's  hands. 
But  Juba  having  easily  killed  Petreius, and  having  attempted  with- 
out effect  to  stab  himself,  persuaded  one  of  his  own  slaves  to  become 
his  executioner.  The  fate  of  Petreius  was  soon  shared  by  L. 
Afranius,  his  former  colleague  in  the  command  of  Pompey's  army 
in  Spain.    Afranius,  with  Faustus  Sylla,"  while  attempting  to 

53  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  96.    Livy,         55  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  95.     Flo- 
Epitome,  CXIV.  ru9.  IV.  2.     Dion  Cassius,  XLIII.  219.. 

54  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  91.  94. 


CATO  KILLS  HIMSELF.  3I7 

reach  Spain  along  the  northern  coast  of  Africa,  fell,  together  with 
the  wife  and  children  of  the  latter,  into  the  hands  of  P.  Sitius. 
They  were  soon  after  killed,  according  to  Suetonius  and  Dion 
Cassias,  by  Cassar's  orders ;  but  the  statement  of  Caesars  partisan 
attributes  their  death  to  a  disturbance  in  the  army  and  the  vio- 
lence of  the  soldiers.  The  wife  of  Faustus,  who  was  a  daughter 
of  Pompey,  was  spared,  together  with  her  children,  and  the  en- 
joyment of  all  her  property  was  granted  to  her. 

Intelligence  of  the  battle  of  Thapsus  was  brought  to  Utica  by 
a  party  of  Scipio's  cavalry,  who  were  flying  from  cato attempt,  m  yam 
the  action  under  the  command  of  Afranius.^®  to  defend  unca. 
With  the  usual  temper  of  a  defeated  and  desperate  army,  these 
fugitives  began  to  revenge  themselves  for  their  defeat  by  plunder- 
ing and  murdering  many  of  the  citizens  of  Utica,  who  were  sup- 
posed to  be  attached  to  the  cause  of  Csesar.  M.  Cato  alone,  with 
a  spirit  unbroken  amidst  the  disasters  of  his  party,  in  vain  endea- 
voured to  give  their  feelings  a  better  direction,  by  persuading  them 
to  defend  the  town  against  the  enemy  ;  and  when  he  saw  that 
they  could  not  be  induced  to  do  their  duty,  he  distributed  a  sum 
of  money  to  every  soldier  amongst  them,  to  prevail  on  them  to  de- 
part without  committing  any  further  excesses.  They  thus  pur- 
sued their  retreat  along  the  coast  on  their  way  to  Spain,  as  we 
have  already  mentioned  ;  and  in  the  mean  time  numerous  parties 
of  the  vanquished  army  arrived  in  Utica,  with  all  of  whom  Cato 
was  earnest  in  his  eftbrts  to  induce  them  to  continue  the  contest, 
and  to  maintain  the  place.  But  when  he  found  that  their  minds 
were  possessed  by  an  overwhelming  panic,  he  furnished  them 
with  all  the  ships  in  the  harbour  to  convey  them  wherever  they 
wished  to  go ;  and  recommended  his  son  and  his  other  friends  to 
the  intercession  of  L.  Ca3sar,  his  quaestor,  who,  as  being  related 
to  the  conqueror,  might  be  supposed  to  possess  some  influence 
with  him.  His  anxiety,  however,  for  the  safety  of  those  about 
him  appears  less  amiable  when  we  find  him  too  proud  to  accept 
for  himself  that  mercy  which  he  wished  to  procure  for  them,  and 
resisting  with  passionate  violence  the  solicitations  of  his  son,  that 
he  would  consent  to  live  for  his  sake.  When  the  evening  came 
he  retired  to  his  own  aparlment,^'^  and  employed  himself  for  some 
time  in  reading  one  of  Plato's  "  Dialogues,"  endeavouring,  it  is 
said,  to  lull  the  suspicions  of  his  friends  by  seeming  to  take  a 
lively  interest  in  the  fate  of  those  who  were  escaping  by  sea  from 
Utica,  and  by  sending  several  times  to  the  sea-side  to  learn 
the  state  of  the  wind  and  of  the  weather.  But  towards 
morning,  when  all  was  quiet,  he  stabbed  himself  He  kius  himscir. 
He  fell  from  his  bed  with  the  blow,  and  the  noise  of  his  fall  im- 
mediately brought  his  son  and  his  servants  into  the  room,  by 

M  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  b7,  et  seq.        "  piutarch.in  Catone,  70 


3JQ  END  OF  THE  WAR  IN  AFRICA. 

whose  assistance  he  was  raised  from  the  ground,  and  an  attempt 
was  made  to  bind  up  the  wound.  Their  eflbrts  to  save  him  were 
vain  ;  for  Cato  no  sooner  had  recovered  his  self-possession,  than 
he  tore  open  the  wound  again  in  so  effectual  a  manner  that  he 
instantly  expired. 

Such  was  the  end  of  a  man,  whom  a  better  philosophy,  by 
Character  of  Cato.  teaching  him  to  struggle  with  his  predominant 
faults  instead  of  encouraging  them,  would  have  rendered  truly 
amiable.  He  possessed  the  greatest  integrity  and  firmness  ;  and, 
from  the  beginning  of  his  political  life,  was  never  swayed  by  fear 
or  interest  to  desert  that  which  he  considered  the  cause  of  liberty 
and  justice.  He  is  said  to  have  foreseen  Cassar's  designs  long  be- 
before  they  were  generally  suspected ;  but  his  well-known  ani- 
mosity against  him  rendered  his  authority  on  the  subject  less 
weighty  ;  and  his  zeal  led  him  to  miscalculate  the  strength  of  the 
commonwealth,  when  he  earnestly  advised  the  senate  to  adopt 
those  measures  which  gave  Caesar  a  pretence  for  beginning  hos- 
tilities. During  the  civil  war  he  had  the  rare  merit  of  uniting  to 
the  sincerest  ardour  in  the  cause  of  his  party  a  steady  regard  to 
justice  and  humanity  ;  he  would  not  countenance  cruelty  or  ra- 
pine because  practised  by  his  associates  or  coloured  with  pretences 
of  public  advantage.  But  the  pride  and  coarseness  of  his  mind, 
of  which  we  have  already  given  some  instances  in  his  behaviour 
to  his  private  friends,  overshadowed  the  last  scene  of  his  life,  and 
led  him  to  indulge  his  selfish  feelings  by  suicide,  rather  than  live 
for  the  happiness  of  his  family  and  friei.ds,  and  mitigate,  as  far  as 
lay  in  his  power,  the  distressed  condition  of  his  country.  His 
character,  however,  was  so  pure,  and  since  Pompey's  death  so  su- 
perior to  all  the  leaders  engaged  with  him  in  the  same  cause,  that 
even  his  enemy's  partisans  could  not  refuse  him  their  respect  and 
praise  ;  and  his  name  has  become  a  favourite  theme  of  panegyric 
in  after-times,  as  the  most  upright  and  persearering  defender  of 
the  liberties  of  Rome. 

Caesar  meantime  was  advancing  from  Thapsus  towards 
Bndof  thewarin  Utica,^^  and  had  occupied  without  resistance,  on  his 
^^''='-  march,  the  towns  of  Usceta  and  Adrumetum,  in 

both  of  which  he  found  considerable  magazines  of  amis  and  pro- 
visions. As  he  drew  near  to  Utica,  he  was  met  by  L.  Caesar, 
who  implored  his  mercy  ;  and  to  whom,  says  his  partisan,  he 
readily  granted  it,  according  to  his  natural  temper  and  habits  of 
clemency.  At  the  same  time  he  spared  the  lives  of  Cato's  son 
and  of  a  number  of  other  individuals  who  threw  themselves  on 
his  mercy  ;  but  he  levied  heavy  fines  on  those  Roman  merchants 
and  citizens  of  other  descriptions  who  had  formed  Cato's  council, 
and  had  contributed  money  to  the  cause  of  the  commonwealth. 

*•  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  89. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR  IN  SPAIN.  31 9 

He  imposed  also  large  contributions  on  the  inhabitants  of  T^eptis, 
Adrumetiim,  and  Thapsus;"  and  sold  by  auction  the  pioperty 
of  Juba,  and  of  all  the  Roman  citizens  resident  in  Mauritania  who 
had  borne  arms  in  his  service  ;  afrer  which  he  reduced  his  king- 
dom to  the  form  of  a  Roman  province,  and  intrusted  the  govern- 
ment of  it  to  C.  Sallustius  Crispus,  the  historian,  with  the  title  of 
proconsul.  On  the  other  hand,  Caesar  bestowed  rewards  on  the 
people  of  Zania  for  having  excluded  their  sovereign  from  their 
walls ;  and  divided  the  territories  of  another  Mauritanian  prince, 
who  had  been  Juba's  ally,  between  Bogud  and  P.  Sitius.^"  Hav- 
ing thus  brought  the  war  in  Africa  to  a  conclusion,  he  embarked 
at  Utica  on  the  thirteenth  of  June,  and  sailed  to  Sardinia,  there 
to  impose  fresh  fines,  and  to  order  confiscations  against  some 
towns  and  individuals  that  had  assisted  the  party  of  his  adversa- 
ries. He  sailed  from  Sardinia  again  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  June, 
and  after  a  tedious  voyage  of  eight  and  twenty  days,^'  arrived  at 
Rome  about  the  twenty-seventh  of  July,  or,  according  to  the  true 
calculation,  about  the  end  of  May. 

From  the  date  of  Casar's  return  from  Africa  to  his  assassina- 
tion, there  is  a  period  of  somewhat  less  than  two  years  ;  and  even 
of  this  short  time  nine  months  were  engrossed  by  the  renewal  of 
the  war  in  Spain,  which  obliged  him  to  leave  Rome  once  more, 
and  contend  for  the  security  of  his  power  at  the  point  of  the 
sword.  He  enjoyed  the  sovereignty,  therefore,  which  he  had  so 
dearly  purchased,  during  little  more  than  one  single  year ;  from 
the  en"d  of  July,  707,  to  tlie  middle  of  the  winter,  a  period  of  be- 
tween seven  and  eight  months^  owing  to  the  reformation  of  the 
calendar  which  he  introduced  during  this  interval ;  and  again, 
from  October  708,  to  the  ides  of  March  in  the  following  spring. 
After  giving  this  outline  of  the  order  of  events,  we  shall  first 
briefly  notice  the  disturbances  in  Spain,  and  in  other  parts  of  the 
empire,  by  which  the  tranquillity  of  Caesar's  sovereignty  was  in- 
terrupted ;  and  shall  then  endeavour  to  present  our  readers  with 
a  general  view  of  the  nature  of  his  government,  and  of  the  inter- 
nal state  of  Rome  under  his  dominion ;  which  last  subject  will 
naturally  lead  us  to  trace  the  origin  of  the  conspiracy  formed 
against  him,  and  to  follow  it  up  to  the  moment  of  its  fatal  termi- 
nation. 

The  condition  of  Spain  had  become  far  from  tranquil  before 
the  conclusion  of  the  campaign  in  Africa.  Cneeus  Renewal  of  the  civii 
Pompeius,  who,  as  we  have  mentioned,  was  invest-  ^^fu ana  cil"  Pompt" 
ed  with  a  naval  command,  had  been  invited  thither  '"^ 
by  some  of  the  Spanish  cities,^-  which  had  taken  part  in  the 
resistance  offered  against  Q,.  Cassius,  Csesar's  lieutenant,   and 

69  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  97.  ^'   Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  98. 

60  Appian,  de  Bello  Civiii,  IV.  54.  «  Dion  Cassius,  XL  III.  228. 


320  CiESAR  GOES  INTO  SPAIN. 

which  were  apprehensive  that  their  conduct,  though  not  hitherto 
noticed,  must  necessarily  have  excited  Caesar's  resentment.  Ac- 
cordingly Cn.  Pompeius  sailed  from  Africa  to  the  barbarian 
islands,*^  and  succeeded  in  making  himself  master  of  them  ;  but 
being  seized  with  an  illness,  he  was  detained  there  till  after  the 
defeat  and  death  of  Scipio,  and  the  conclusion  of  the  African 
campaign.  When  the  tidings  of  Ca?sar's  victory  arrived  in  Spain, 
the  party  which  had  invited  Pompeius  to  be  their  leader,  finding 
that  he  was  still  delayed  by  sickness,  resolved  to  seek  out  another 
chief;  and  for  this  purpose  they  fixed  on  T.  Annins  Scapula,®^  a 
man  of  great  rank  and  influence  in  the  province,  and  who  had 
been  deeply  concerned  in  the  opposition  against  the  authority  of 
Q,.  Cassius,  His  own  slaves  and  freedmen  were  a  nimierous 
body,  and  with  them  he  first  took  up  arms  ;  but  his  adherents 
daily  became  more  formidable,  being  swelled  partly  by  the  acces- 
sion of  Roman  and  native  soldiers  from  Spain  itself,  and  partly 
by  the  fugitives  from  Africa,  who  sought  his  standard  as  their  last 
refuge.  At  length  Pompeius  himself  appeared,  and  was  acknow- 
ledged as  commander-in-chief  of  the  whole  assembled  force.  The 
popularity  of  his  name  gained  him  the  zealous  support  of  the 
Spaniards  ;  and  soldiers  resorted  to  him  from  every  quarter  of  the 
empire,  as  if  it  were  reserved  for  the  son  of  Pompey  to  revenge 
the  fate  of  his  father  and  of  the  commonwealth.  Caesar's  lieuten- 
ants, to  whom  he  had  intrusted  the  government  of  Spain,  were 
unable  to  withstand  the  progress  of  the  enemy  ;  and  Caesar  him- 
self was  obliged  to  suspend  his  labours  for  the  civil  administra- 
tion of  the  empire,  and  once  more  appear  at  the  head  of  an  army. 
caeaar  leavos  Rome,  Hc  sct  out  froui  Rouic,  as  has  bceu  already  ob- 
and  goea  into  Spain. '  scrvcd,  about  tho  cud  of  the  year  707  ;  and  exerting 
his  accustomed  activity,  he  is  said  to  have  arrived  at  Obulco," 
near  Corduba,  in  the  province  of  Farther  Spain,  in  twenty-seven 
days  from  the  time  of  his  leaving  the  capital.  His  presence,  as 
usual,  encouraged  those  cities  which  still  remained  faithful  to 
him,  and  restrained  those  which  were  inclining  to  the  enemy. 
The  troops  which  he  found  in  Spain,  added  to  those  which  fol- 
lowed him  from  Italy,  formed  an  army  superior  to  that  of  the 
enemy  in  the  quality  of  its  infantry,  and  in  the  numbers  of  its 
cavalry  ;  and  Caesar  therefore,  as  in  his  former  campaigns,  was 
anxious  to  bring  on  a  general  action ;  and  in  order  to  accomplish 
this,  whilst  he  was  advancing  his  own  cause  at  the  same  time  in 
other  respects,  he  employed  himself  in  laying  siege  to  some  of  the 
towns  that  were  garrisoned  by  his  opponents.  In  this  manner  he 
besieged  and  took  Alegua,  and  one  or  two  other  places;"  tillCn. 

w  Dion  Cassius,  Auctor  de  Bello  Afri-     De  Bello  Hispaniensi,  .33.     Cicero,  ad  Fa- 
cano,  23.  miliares,  IX.  epist.  XIII. 

**  Auctor   de    Bello    Alexandrino,    55.         ^^  Strabo,  III.  169,  edit   Xyland. 

**  Auctor  de  Bell.  Hispan.  6,  et  seq. 


BATTLE  OF  MUNDA.  32 1 

Pompeius,  unwilling  to  discourage  his  partisans  by  appearing 
unable  to  offer  any  resistance  to  his  enemy's  enterprises,  and  hav- 
ing persuaded  himself  that  the  soldiers  in  Caesar's  present  army 
were  no  longer  the  same  veterans  who  had  conquered  at  Pharsa- 
lia  oratThapsus.  was  induced  to  otfer  battle  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Munda.  He  disposed  his  army,  however,  upon  Battle  of  Munda. 
ground  so  defensible  by  nalure,*'^  and  his  soldiers  conducted  them- 
selves so  bravely,  that  the  first  attack  of  the  enemy  was  vigor- 
ously repelled  ;  and  it  is  said  that  Csesar  dismounted  from  his 
horse,  and  by  offering  to  expose  his  life  as  a  common  soldier  in 
the  front  of  the  line,  at  last  with  difficulty  rallied  his  men,  and 
retrieved  the  fortune  of  the  day.«*  The  victory,  though  hardly 
won,  was  complete  and  decisive.  Labienus  and  Atius  Varus  were 
killed  in  the  field,  and  Cn.  Pompeius  was  wounded,  but  effected 
his  escape  in  a  litter  to  Carteia.  From  thence,  mistrusting  the 
fidelity  of  the  inhabitants,  he  endeavoured  to  withdraw  by  sea  to 
a  safer  refuge,^'  but  being  pursued  by  a  squadron  of  Goesar's,  and 
being  surprised  at  the  very  moment  when  his  ships  had  put  in  to 
shore  to  obtain  fresh  supplies  of  water,  his  vessels  were  all  taken 
or  burnt,  and  he  was  obliged  once  more  to  pursue  his  flight  by 
land.  He  at  first  attempted  to  defend  himself  with  the  aid  of 
the  few  followers  who  still  remained  with  him,  on  one  of  the 
strong  positions  which  the  country  afforded  ;  but  when  his  pur- 
suers began  to  construct  regular  works,  under  cover  of  which 
they  might  gain  a  footing  on  the  high  ground  occupied  by  his 
party,  he  was  forced  to  fly,  and  his  men  began  to  disperse  on 
every  side.  His  wound  disabled  him  from  escaping  on  foot, 
and  the  country  was  impracticable  for  a  carriage,  or  even  for 
a  horse  ;  so  that  concealment  was  his  only  remaining  chance 
of  safely,  and  he  took  shelter  in  a  cavern,  in  one  of  the  wild 
and  lonely  glens  among  the  mountains,  such  as  have  afforded 
a  sure  protection  to  the  fugitives  of  a  vanquished  or  oppressed 
party  in  various  periods  of  Spanish  history.  But  he  was  dis- 
covered by  the  information  of  some  prisoners  whom  the  enemy 
had  taken,  and  was  slaughtered  in  his  place  of  ref-  neathof  cn.  pom- 
uge.  His  head  was  cut  off  and  presented  to  Csesar,  p'^'"' 
who  at  that  very  moment  was  entering  Hispalis  in  triumph  ;  and 
this  bloody  trophy  being  instantly  by  his  orders  exhibited  to  the 
multitude,  informed  them  that  the  ruin  of  Pompey's  cause  was  com- 
plete. Scapula  had  put  an  end  to  his  own  life  a  short  time  before 
at  Corduba,'"  and  Sex.  Pompeius,  the  younger  son  of  Pompey  the 
Great,  having  fled  from  the  same  place  on  the  news  of  the 
battle  of  Munda,  sought  a  refuge  amongst  the  laccetani  or  Lace- 

«f  Auctor  de  Bell.  Hispan.  2!),  et  seq.  "  Auctnr  de   Bell.  Ilispan.  37,  38,  39. 

^  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  55.  Velleius  Paterculus,  ubi  supra. 

■">  Auctor  de  Bell.  Hispan.  33. 


322  DISTURBANCES  IN  SYRIA 

taiii/'  one  of  the  tribes  of  Hither  Spain,  who  lived  between  the 
Pyrenees  and  the  Ebro,  in  what  is  now  a  part  of  Navarre  and 
Arragon.  More  fortunate  than  his  brother,  Sex.  Pompeius  was 
enabled,  by  the  attachment  of  the  natives,  to  baffle  the  vigilance 
of  his  pursuers,  and  soon  to  commence  a  predatory  warfare, 
which  became  more  serious  after  Caesar's  departure  from  Spain, 
and  gradually  assumed  the  shape  of  an  organized  hostility.  But 
for  the  present  he  was  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  fugitive  ;  and 
Caesar  pursued  a  course  of  executions  and  confiscations  for  some 
The  whole  of  Spain  is  monlhs,^*^  till  hc  had  destroyed  every  appearance  of 
8lonf''an<i'Ws^"'re-  ^gular  opposltlou,  and  had  enriched  himself  and 
turns  to  Rome.  laigcly  rewarded  those  towns  or  tribes  which  had 
taken  part  with  him  in  the  late  contest.  The  arrangements  ne- 
cessary to  be  made  of  one  kind  or  another,  detained  him  in  Spain 
till  the  autumn,  so  that,  as  we  have  already  observed,  he  did  not 
return  to  Rome  till  the  month  of  October. 

There  was  one  other  part  of  the  empire  in  which  Caesar's  au- 
Distiirbancea  in  Syria  thorltv  was  Still  disputed,  uor  was  tranquillity  ever 

excited  hy  Q.  Caeciliua     /.,,       'xii-ii--^      3        •  i-        l-r*-  r\       i   • 

Baasus.  lully  established  m  it  durmg  his  liietmie.     On  his 

hasty  progress  from  Egypt  towards  Pontus,  when  he  was  preparing 
to  attack  Pharnaces,  he  had  conferred  the  comm.and  of  the  province 
of  Syria  upon  Sex.  Caesar,"  a  friend  and  connexion  of  his  own. 
At  this  time  there  was  a  Roman  knight  residing  at  Tyre,  of  the 
name  of  Q,.  Caecilius  Bassus,^^  who  had  served  in  Pompey's  army 
during  the  late  campaign,  and  after  the  battle  of  Pharsalia  had 
taken  refuge  in  Syria.  As  belonging  to  the  equestrian  order,  he 
was  likely  to  have  been  engaged  in  commerce,  and  he  probably 
had  some  friends  or  connexions  in  the  great  trading  town  of  Tyre, 
which  led  him  to  fix  on  that  place  as  his  asylum.  He  was  an 
active  and  enterprising  man,  and  when  reports  began  to  be  circu- 
lated that  Caesar  was  in  a  state  of  great  danger  and  difficulty  in 
Africa,^^  Bassus  thought  that  he  saw  a  favourable  opportunity  for 
reviving  the  cause  of  Pompey  in  the  east.  His  command  of 
money  enabled  him  easilv  to  raise  soldiers  in  these  times  of  gen- 
eral disorder,  and  also  to  corrupt  those  of  Sex.  Caesar,  as  ditferent 
detachments  were  successively  placed  in  garrison  at  Tyre  ;  we 
are  told  also,  that  when  his  military  preparations  became  so  no- 
torious as  to  excite  alarm,  he  satisfied  Sex.  Caesar  by  assuring . 
him  that  they  were  intended  only  to  assist  Mithridates  of  Perga- 
mus  in  taking  possession  of  his  kingdom  of  the  Bosphorus, .which 
Caesar  had  bestowed  on  him  as  a  reward  for  the  services  he  had 
rendered  him  in  his  Egyptian  campaign.^^     Suspicion  being  thus 

71  Strabo,  III.  170,  edit.  Xyland.    Dion         74  Dion  Cassius,  XLVII.  342.     Livy, 
Cassius,  XLV.   275.     Appian,   de   Bello     Epitome,  CXIV. 

Civili,  IV.  83,     Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XII.  75  Cicero,  pro  Deiotaro,  9.     Dion  Caa- 

epist.  XXXVI  t.  sius,  ubi  supra. 

72  Dion  Cassius,  XLTII.  233.  76  Auctor  de  Bell.  Alexand.  78. 

73  Auctor  de  Bello  Alexandrino,  66. 


EXCITED  BY  Q.  CiECILIUS  BASSUS.  333 

lulled  asleep  for  the  present,  Bassus  soon  afterwards  pretended  to 
have  received  letters  from  Scipio,  announcing  the  defeat  and  death 
of  Cgesar  in  Africa,  and  bestowing  011  himself  the  government  of 
Syria.  Accordingly,  by  virtue  of  this  imaginary  commission,  he 
took  possession  of  Tyre  ;  and  in  a  very  short  time  won  over  to  his 
side  the  whole  army  of  Sex.  Csesar,  whose  soldiers,  corrupted  bythe 
money  of  his  antagonist,  murdered  him,  and  then  deserted  to  Bas- 
sus. In  this  manner  a  private  individual,  with  no  other  means 
than  the  money  and  influence  which  he  had  acquired  by  his 
commercial  dealings,  became  master  of  an  army,  and  of  the  pro- 
vince of  Syria.  He  fixed  his  head-quarters  at  Apamea,''^  a  town 
of  remarkable  strength,  situated  on  a  hill  rising  out  of  a  level 
country,  and  protected  partly  by  the  river  Orontes,  which  flows 
almost  round  it,  and  partly  by  a  tract  of  marsh  or  stagnant  water, 
which  obstructs  the  approach  of  an  enemy.  It  commanded,  be- 
sides, the  resources  of  a  most  abundant  district,  which  had  long 
been  famous  for  its  wealth  and  fertility ;  and  there  were  several 
other  strong  fortresses  in  its  neighbourhood,  the  petty  chiefs  of 
which  were  induced  by  the  money,  or  by  the  credit  of  Bassus,  to 
support  him  in  his  enterprise.  We  are  told,  too,''^  that  the  chief  of 
one  ot  the  wandering  Arab  tribes,  inhabiting  the  desert  between 
Syria  and  the  Euphrates,  was  bribed  by  promises  of  high  pay  to 
himself  and  his  followers,  to  offer  his  services  to  the  same  cause  ; 
nor  did  Bassus  scruple  to  call  in  the  more  powerfid  succom*  of  the 
sovereigns  of  Parthia,  who  were  naturally  glad  to  foment  the  in- 
ternal quarrels  of  the  Romans,  and  who  once  or  twice  relieved 
Apamea  by  their  sudden  appearance,  when  Bassus  was  hard 
pressed  by  the  forces  employed  by  Casar  against  him.^'  Thus 
there  were  two  private  individuals  acting  a  conspicuous  part  in  two 
different  extremities  of  the  empire,  and  each  indebted  for  liis  po- 
litical importance  to  the  connexions  with  foreign  princes  which 
he  had  formed  in  the  course  of  his  commercial  dealings.  We 
have  already  noticed  the  services  rendered  to  Caesar  in  Africa  by 
P.  Sitius,  at  the  very  time  that  Q,.  Cascilins  Bassus  in  Syria  was 
organizing  an  opposition  against  him.  Other  more  important 
occupations  prevented  Caesar  from  employing  a  very  considerable 
force  to  put  him  down  ;  and  he  continued,  therefore,  to  retain 
possession  of  Apamea,  and  to  command  the  troops  which  had 
deserted  to  him  from  Sex.  Caesar,  till  C.  Cassius,  after  the  death 
of  Caesar,  became  the  head  of  the  party  of  the  commonwealth  in 
Asia,  when  the  superior  fame  and  rank  of  Cassius  induced  the 
soldiers  of  Bassus  to  commit  a  second  act  of  desertion,  to  abandon 
him,  and  put  themselves  under  the  command  of  Cassius." 

There  are  few  more  curious  historical  records,  than  that  which 

T7  Strabo,   XVI.    871.     Dion   Cassius,         ^9  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  IX. 
LXVII.  342.  80  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XII.  epist,  XII. 

*'  Dion  Cassiu3  and  Strabo,  locis  citatia. 


324      SKETCH  OP  THE  STATE  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  PROVINCES. 

Evelyn,  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  has  left  of  the  state  of  England  im- 
mediately after  the  great  civil  war.  He  gives  a  journal  of  an 
excursion  which  he  made  through  the  midland  and  northern 
counties  just  at  that  period  ;  and  draws  a  most  lively  picture  of 
the  state  of  the  country  and  of  the  towns,  and  of  the  marks  of 
havoc  and  confiscation  which  naturally  attended  the  decision  of 
so  obsfinate  a  contest.  But  when  we  would  strain  our  eyes  to 
discover  what  was  the  condition  of  the  Roman  empire  when  the 
sword  was  at  last  sheathed,  and  the  victory  of  Caesar  was  no 
longer  disputed,  we  are  obliged  to  turn  away  in  disappointment, 
and  can  only  indulge  a  vain  regret,  that  the  materials  for  obtain- 
ing a  really  valnable  knowledge  of  ancient  history  are  so  exceed- 
ingly scanty.  We  have  seen  that  Spain  and  Syria  were  even  yet 
disturbed  by  the  show  of  actual  warfare  ;  that  Sex.  Pompeius 
was  the  chief  of  a  formidable  band  of  plunderers  in  the  one 
country,  while  Q,.  Csecilius  Bassus  possessed  in  the  other  a  strong 
and  important  city,  and  the  command  of  a  Roman  legion.  Before 
we  return  to  Italy  itself,  we  wish  to  glean  a  few  facts  illustrative 
of  the  condition  of  the  other  provinces  of  the  empire,  and  to  de- 
scribe the  chaiacters  of  some  of  the  persons,  to  whose  care  Caesar 
had  conmiitted  them. 

The  countries  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Adriatic  and  the  lo- 
sketchofthe  state     uiau  sulf,  which  had  been  so  lately  the  principal 

of  the  different  Pro-  j.        c    j.i  •     •]  J     u       T» 

vinces.  seat  01  the  civil  war,  were  now  governed  by  P. 

Vatinius  and  Ser.  Sulpicius.  We  have  already  mentioned  the 
services  which  Vatinius  had  rendered  to  Caesar  in  Illyricum,  when 
he  succeeded  A.  Gabinins  in  the  management  of  the  war  in  that 
province,  and  obliged  M.  Octavius  to  abandon  the  contest  and 
withdraw  into  Africa.  He  had  been  rewarded  with  a  titular  con- 
sulship during  the  last  three  months  of  the  year 
yncura.  706,*'  and  was  afterwards  appointed  to  command 

the  province  of  Illyricum,  as  proconsul.  He  was  continually  oc- 
cupied in  reducing  the  strongholds  of  the  neighbouring  Dalma- 
tians,*^ who  had  taken  an  active  part  against  Cassar  throughout 
the  late  war ;  and  it  appears,  too,  that  some  Roman  officers,  who 
had  probably  taken  refuge  in  Illyricum  after  the  defeat  of  Pompey, 
vveie  carrying  on  a  plundering  and  desultory  warfare,  accompa- 
nied with  all  that  wanton  cruelty  which  usually  maiks  the  last 
vindictive  struggles  of  a  vanquished  party  in  a  civil  war.  Achaia, 
under  which  name  was  included  the  whole  of 
Achaia.  Greece  southward  of  Thermopylae,  was  at  this  same 

period  under  the  government  of  Ser.  Sulpicius.  Sulpicius,  the 
most  distinguished  lawyer  of  his  day,  had  been  one  of  those  who 
remained  in  Italy  when  Pompey  first  withdrew  into  Greece,  nor 
had  he  at  any  subsequent  time  been  induced  to  follow  him.     The 

8»  Dion  Cassius,LXII.  211.  •»  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  V.  epist.  X. 


ASIA. 


325 


neutrality  thus  observed  by  a  man  of  his  high  birth  and  character, 
was  too  grateful  to  Cassar  to  pass  unrewarded  ;  and  when  Q,.  Fu- 
fins  Calenus  returned  home  to  share  the  honours  of  the  consul- 
ship with  P.  Vatinius,  Cassar  fixed  upon  Sulpicius  as  the  most  fit 
person  to  succeed  him  in  the  governmeut  of  Greece.^'  Such  a 
task  was  probably  not  an  easy  one :  there  were  several  distin- 
guished persons  who  had  been  involved  in  the  defeat  of  Pompey,'* 
and  who  were  now  liviug  in  Greece  in  exile  ;  many  again  of  the 
Greeks  themselves  had  been  forward  in  opposing  CaDsar,^^  and 
were  to  pay  the  penalty  of  their  conduct  by  the  forfeiture  of  their 
properties  ;  while  the  adherents  of  the  victorious  party  could  not, 
at  once,  lay  aside  the  license  to  which  the  war  had  accustomed 
them,  and  still  indulged  themselv^es  in  frequent  acts  of  lawless 
violence,^^  which  it  might  not  be  safe  or  practicable  for  Sulpicius 
to  punish.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  his  professional  attachment  to  the 
laws,  and  his  moderate  character,  disposed  him  to  alleviate,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  sufferings  of  the  people  whom  he  governed  ; 
and  the  state  of  Greece  was,  perhaps,  enviable,  when  compared 
with  that  of  some  of  the  other  provinces  of  the  empire. 

Of  the  condition  of  Asia,  little  appears  to  be  known,  except 
that  the  province,  called  by  that  name,  was  now 
under  the  government  of  P.  Servilius  Isauricus,^^  ■*"'" 

who  had  been  Caesar's  colleague  in  the  consulship  in  the  year 
705,  and  whom  Cicero  compliments  on  his  beneficent  and  equita- 
ble administration.  Deiotarus,^^  king  of  Galatia,  who  had  former- 
ly assisted  Pompey  in  the  civil  war,  but  after  the  battle  of  Phar- 
salia  had  endeavoured  to  appease  Caesar's  anger  by  his  active  ser- 
vices in  the  war  with  Pharnaces,  was  about  this  time  accused,  by 
his  own  grandson,  of  having  intended  to  assassinate  Caesar,  when 
passing  through  Asia  Minor  two  years  before,  on  his  return  from 
Egypt.  Although  he  had  been  acknowledged  as  an  independent 
sovereign  by  Caesar  himself,  yet  Deiotarus  was  obliged  to  apply 
to  Cicero,  with  whom  he  had  long  been  familiarly  acquainted,  to 
defend  him  against  this  charge,  and  the  cause  was  tried  by  Caesar 
in  his  own  house.  It  appears  that  nothing  was  determined  im- 
mediately;  and  as  Caesar  was  forming  plans  for  an  expedition 
into  Parthia,  he  may  have  deferred  his  judgment  on  Deiotarus  till 
he  should  be  himself  in  Asia,  and  should  be  able  to  ascertain  more 
fully  what  decision  would  be  most  conducive  to  his  own  interests. 

Caesar's  late  conquests  in  Africa  had  been  intrusted  (as  we 

"  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  IV.  epist.  III.  ss  Magna  est   gladiorum  licentia  :  eed 

IV. ;  VI.  epist.  VI.  in  externis  locis  minor  etiam    ad  facinus 

84  For  instance,  M.  Marcellus,  A.  Tor-  verecundia.      Cicero,  ad  Familiares,    IV. 
quatu,",  Cn.   Plancius.     Vid.  Ciceron.  ad  epist.  IX. 

Familiares,  IV.  epist.  VII.  XIV.;  VI.  87  Cicero,  ad  Familiares.  Xfll.  epist. 
epist.  I.  LXVIII. 

85  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XIII.  epist.         88  Cicero,  pro  Deiotaro. 
XIX. 


3^25  CiESAR'S  TRIUMPHS. 

have  already  mentioned)  to  the  command  of  C. 
^^"'^'  SaUuslius  Crispiis  the  historian.^'     His  oppressions 

and  extortions  are  said  to  have  heen  carried  to  such  a  pitch,  that 
he  was  more  hke  a  pkmderer  than  a  proconsul ;  and  the  unfor- 
tunate inhabitants,  finding  the  miseries  of  war  succeeded  by  the 
tyranny  of  such  a  government,  must  have  been  amongst  the  most 
wretched  of  all  the  subjects  of  the  Roman  empire. 

The  return  of  Caisar  from  Africa,  in  the  end  of  July,  707, 

was  almost  immediately  followed  by  his  triumphs, 
ctesar  3  triumphs.  ^yj^jch  hc  uow  Celebrated  in  commemoration  of  his 
various  successes  in  Gaul,^"  in  Egypt,  in  Pontus,  and  in  Africa, 
Each  of  these  pageants  occupied  a  separate  day,  and  there  was 
an  interval  of  some  days  between  them,  that  the  interest  of  the 
people  might  be  kept  alive,  and  that  each  might  pass  oft'  without 
weariness.  In  the  first  triumph,  Vercingetorix,'^  who  had  been 
made  prisoner  at  the  famous  siege  of  Alesia  six  years  before,  was 
led  amongst  the  captiv^es  in  the  procession,  and  was  immediately 
afterwards  put  to  d(!ath.  It  is  mentioned  that  an  accident  happen- 
ed to  Caesar's  triumphal  chariot  on  this  occasion,  by  which  he 
was  nearly  thrown  out  of  it ;  and  so  natural  is  superstition,  even 
to  men  of  the  greatest  natural  abilities,  if  unenlightened  by  the 
knowledge  of  God,  that  he  was  accustomed,'^  ever  afterwards,  as 
soon  as  he  had  seated  himself  in  any  carriage,  to  repeat  a  certain 
form  of  words  three  times  over,  by  way  of  a  charm  for  the  security 
of  his  journey.  The  ii^jury  which  the  chariot  had  sustained, 
rendered  it  necessary  that  another  should  be  substititted  for  it ; 
and  the  procession  was  so  long  delayed,  that  it  was  dark  before 
the  final  ceremony  of  ascending  into  the  capitol  could  take  place. 
But  the  spectacle  lost  nothing  by  this  circumstance ;  for  we  are 
told  that  forty  elephants  were  ranged  in  order  on  both  sides  of  the 
way,^^  suppoiting,  in  their  trunks,  a  number  of  candelabra  filled 
with  lights.  It  st'cms,  however,  that  the  accident  of  the  morning 
had  produced  a  strong  impression  on  Caesar's  mind  ;  and  that, 
with  the  feeling  so  common  in  ancient  times  of  wishing  by  a 
voluntary  humiliation  to  disarm  the  envy  with  which  the  gods 
were  supposed  to  regard  excessive  prosperity,  he  climbed,  or  rather 
crawled,  up  the  steps  leading  to  the  capitol  upon  his  knees.'^  In 
his  Egyptian  triumph,  Arsinoe,  the  younger  sister  of  Cleopatra, 
appeared  amongst  the  prisoners,  and  excited  a  general  feeling  of 
compassion,  which,  together  with  Cajsar's  fondness  for  her  sister, 
saved  her  from  sharing  the  fate  of  Vercingetorix.  The  triumph 
over  Pharnaces   was  rendered  remarkable  by  the  display  of  a 

89  Auctor  de  Bello  Africano,  97.    Dion  9i  Dion  Capsius,  XLIII.  223. 

Cassius.  XLlir.  217.  S2  PHny,  Hist   Natural.  XXVIII.  2. 

so  Livy,  epitome,  CXV.     Suetonius,  in  '^  Suetonius,  37. 

Cffisare,  37.  "  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII.  224. 


LARGESSES  TO  THE  POPULACE.  327 

banner,  with  the  famous  words  "  Veni,  Vidi,  Vici  i"^^  and  we  may- 
imagine  that  Caesar  delighted  in  representing  his  victory  over  the 
king  of  Pontus  as  so  easily  won,  in  order  to  depreciate  Pompey's 
glory  as  the  conqueror  of  Mithridates.  In  his  African  triumph, 
Juba,  the  son  of  thie  late  king  of  Mauritania,^^  was  the  most  dis- 
tinguished prisoner ;  but  his  life  was  spared,  and  he  afterwards 
became  an  historian  of  considerable  eminence,  and  recovered  his 
hereditary  throne,  with  an  accession  of  territory,  from  the  favour  of 
Augustus.  The  civil  wars,  according  to  the  constant  practice  of 
the  Romans,  could  not  be  the  subject  of  a  regular  triumph  ;  but, 
if  we  may  believe  Appian,^^  pictures  were  exhibited  in  the  pro- 
cession representing  the  deaths  of  Scipio,  Petreius,  and  Cato, 
although  their  names  were  not  mentioned  in  the  list  of  conquered 
enemies,  which,  as  usual,  was  displayed  to  the  people  as  a  part  of 
the  ceremony.  Indignation  was  naturally  excited  by  this  indirect 
glorying  at  the  deaths  of  some  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens 
of  the  commonwealth  ;  but  the  splendour  of  the  pageant  drove 
all  other  considerations,  we  are  told,  from  the  eyes  of  the  multi- 
tude ;'^  and  when  they  were  informed  that  Csesar  had  brought 
into  the  treasury,  as  the  fruit  of  his  conquests,  a  sum  exceeding 
4,843,750Z.  of  our  money,^^  few  would  be  disposed  to  estimate 
justly  the  immense  price  of  wickedness  and  misery  at  which  this 
plunder  had  been  purchased. 

His  triumphs  were  followed  by  various  largesses  of  provisions 
and  money  to  the  populace,  and  by  a  succession    Largesses  to  the  po- 

/•         1         T  J  i       1  1   •    1  1  II  pulaceandto  thesol- 

01  splendid  spectacles,  which  were  perhaps  equally  diers. 
effectual  in  winning  the  affections  of  the  multitude.  Magnificent 
public  entertainments  were  given,  and  the  people  were  feasted,  we 
are  told,  at  two  and  twenty  thousand  tables  ;""'  besides  which 
every  one  of  the  poorer  citizens  received  a  certain  portion  of  meat,^" 
about  two  bushels  and  a  half  of  corn,  ten  pounds  of  oil,  and  3/. 
45.  7d.  in  money.  A  year's  rent,^"'^  or  possibly  a  year's  house-tax, 
was  also  remitted  to  every  person  in  Rome  who  paid  for  his  dwell- 
ing less  than  16/.  2^.  lie/.,  and  to  every  one  in  Italy  who  paid  less 
than  4/.  O5.  8f  fZ. ;  or  possibly  the  remission  to  the  Italians  was 
now  given  in  addition  to  that  which  Csesar  had  already  given  to 
the  Romans,  according  to  Dion  Cassius,  before  he  set  out  for  Africa, 
in  the  preceding  winter. ^"^     But  it  is  said  that  he  somewhat  less- 

95  Suetonius,  ia  Caesare,  37.  ■  i°2  Suetonius,    in   Caesare,  38.      Dion 

96  Plutarch,  in    Caesare,  55.      Strabo,     Cassius,  XLIL  209. 

XVIL  959.  'OS  It  is  not  quite  clear  what  was  the  na- 

ST  De  Bello  Civili,  IL   lOL  ture  of  the  payment  which  Caesar  remitted 

93  Dion  Cassius,  XLIIL  223.  on  this  occasion.     To  have  deprived  all 

^9  Velleius  Paterculus,  IL  landlords  of  a  year's  rent  seems  a  measure 

^^  Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  55.  more  violently  iniquitous  than  Caesar  was 
101  «  Visceratio,"    Conf.  Suetonium,  in     likely  to   have   sanctioned  ;  especially  as 

Caesare,  38.  he,  or  his  partisan,   represents   this  very 


22 


same   thing   as  one  of  the   raiachievous 


328  LARGESSES  TO  THE  SOLDIERS. 

ened  the  effects  of  these  Hberahties  hy  a  previous  scrutiny  and 
reduction  of  the  number  of  citizeiis  who  were  to  profit  by  them  ;  for 
finding  that  the  list  of  paupers  at  Rome/"^  or  of  persons  receiving 
relief  from  the  distributions  of  corn  issued  at  the  public  expense, 
amounted  to  three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  he  caused  this 
accoimt  to  be  rigorously  examined,  and  diminished  it  by  about 
one-half:  providing  moreover  by  a  law,  that  no  new  claimants  on 
the  public  bounty  should  be  admitted,  unless  when  vacancies  in 
the  number  now  established  should  be  occasioned  by  death.  To 
his  soldiers  he  gave  at  the  rate  of  161/.  9^.  2d.  to  each  of  the  com- 
mon men ;  322/.  I85.  4rf.  to  the  centurions ;  and  645/.  16,s.  8c?.  to 
the  military  tribunes.'"^  The  cavalry  are  said  to  have  received 
at  the  rate  of  193/.  15^.  a  man.  In  addition  to  these  presents  in 
money,  settlements  in  land  were  given  to  the  army  ;  yet  we  are 
told  that  the  soldiers  were  dissatisfied  with  the  rewards  conferred 
on  them  j^"^  and  something  of  real  bitterness  mingled  perhaps  with 
the  wild  license  of  the  moment,  when,  as  they  followed  their 
leader  in  his  triumphal  procession,  they  sang  doggerel  verses  at- 
tacking the  infamous  profligacy  of  his  youth,  reproached  him 
with  their  miserable  fare  of  roots  at  Dyrrhachium,  and  parodying 
the  sentiment  of  the  Stoics,  told  him  that  if  he  acted  honestly  he 
would  be  condemned  for  his  treason,  but  if  he  played  the  villain 
he  might  win  the  throne.  Already,  too,  they  assiuued  so  much 
of  the  self-importance  of  the  guards  of  a  military  despot,  that 
they  murmured  loudly  against  the  extravagance  of  Csesar's  spec- 
tacles ;  and  if  we  may  believe  Dion  Cassius,  they  actually  showed 
symptoms  of  mutiny,  which  were  only  suppressed  by  the  vigour 
of  their  chief,  in  seizing  one  of  them  with  his  own  hand,  and 
ordering  him  to  be  executed  immediately.  Yet  wiser  and  better 
citizens  might  have  joined  them  in  condemning  the  profusion  of 

proposals  of  M.  Caelius  in  his  praetorship,  but  he  does  not  say  whether  this  was 
brought  forward  by  him  at  the  same  time  an  act  of  the  eovernment,  or  an  arrange- 
with  a  law  for  the  general  abolition  of  all  ment  generally  made  between  the  land- 
debts,  which  exposed  him  to  the  censures  lords  and  their  tenants,  in  consideration  of 
of  those  persons  to  whom  Ceesar  had  in-  the  temporary  distress  of  the  latter.  Dion 
trusted  the  administration  of  the  capital.  Cassius,  XLVIIL  362. 
Possibly  it  was  a  remission  of  all  rents  due  1"^  Suetonius,  41.  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII. 
to  the  government,  which  may  have  been  224. 

the  proprietor  of  a  large  portion  of  the  i^s  Appian,  de  Bello  Civili,  IL  102. 
land  occupied  by  buildings  in  Rome,  as  The  sum  here  stated  appears  enormous  ; 
well  as  in  many  other  towns  in  Italy,  yet  a  natural  correction  of  the  text  of  Sue- 
Dion  Cassius  says,  that  in  consequence  of  tonius,  which  in  its  present  state  is  clearly 
the  repeated  conflicts  which  took  place  corrupt,  makes  his  testimony  exactly  con- 
between  the  soldiers  of  Octavius  Caesar  firm  that  of  Appian  ;  and  all  parts  of  the 
and  the  citizens,  both  in  Rome  and  in  empire  had  been  plundered  to  furnish 
the  other  towns  of  Italy,  after  the  Caesar  with  the  means  of  enriching  his 
battle    of    Philippi,    in     the    course     of  soldiery. 

which  a  great  many  houses  were  burnt,  ™  Pliny,  XIX.  8.  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII. 

there  was  granted  also  a  remission  of  rent  224.  226.     Suetonius,  in  Cffisare,  49.  51. 
both  in  the  capital  and  in  the  country  towns ; 


SHOWS  OP  VARIOUS  KINDS  EXHIBITED  TO  THE  PEOPLE.       339 

the  entertainments  now  given  to  the  multitude,  and  might  have 
recognized  the  invariable  policy  of  tyrants,  in  the  conduct  of  Caesar, ' 
thus  pampering  the  populace  with  shows  and  feast-       shows  of  various 

^i-|,"  ■'ij-  1  tU  kinds  exhibited  to 

ings,  while  he  was  plundermg  and  oppressmg  the       the  people. 
rich,  the  respectable,  and  the  industrious.     He  had  built  a  forum, 
or  great  square,  which  was  called  after  his  own  name,  an  amphi- 
theatre, and  a  temple  in  honour  of  Venus,  giving  her  the  epithet 
of"  Ge7iitrix"  or  "  the  Ancestress,"  in  allusion  to  the  fabled  descent 
of  the  Julian  family  from  lulus,  the  son  of  iEneas.     These  vari- 
ous buildings  were  now  to  be  opened,  or  consecrated ;  and  this, 
together  with  the  pretence  of  paying  honours  to  the  memory  of 
his  daughter  Julia, '"^  who  had  died  about  eight  years  before, 
furnished  him  with  an  occasion  of  gratifying  the  favourite  taste  of 
the  multitude  to  the  utmost.     Dramatic  entertain-     Dramatic  entertain- 
ments were  exhibited  in  all  the  different  quarters     °"^"'''- 
of  the  city/"*  and  were  performed  in  several  different  languages, 
for  the  amusement  of  the  numerous  strangers  assembled  in  the 
capital  from  all  parts  of  the  empire.     It  was  in  one  of  these  per- 
formances that  Dec.  Laberius,  a  Roman  knight,  and  well  known 
as  a  writer  of  farces,  was  forced  at  Caesars's  request  to  appear  as 
an  actor  on  the  stage  in  one  of  his  own  plays  ;  and  having  thus 
forfeited  his  rank  by  becoming  one  of  a  profession  which  the 
Romans  considered  infamous,  he  recovered  it  again  from  Cassar  as 
a  reward  for  his  condescension,  and  received  besides  a  large  present 
in  money.     But  the  dramatic  spectacles  were  little  regarded  in 
comparison  with  the  sports  of  the  circus,  and  the    sports  of  the  amphi- 
amphitheatre,  the  combats  of  gladiators,  and  the    "i^atre. 
exhibition  of  the  naumachia.     The  hunting  of  different  animals 
was  continued  during  five  days  ;  and  it  is  said  that  the  camelopard, 
or  giraffe,  was  on  this  occasion  for  the  first  time  exhibited  at 
Rome.'°^     On  the  last  day  a  regular  engagement  took  place,  in 
which  twenty  elephants,  thirty  horsemen,  and  five  hundred  foot- 
soldiers  fought  on  each  side ;  and  at  another  time  twenty  ele- 
phants,^'" mounted  with  their  turrets,  and  assisted  by  sixty  light- 
armed  soldiers,  were  opposed  to  five  hundred  infantry  and  twenty 
horsemen.      The  combats  of  gladiators  were  also 

^1  1       .  1  I    -r  IT  CI  Combats  of  gladiators. 

on  the  grandest  scale  ;  and  11  we  may  believe  oue- 
tonius,  Furius  Leptinus,  a  man  whose  father  had  been  praetor, 
and  Q,.  Calpenus,  a  senator,  fought  in  these  contests  amongst 
the  hundreds  of  prisoners  taken  in  war,  or  criminals  condemned 
to  die,  who  in  general  were  the  combatants.  In  like  manner,  the 
martial  exercise,  called  the  Pyrrhic  dance,  was  performed  by  the 
sons  of  men  of  the  highest  rank  in  the  provinces  of  Asia  and 
Bithynia ;  and  many  of  the  young  Roman  nobility  appeared  as 

wt  Plutarch,.inC2esare,55.     DionCas-         ^"^  Dion  Cassius,  ubi  supra. 
8ius,  XLIII.  225.  ""  Pliny,  VIII.  7. 

los  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  39. 


330  POWERS  AND  HONOURS  BESTOWED  ON  CAESAR. 

Naumachia,  or  drivcrs  of  chariots  in  the  races  of  the  circus.     But 

sea-fight.  tjjg  naumachia,  or  seat-fight,  excited  greater-admi- 

ration  than  even  the  combats  of  the  gladiators  or  of  the  elephants. 
An  immense  pond  or  lake  was  dug  near  the  Tiber,  and  having 
been  filled  with  water,  ships  of  war,  of  different  sizes,  of  which 
some  are  said  to  have  been  quadriremes,  or  vessels  with  four  rows 
of  oars,  were  introduced  upon  it.  Two  fleets  were  formed,  one 
consisting  of  Egyptians,  and  the  other  of  Tyrians  ;  and  it  is  said 
that  there  were  on  board  of  each  two  thousand  rowers,'"  and  one 
thousand  fighting  men,  who  engaged  with  one  another,  and  dis- 
played all  the  horrors  of  real  warfare.  Even  the  habitual  inhu- 
manity of  the  Romans  \Vas  shocked,  we  are  told,  in  some  measure, 
by  this  enormous  and  wanton  effiision  of  blood  j"^  yet  they  were 
much  more  shocked,  it  is  added,  at  the  thought  of  the  vast  sums 
of  money  which  were  thus  prodigally  expended.  Amongst  other 
instances  of  magnificence  it  is  mentioned,  that  the  whole  forum 
in  which  the  gladiators  fought,  together  with  the  whole  length  of 
the  Via  Sacra,  was  covered  over  with  awnings  to  protect  the 
spectators  from  the  sun  ;''^  and  some  accounts  which  Dion  Cassius 
had  seen,  added  the  incredible  circumstance  that  these  awnings 
were  made  of  silk.  Yet,  however  justly  there  might  have  existed 
a  partial  and  temporary  feeling  of  indignation  or  disgust  at  so 
much  prodigality  and  cruelty,  the  entertainments  were  altogether 
so  attractive,  that  the  multitudes  which  flocked  to  Rome  to  wit- 
ness them  were  obliged  to  live  in  booths  or  tents,  with  which  they 
lined  the  roads  near  the  capital,  as  well  as  the  principal  streets  ;"^ 
and  many  lives  were  continually  lost  from  the  pressure  of  the 
crowd,  two  senators,  it  is  said,  perishing  amongst  the  rest  in  this 
manner.  One  circumstance  yet  remains  to  be  told,  in  order  to 
complete  the  picture  of  these  festivities.  For  some  cause,  which 
Human  sacrifiws      Diou  Cassius  could  not  Icam,  human  sacrifices  were 

oftered  in  the  Cam-         •      i         i    ^        i  -i  t        i       ^ 

pusMartius.  judged  to  bc  necessary,  and  accordmgly  two  men 

were  offered  up  in  the  Campus  Martins,  by  the  pontifices  and  the 
priest  of  Mars."^  Such  were  the  scenes  exhibited  in  the  capital 
of  the  civilized  world,  under  the  express  direction  of  the  sovereign 
of  the  empire,  himself  a  man  of  the  highest  and  most  cultivated 
intellect  in  his  dominions. 

We  have  called  Caesar  the  sovereign  of  the  empire,  for,  inde- 
powers  and  honours  peudcutly  of  that  actual  power  which  his  sword 
bestowed  on  Caesar.  j^g^(j  confcrrcd  ou  him,  the  senate,  since  the  tidings 
of  his  successes  in  Africa,  had  showered  upon  him  all  the  digni- 
ties and  offices  of  the  commonwealth.  He  had  been  appointed 
dictator  for  ten  years,"®  and  Prcefectus  Moi'um,  or  superintend- 
in  Appian,  de  Bello  Civili,  II.  102.  "s  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII.  226. 

112  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII.  225,  226.  "«  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII.  220.     Cicero, 

113  Pliny,  XIX.  1.  ad  Familiares,  IX.  epist.  XV. 
i»  Suetonius,  39. 


AIM  OF  SYLLA'S  POLICY.  33 1 

ent  of  public  manners  and  morals,  with  the  whole  vast  authority 
formerly  enjoyed  by  the  censors,  for  three  years.  He  was  to 
nominate  the  other  magistrates,  who  were  before  elected  by  the 
people,  although  it  appears  that  he  did  not  avail  himself  of  this 
power  to  its  full  extent,  but  with  the  exception  of  the  consuls, 
allowed  all  other  public  officers  to  be  appointed  half  by  the  tribes, 
as  usual,  and  half  by  himself"'  He  was  allowed  to  have  his 
curule  chair  in  the  senate  placed  on  a  level  with  those  of  the  con- 
suls, and  he  was  entitled  to  deliver  his  opinion  before  every  other 
person  in  the  debates.  To  all  these  were  added  some  of  those 
profane  and  disgraceful  flatteries"^  which  were  afterwards  so 
commonly  bestowed  on  the  Roman  emperors.  His  statue,  raised 
upon  a  figure  representing  the  earth,  was  placed  in  the  capitol 
opposite  to  the  statue  of  Jupiter,  and  on  it  was  the  inscription, 
"  He  is  a  demigod."  Other  divine  honours  were  voted  to  him, 
either  now,  or  after  his  return  from  the  campaign  against  the  sons 
of  Pompey,  in  Spain.  His  statues  were  carried,  together  with 
those  of  the  gods,  in  the  processions  of  the  circus,  temples  and 
altars  were  dedicated  to  him,  and  priests  were  appointed  to  super- 
intend his  worship.  These  things  he  received  with  a  vanity 
which  affords  a  striking  contrast  to  the  contemptuous  pride  of 
Sylla.  Cgesar  took  a  pleasure  in  receiving  every  token  of  homage, 
and  in  contemplating  with  childish  delight  the  gaudy  honours 
with  which  he  was  invested.  It  was  a  part  of  the  prize  which 
he  had  coveted,  and  which  he  had  committed  so  many  crimes  to 
gain ;  nor  did  the  possession  of  real  power  seem  to  give  him 
greater  delight  than  the  enjoyment  of  these  forced,  and  therefore 
worthless,  flatteries. 

When  Sylla  had  raised  himself  to  the  supreme  power,  there 
was  a  definite  object  before  him  which  he  never  lost  sight  of — 
the  depression  of  the  popular  party,  and  the  strengthening  the 
aristocracy ;  and  when  he  had  accomplished  these  ends  he  laid 
aside  his  individual  sovereignty,  and  took  his  station  as  the  chief 
of  that  part  of  the  commonwealth  on  which  he  had  conferred  an 
absolute  ascendency.  But  Caesar's  policy  was  entirely  selfish  : 
he  could  not  pretend  to  act  for  the  benefit  of  the  aristocracy,  or  of 
the  lower  orders.  There  were  no  grievances  in  the  old  constitu- 
tion which  could  be  redressed  only  by  his  despotism  ;  there  had 
been  no  offence  committed  by  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome 
which  deserved  that  tbeir  liberties  should  be  surrendered  into  the 
hands  of  one  profligate  individual.  Those  therefore  who  draw 
comparisons  between  Sylla's  proscriptions  and  Caesar's  clemency, 
forget  the  utterly  different  circumstances  in  which  the  two  dicta- 
tors were  placed.  Wicked  as  Sylla's  cruelties  were,  they  were  a 
retaliation  for  former  atrocities,  or  a  security  for  the  establishment 

I"  Suetonius,  41.  "s  Djon  Cas3lus,41.     Suetonius,  76. 


332  DISTRIBUTION  OP  LANDS  TO  CESAR'S  SOLDIERS. 

of  the  interests  of  the  high  aristocratical  party  at  Rome.  The 
Samriites  were  butchered  to  maintain  the  ascendency  of  the  Ro- 
mans over  the  ItaUan  aUies ;  the  proscription  lists  were  opened 
to  exterminate,  if  possible,  the  adherents  of  the  popular  faction, 
who  had  abetted  the  violences  of  Sulpicius  and  Cinna,  and  had 
so  lately  trampled  the  nobility  under  their  feet.  But  after  the 
deaths  of  Pompey,  of  Scipio,  of  L.  Domitius,  of  M.  Bibulus,  of  L. 
Lentulus,  of  M.  Cato,  and  of  all  the  most  eminent  citizens  of  the 
commonwealth,  whom  could  Csesar  wish  to  proscribe  ?  His  own 
wrongs,  even  if  we  were  to  admit  his  own  statement,  had  been 
abundantly  revenged  already ;  the  security  of  his  government 
could  not  be  insured  by  massacres,  when  every  one  seemed  ready 
to  submit  to  his  power ;  and  if  he  had  wished  to  get  rid  of  all 
those  whose  interests  were  incompatible  with  his  own ,  he  must 
have  destroyed  every  free  citizen  in  the  empire.  Caesar's  policy 
was  to  draw  a  veil  over  the  past,  as  far  as  possible  ;  to  conciliate, 
by  an  apparent  clemency,  those  whom  he  held  in  subjection  ;  and 
to  invest  himself,  as  early  as  he  could,  with  all  the  splendour  and 
popularity  which  attend  a  prince  of  commanding  abilities  ruling 
over  a  great  empire.  Had  he  but  retained  a  small  military  force 
about  his  person,  to  save  him  from  the  danger  of  assassination, 
there  was  no  probability  that  his  power  would  ever  have  been  dis- 
turbed by  any  national  resistance  ;  he  might  have  died,  like  Au- 
gustus, in  a  peaceful  old  age,  quietly  enjoying  the  imperial  crown, 
and  might  have  transmitted  his  dominions  to  his  successor,  with- 
out the  intervention  of  that  period  of  misery  which  elapsed,  be- 
tween his  murder  and  the  final  exaltation  of  his  nephew  Octa- 
vius,  after  the  battle  of  Actium. 

One  of  the  most  necessary  measures  for  the  security  of 
Distribution  of  lands  CsBsar's  govcmment,  was  the  granting  settlements 
to  Caesar's  soid.ers.  ^f  lands  to  hls  victorlous  soldlers.  He  did  not  wish 
to  plant  them  all  together  in  any  one  part  of  Italy  ;"*  partly  that  by 
being  dispersed  into  different  quarters  they  might  be  less  likely  to 
remember  their  own  power,  and  attempt  to  overthrow  the  throne 
which  they  had  raised  ;  and  partly  in  order  to  avoid  the  odium  of 
expelling  a  large  body  of  the  lawful  occupants  of  the  soil  in  order 
to  make  room  for  them.  It  was  professed  that  for  this  purpose 
Csesar  could  find  land  enough  amongst  the  forfeited  estates  of  the 
adherents  of  Pompey,  or  in  those  parts  of  Italy  and  Cisalpine 
Gaul  which  were  the  property  of  the  commonwealth.  But  it  ap- 
pears that  the  commissioners  whom  he  appointed  to  manage  this 
business,  might  extend,  with  little  control,  the  limits  of  what 
they  chose  to  call  national  or  confiscated  lands  ;  and  thus  we  find 
them  dividing  out  the  districts  of  Veii  and  Capena  ;'""  threatening 

11^  Suetonius,  38.    Dion  Cassius,  XLII.         '20  Cicero,  ad    Familiares,  IX.    epist. 
210.     Appian,  II.  94.  XVII. 


PURCHASES  OF  FORFEITED  PROPERTY.         333 

the  neighbourhood  of  Tusculum,  so  that  Cicero  entertained  some 
fears  for  the  safety  of  his  own  villa;  seizing  on  the  estates  in  Cis- 
alpine Gaul,*"  which  belonged  to  the  corporation  of  the  town  of 
Atella,  in  Campania  ;  claiming  the  whole  territory  of  Volaterrse,"''' 
because  Sylla  had  decreed  its  confiscation,  although  it  had  since 
been  protected  by  an  especial  law  passed  by  Caesar  himself  in  his 
first  consulship  ;  and  by  a  still  more  striking  instance  of  arbitrary 
power,  marking  out  for  distribution  a  property  which  had  already 
been  sold  by  public  auction  under  Caesar's  authority,'"  as  belong- 
ing to  an  adherent  of  Pompey ;  and  had  been  purchased  by  C. 
Albinus,  a  senator,  in  the  natural  confidence  that  Caesar  would 
cause  the  validity  of  such  sales  to  be  religiously  observed,  inas- 
much as  his  own  credit  and  interest  were  concerned  in  maintain- 
ing his  own  acts.  But  in  this  manner,  at  whatever  expense  of 
individual  oppression  and  misery,  the  veterans  were  provided  for ; 
and  the  favour  of  the  army  was  conciliated  towards  a  chief, 
whose  sole  dependence  was  on  their  support,  and  who  had  shown 
himself  ready  to  repay  their  services  with  the  rewards  which 
they  most  coveted. 

It  is  not  possible  to  estimate  the  amount  of  property  forfeited 
in  different  parts  of  the  empire,  on  account  of  the  Purchases  of  forfeited 
support  given  by  its  owners  to  the  party  of  Pompey.  adSnts!'^  Ciesar-a 
At  Rome  the  sales  of  houses  and  lands  were  constantly  going  on, 
and  as  it  was  naturally  considered  odious  to  become  a  purchaser,'^* 
monied  men  of  low  character,  and  some  of  Caesar's  partisans,  who 
cared  not  for  public  opinion,  were  able  to  buy  splendid  posses- 
sions at  a  very  low  price.  It  is  said  that  M.  Antonius,'^^  having 
thus  bought  the  house  which  had  belonged  to  Pompey,  was  very 
unwilling  to  pay  the  price  of  it ;  presuming  that  his  services  to 
Caesar  entitled  him  to  share  in  his  spoils  gratuitously.  But  Caesar, 
on  his  return  from  Africa,  insisted  absolutely  on  the  payment 
being  made ;  and  when  Antonius  still  demurred,  he  ordered  a 
military  guard  to  take  possession  of  his  property.  It  was  now 
time  to  give  up  the  plea  of  right,  and  to  appeal  to  Ceesar's  forbear- 
ance, that  he  would  not  press  for  immediate  payment ;  and  Caesar, 
whose  main  objection  was  to  the  principle  on  which  Antonius  had 
before  refused  to  pay, having  no  wish  to  distress  so  useful  an  adher- 
ent, readily  allowed  him  a  longer  time  to  discharge  his  debt.  It 
does  not  appear  that  it  was  ever  paid ;  for  the  profligacy  of  Anto- 
nius kept  him  always  poor,  and  Caesar  did  not  wish  to  exasperate 
him,  and  to  run  the  risk  of  offending  a  large  party  among  his 
principal  officers,  by  seeming  to  grudge  them  any  portion  of  the 
fruits  of  his  usurpation.     We  are  told  that,  whilst  Caesar  was  in 

121  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XIII.  epist.         123  Cicero,  ad   Familiares,  XIII.  epist, 
VII.  VIII. 

122  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XIII.  epist.         124  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XII.  epist.  III. 
IV.  125  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  29. 


334  LIVES  OF  CiESAR'S  PRINCIPAL  ADHERENTS. 

Spain, '=2^  Antonius  proceeded  as  far  Narbo,  in  Gaul,  to  join  hiray 
but  went  no  further ;  and  after  staying  there  some  time  returned 
to  RojQie,  in  order  to  prevent  the  sale  of  his  property,  with  which 
he  was  at  that  period  threatened  for  his  insolvency.  During  his 
stay  at  Narbo,*'^''  he  is  said  to  have  communicated  with  C.  Tre- 
bonius  some  design  against  Caesar's  life  ;  and  it  was  owing  to  this 
circumstance  that  Trebonius  afterwards  led  him  aside  out  of  the 
senate  house,  when  Csesar  was  assassinated,  supposing  that  he, 
who  had  once  himself  proposed  the  very  same  deed,  would  feel  no 
regret  when  it  was  carried  into  execution.  But  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  some  among  the  conspirators  were  actuated  by  the  same  mo- 
tives which  had  led  Antonius  to  contemplate  the  murder  of  Csesar  j 
and  that  it  was  the  creditor  rather  than  the  tyrant  whom  they 
wished  to  destroy.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  friends  of  Csssar  seized 
largely  upon  the  spoils  of  the  defenders  of  the  commonwealth  ; 
and  although  in  many  instances  the  property  thus  gained  was 
speedily  dissipated,  yet  the  scandal  and  the  suffering  occasioned 
by  these  proceedings  was  great  and  deplorable. 

We  shall  take  this  opportunity  of  noticing  some  of  those  per- 
sketch  of  the  lives  of  sons  wlio  had  bceu  Cgesars  principal  supporters  in 

Csesar's  principal  ad-     .,  •     m  i  t_  •       j     t,       i_  • 

herents.  the  civil  War,  aud  who  were  now  raised   by  his 

victory  to  the  highest  situations  in  the  commonwealth.     Of  all 
these,  M.   Antonius  was  the  most  distinguished. 
.AntomuB.  jj^  j^^^  bceu,  uecessarily,  often  mentioned  already 

in  the  course  of  this  history  ;  and  we  have  seen  that  his  flight 
from  Rome  during  his  tribuneship,  furnished  Caesar  with  a  pre- 
tence for  commencing  his  rebellion  in  the  year  704 ;  that  he  was 
afterwards  intrusted  with  the  government  of  Italy  during  Caesar's 
absence  in  Spain  in  the  same  year ;  that  he  held  a  high  command 
in  Caesar's  army  in  the  subsequent  campaign  in  Greece  ;  and  that, 
after  the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  he  carried  the  greatest  part  of  the 
victorious  legions  back  to  Italy,  and  enjoyed  the  government  of 
that  country  for  the  second  time  till  the  return  of  Caesar  from 
Egypt  in  the  autumn  of  706.  He  was  then  named  master  of  the 
horse  to  Caesar  in  his  second  dictatorship  ;  but  he  did  not  follow 
him  into  Africa,  and  employed  himself,  during  his  stay  at  Rome, 
in  wasting,  amidst  the  grossest  excesses,  the  property  which  he 
had  purchased  at  Caesar's  auctions.  Next  to  Antonius  we  may 
rank  P.  Cornelius  Dolabella,  Cicero's  son-in-law, 
whose  early  profligacies  and  extravagancies  had 
led  him  to  join  Caesar  at  the  beginning  of  his  rebellion  as  the 
natural  patron  of  men  of  broken  fortunes  ;  who  had  since  fought 
under  him  at  Pharsalia,  "^^  had  distinguished  himself  by  his  revo- 
lutionary proceedings  when  tribune,  during  Caesar's  absence  in 

126  Cicero,  Philippic.  30,  31.     Ad  Atti-         '27  Cicero,  Philippic.  14. 
cum,  XII.  epist.  XVIII.  i28  Cjcero,  Philippic.  II.  30. 


^MILIUS  LEPIDUS,  C.  VIBIUS  PANSA,  A.  HIRTIUS.  335 

Egypt,  and  had  afterwards  gone  with  him  into  Africa,  and  had 
served  under  him  through  the  whole  of  that  campaign.  On  his 
return  to  Italy,  after  Caesar's  final  victory,  he  appears  to  have 
lived  in  a  style  of  great  magnificence,  and  the  excellence  of  his  en- 
tertainments is  recorded  by  Cicero,''^^  who  at  this  time  often  visited 
him,  and  through  him,  and  one  or  two  other  friends,  maintained 
a  friendly  intercourse  with  the  prevailing  party.  M.  iEmilius 
Lepidus  is  entitled  to  our  notice,  more  from  the  _  ^  .,.    ^    .^ 

,    ^  ,        .  .  1   •    1  •  /.  M.  ^milius  Lepidus. 

elevated  situation  to  which  circumstances  aiter- 
wards  raised  him,  than  from  any  merit  or  abilities  of  his  own. 
Having  been  praetor  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion,  he  had  re- 
mained at  Rome  when  the  consuls  and  the  great  majority  of  the 
senate  left  it  to  follow  Pompey  j'^"  and  when  Caesar  returned  from 
Spain,  towards  the  end  of  the  year  704,  Lepidus  presided  at  the 
comitia,  which  conferred  on  him  the  office  of  dictator.  For  thus 
giving  the  sanction  of  a  lawful  magistrate  to  Caesar's  proceedings, 
he  was  rewarded  with  the  government  of  the  province  of  Hither 
Spain,'"  which  he  retained  for  two  years:  and  having  made 
himself  useful  in  quieting  the  disturbances  occasioned  by  the 
unpopularity  of  Q.  Cassius,  he  received  the  honours  of  a  triumph 
on  his  return  to  Rome,  and  was  named  Caesar's  colleague  in  the 
consulship  for  the  year  707.  This  dignity  he  was  now  enjoying; 
and  when  Caesar  again  set  out  for  Spain,  at  the  close  of  the  year, 
being  then  invested  with  the  dictatorship,  Lepidus  was  appointed 
his  master  of  the  horse,  and  was  intrusted  with  the  care  of  the 
capital  during  his  absence.  The  principal  partisans  of  Caesar  are 
enumerated  by  Cicero  in  one  of  his  letters, '^'^  where  we  find  the 
names  of  Pansa,  Hirtius,  Balbus,  Oppius,  Matins,  and  Postumius. 
C.  Vibius  Pansa  had  been  tribune  in  the  year  702,  and  being 
already  devoted  to  the  interests  of  Caesar,  he  inter- 

T  %   .  .  /.    ,  ,.      ^  1  C.  Vibius  Pansa. 

posed  his  negative  upon  some  01  the  earliest  resolu- 
tions passed  by  the  senate, '^^  with  a  view  to  the  appointment  of 
a  new  proconsul  in  the  province  of  Gaul.  We  know  not  how 
actively  he  was  engaged  in  the  civil  war  ;  but  it  appears  that  he 
preserved,  through  the  whole  it,  an  unblemished  character,'-''^  and 
so  distinguished  himself  by  various  acts  of  kindness  and  pro- 
tection towards  distressed  individuals  of  the  vanquished  party, 
that  when  he  was  appointed  to  succeed  M.  Brutus  in  the  govern- 
ment of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  in  the  year  708,  he  received  from  the 
people,  on  leaving  Rome,  the  liveliest  tokens  of  their  good-will 
and  gratitude.     A.  Hirtius  was   also  a  friend  of  . 

Caesar  before  the  civil  war  broke  out,  and  was  with 

129  Ad  Familiares,  IX.  epist.  XVI.  i33  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  VIII.  epist. 

130  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  IX.     VIII. 

Dion  Cassius,  XLI.  170.  '34  Cicero,  ad    Familiares,  XV.    epist. 

131  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII.  214.     Auctor  XVII.    XIX.     Ad    Atticum,   XII.    epist. 
de  Bello  Alexand.  59.  XXVII. 

132  Ad  Familiares,  VI.  episl.  XII. 


336  L.  CORNELIUS  BALBUS. 

him  in  Gaul  in  the  year  705,'^^  from  whence  he  was  despatched 
to  Rome,  to  make  arrangements  with  some  of  Cassar's  partisans 
in  the  capital,  and  returned  to  Caesar  immediately  after,  so  that 
he  was  probably  with  him  when  he  first  began  his  rebellion.  We 
hear  of  him  again  as  residing  in  Italy  in  the  year  707,'^^  when  he, 
like  Dolabella,  was  famous  for  the  sumptuousness  of  his  table,  and 
flattered  Cicero's  vanity  by  coming  frequently  to  receive  instruc- 
tions from  him  in  the  art  of  oratory.  He  is  known  as  the  author 
of  the  eighth  book  of  the  "  Commentaries  of  Caesar's  Wars  in 
Gaul;"^"  and  was  by  some  said  to  have  written  also  those  narra- 
tives of  the  campaigns  in  Egypt,  Africa,  and  Spain,  to  which  we 
have  so  often  referred  in  our  account  of  those  events.  He  also 
took  upon  himself  to  write  an  invective  against  Cato  in  answer  to 
Cicero's  panegyric  on  him;'^^  and  he  is  said  to  have  displayed 
some  talent  in  the  work,  but  to  have  incurred  much  greater  ridi- 
cule, for  the  evident  spirit  of  flattery  to  Csesar  by  which  it  was 
dictated.  Both  Hirtius  and  Pansa  appeared  inclined,  after  Caesar's 
death,  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  old  constitution  ;  they 
were  both  consuls  together  in  the  year  710,  and  both  perished  in 
the  actions  fought  at  Mutina,  when  commanding  the  armies  of  the 
commonwealth  against  the  rebellious  attempts  of  M.  Antonius. 
The  names  of  Balbus  and  Oppius  are  generally  coupled  together 
in  Cicero's  letters,  as  if  either  personal  or  political  friendship  had 
established  the  closest  union  between  them.  L.  Cornelius  Balbus 
was  a  native  of  Spain,  and  by  birth  a  citizen  of 

L.Cornelius  Balbus.      /^     ■•  tx       t-  •iii-  ^r  •        .i  •  c 

Gades.  He  distmguished  himself  m  the  service  of 
the  Roman  government  in  the  war  so  long  carried  on  against 
Sertorius,  and  was  rewarded  by  Pompey  with  the  rights  of  a 
Roman  citizen. '^^  From  this  period  he  removed  to  Rome,  where 
he  lived  in  a  style  of  affluence,  and,  as  it  appears,  was  exposed 
to  some  odium  on  account  of  his  wealth  and  luxury.'^"  He  soon 
became  acquainted  with  Caesar,  to  whom,  perhaps,  his  money 
enabled  him  to  be  useful ;  and  his  intimacy  with  him  was  already 
firmly  established,  when  Caesar,  after  his  praetorship,  obtained  the 
province  of  the  Farther  Spain ;  for  we  find  that  Caesar  conferred 
many  kindnesses  for  his  sake  on  his  native  city  Gades.'*'  When 
Caesar  was  afterwards  consul,  Balbus  was  one  of  those  whom  he 
most  warmly  patronized  ;  and  when,  in  the  year  697,  his  title  to 
the  character  of  a  Roman  citizen  was  disputed  in  a  court  of  jus- 
tice, by  the  instigation,  probably,  of  those  who  hated  him  as 
Caesar's  friend,  Crassus,  Pompey,  and  Cicero  pleaded  for  him  in 
his  defence.     Whilst   Caesar  was  in  Gaul,  Balbus  occasionally 

135  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  IV.         '^  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XII.  epist.  XL. 

136  Cicero,  ad   Atticum,  XII.   epist.  II.     XLI.  XLIV.  XLV. 

Ad  Famiiiares,  VII.  epist.  XXXIII.  ;  IX.         i39  Cicero,  pro  Balbo,  2,3. 
epist.  XVI.  XVIII.  XX.  '«  Cicero,  pro  Balbo,  25. 

137  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  56.  '^i  Cicero,  pro  Balbo,  19. 


C.  OPPIUS-C.  MATIUS.  337 

visited  him,'^'  and  found  opportunities,  we  may  suppose,  of  adding 
to  his  fortune  from  tiie  plunder  of  that  country  and  Britain  ;  for 
Cicero,  in  one  of  his  letters,"^  alludes  to  the  gardens  and  a  Tus- 
culan  villa  of  the  favourite,  as  the  fruits  of  Caesar's  friendship. 
When  the  civil  war  broke  out,  he  remained  at  Rome,  and  was  not 
required  by  Csesar  to  take  any  active  part  in  the  quarrel,"^  as  he 
was  under  great  obligations  to  Pompey,  and  to  L.  Cornelius  Len- 
tulus,  then  consul,  from  whom  he  had  taken  his  name  when  he 
became  a  Roman  citizen.  But  he  was  always  highly  valued  by 
Csesar,  and  possessed  great  influence  with  him ;  insomuch,  that 
Cicero  relied  chiefly  on  his  interest  to  procure  for  him  the  favour 
of  the  conqueror  after  the  battle  of  Pharsalia."^  jje  was  an  Epi- 
curean in  principle  and  in  practice,  building  splendid  villas  after 
Cassar's  victory  in  Africa,'^^  and  enjoying  the  gifts  of  fortune  to 
the  uttermost.  According  to  the  philosophy  which  he  professed, 
he  seems  to  have  been  a  selfish  but  easy  tempered  man,  willing  to 
keep  up  a  friendly  intercourse  with  persons  of  all  parties,  and 
studying  to  preserve  his  fortune  unhurt  through  all  the  political 
changes  which  he  witnessed.  In  this  object  he  was  fully  success- 
ful ;  for  after  the  battle  of  Philippi  he  obtained  the  title  of  consul 
from  M.  Antonius  and  Octavius  in  the  year  713,'^''  being  the  first 
individual  who  rose  to  that  honour  without  being  an  Italian  or  a 
Roman  citizen  by  birth ;  and  at  his  death  he  was  rich  enough  to 
bequeath  the  sum  of  I65.  Id.  to  every  individual  of  the  Roman 
people. 

His  associate,  Oppius,  was  a  man  of  mean,  or  at  least  of  hum- 
ble birth, ^^^  and  apparently  became  acquainted  with  c.  oppius. 
Csesar  by  furnishing  him  with  money  at  a  time  his  profligacies 
were  continually  draining  his  means  and  ruining  his  credit. 
When  Caesar  was  in  Gaul,  Oppius  seems  to  have  been  employed 
by  him  as  his  agent  at  Rome,'"  and  was  in  the  habit  of  forward- 
ing the  letters  which  passed  between  him  and  his  principal  offi- 
cers and  their  friends  in  the  capital.  Like  Balbus,  he  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  Caesar  without  interruption,  and  his  name  is  con- 
stantly mentioned  as  that  of  a  person  whose  influence  in  the 
internal  administration  of  affairs  was  very  considerable.  But  we 
have  been  unable  to  find  any  particulars  recorded  of  him  which 
throw  light  upon  his  individual  character. 

C.  Matins  was  a  citizen  of  the  equestrian  order, *^''  and  became, 
at  an   early    period   of  his   life,  acquainted  with  c.Matius. 

i«  Cicero,  Epist.  ad  Q.  Fratrem,  III.         ht  Dion  Cassius,  XLVIII.  376.     Pliny, 

epist.  I.  VII.  43.     Velleius  Pateiculus,  II.  51. 

"3  Ad  Atticum,  VII.  epist.  VII.  us  Cicero,  ad   Atticum,  IX.  epist.  VII. 

I"  Ad  Atticum,  IX.  epist.  VII.  Tacitus,  Annal.  XII.  60. 

i«  Ad  Atticum,  XL  epist.   VII.  VIII.         "»  Cicero,  ad  Q.  Fratrem,  III.  epist.  I. 

&c.  150  Tacitus,  Annal.  XII.  60. 

i«  Ad  Atticum,  XII.  epist.  II. 


338  posTUMius. 

Caesar.  He  was  with  him  for  some  time  in  Gaul,'"  and  exerted 
himself  at  that  period  to  reconcile  him  to  Cicero,  for  whom  he 
entertained  an  old  regard.  At  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war  he 
did  his  utmost  to  preserve  peace  ;  but  when  his  efforts  proved 
fruitless,  a  most  false  estimate  of  the  claims  of  private  friendship 
led  him  to  follow  Caesar,  though  at  the  same  time  he  disapproved 
of  his  cause.  He  does  not  appear,  however,  to  have  taken  much 
part  in  the  war,  nor  did  he  acquire  either  riches  or  honours  by  its 
event ;  but  availed  himself  of  his  influence  with  the  conqueror  to 
mitigate  the  sufferings  of  the  vanquished  party,  and  to  recommend 
a  system  of  clemency.  After  the  death  of  Caesar,  when  his  as- 
sassins were  at  the  height  of  their  power.  Matins  never  disguised 
his  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  his  friend,  and  was  one  of  the  first  per- 
sons to  notice  and  support  C.  Octavius,  when  he  came  forward  to 
claim  the  name  and  inheritance  of  his  uncle.  Octavius  did  not 
forget  his  kindness,  but  lived  on  terms  of  friendship  with  him'^'^ 
when  the  course  of  events  had  raised  him  to  the  imperial  throne  : 
and  Matins  lived  to  old  age,  possessed  of  fortune  and  influence, 
without  reproach,  amusing  himself  with  his  gardens  and  trees, 
and,  like  our  own  Evelyn,  leaving  a  name  behind  him  for  his  at- 
tention to  the  practice  of  horticulture  and  the  ornamenting  of  plea- 
sure grounds. 

Of  Postumius  we  have  been  able  to  collect  no  other  notices 
postumius.  than  that  he  was  employed  by  Caesar  in  the  civil 

war, '5^  and  after  his  death  undertook,  together  with  C.  Matius, 
the  directions  of  the  games  which  were  celebrated  by  Octavius  in 
honour  of  his  uncle's  victories. 

One  reflection  naturally  presents  itself  when  we  read  over  this 
list  of  names,  hitherto  unknown  in  Roman  history,  and  now 
raised  to  the  highest  eminence  of  wealth  and  political  importance. 
With  all  the  misery  which  they  had  occasioned,  the  civil  wars 
had  yet  produced  the  beneficial  effect  of  depriving  the  oligarchy 
of  great  Roman  families  of  that  predominant  share  of  power  and 
honours  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  enjoy.  In  times  of 
commotion,  men  of  wealth,  or  of  personal  qualifications,  naturally 
made  their  way  to  distinction  and  greatness  ;  and  more  monied 
men  and  foreigners  were  thus  introduced  into  the  highest  class  of 
society,  and  gave  a  severe  wound  to  that  narrow  aristocratical 
spirit  which  would  perpetuate  nobility  in  one  particular  caste,  and 
considers  it  as  a  profanation  to  admit  individuals  taken  from  the 
mass  of  the  people  into  the  ranks  of  this  privileged  order.  It  was 
a  general  benefit  to  the  provinces  of  the  Roman  empire  when 
Balbus  obtained  the  consulship  ;  it  was  a  general  elevation  of  the 
commercial  and  monied  classes  of  the  Roman  people,  when  Op-  - 

151  Cicero,   ad    Familiares,    XI.    epist.         ^53  Appian.de  Bello  Civili,  II.  58.  Cice- 
XXVII.  XXVIII.  ro,  ad  Atticum,  XV.  epist.  II. 

152  Pliny,  XII.  2  ;  XV.  14. 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  CESAR'S  ADHERENTS.  339 

plus  and  Matins  were  raised  to  a  degree  of  power  and  importance 
above  the  families  of  the  oldest  nobility  in  the  commonwealth  ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  it  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  towards 
maintaining  a  just,  but  not  excessive  respect  for  noble  ancestry, 
that  the  person  who  had  seized  the  very  highest  place  in  the 
republic,  was  one  whose  birth  made  him  on  a  level  with  the 
proudest  of  the  patricians,  and  thus  rendered  his  sway  less  galling 
than  if  his  abilities  and  crimes  alone  had  exalted  him  above 
them. 

It  may  be  remarked,  also,  that  almost  all  the  friends  of 
Caesar  whom  we  have  enumerated,  were  men  of  Epicurean 
principles  ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  T,  Pomponius  Atti- 
cus  and  C.  Mecsenas,  two  of  the  most  distinguished  individuals 
of  the  equestrian  order,  who  flourished  about  this  same  period. 
The  doctrines  of  Epicurus  naturally  suited  a  class  of  men  who 
enjoyed  wealth  without  political  dignity  ;  and  such  was  the 
general  character  of  the  equestrian  order,  to  which  the  persons 
of  whom  we  have  been  speaking  originally  belonged.  Where 
these  principles  were  united  with  an  amiable  temper  and  kindly 
feelings,  the  mischief  to  which  they  led  was  either  indolence  and 
a  sort  of  elegant  selfishness,  or,  in  the  most  favourable  circum- 
stances, it  Avas  a  preference  of  feeling  to  principle,  and  a  habit  of 
substituting  kind  and  generous  actions  for  the  harder  task  of  bal- 
ancing the  claims  of  conflicting  duties,  and  following  that  which 
was  right,  rather  than  that  which  was  agreeable.  It  is  probable 
that  Matius  and  Pansa  thought  that  their  conduct  in  supporting 
Caesar  was  amply  atoiied  for  by  their  acts  of  personal  kindness 
and  disinterestedness  after  his  victory ;  so  prone  are  men  to  pur- 
chase the  privilege  of  declining  a  painful  duty  by  the  practice  of 
those  amiable  virtues  which  confer  at  once  the  greatest  self- 
complacency  on  themselves,  and  most  attract  the  admiration  of 
others.  This  tendency  was  especially  encouraged  by  the  doc- 
trines of  Epicurus,  which  making  pleasure  the  end  of  human 
conduct,  represented  virtue  as  the  surest  means  of  attaining  it. 
Men  of  coarser  and  viler  natures  abused  this  philosophy,  as  was 
natural,  far  more  grossly  ;  but  its  evil  tendency  was  most  shown 
in  the  lives  of  its  best  disciples :  for  they  who  believed  virtue  to 
be  indeed  the  truest  road  to  pleasiue,  were  yet  misled  by  per- 
ceiving that  the  virtues  most  agreeable  to  their  natures,  led  them 
to  pleasure  most  readily  ;  and,  content  with  the  practice  of  these, 
they  failed  altogether  in  assigning  to  each  virtue  its  proper  com- 
parative rank,  and  in  disciplining  their  natures  to  choose  their 
highest  duty,  when  the  gratification  of  their  intellect  or  their 
feelings  was  to  be  the  necessary  sacrifice. 

Meantime  Caesar  proceeded  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  general 
settlement  of  the  commonwealth,  and,  like  Sylla,  to  Laws  ami  regulations 
attempt  to  terminate  the  disorders  from  which  he  "fcssar. 


340  LAWS  AND  REGULATIONS  OF  CjESAR. 

had  now  nothing  further  to  gain.  With  this  view  he  proposed 
and  carried  a  law,  restricting  to  two  years  the  term  during  which 
any  command  in  the  provinces  might  he  held;'^*  and  ordering 
that  all  those  provinces  which  were  governed  by  praetors  or  pro- 
praetors should  be  held  only  for  one  year.  But  as  he  had  himself 
marched  with  his  army  out  of  his  province  by  his  own  sole  au- 
thority, in  open  defiance  of  the  Cornelian  law  of  Sylla,  which 
rendered  such  conduct  treasonable,  so  a  popular  adventurer,  or  an 
able  and  ambitious  general,  would  not  fail  to  procure  or  retain  the 
command  of  a  province  for  as  long  a  time  as  might  suit  his  pur- 
poses, notwithstanding  the  prohibitions  of  this  law  of  Caesar. 
Another  law  in  which  also  the  example  of  Sylla  was  followed, 
proposed  to  increase  the  severity  of  the  criminal  code.'"  Wilful 
murderers  were  to  incur  the  forfeiture  of  all  their  property,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  penalty  of  exile,  which  had  hitherto  been  the  utmost 
extent  of  punishment  legally  inflicted  on  the  most  enormous 
crimes  ;  other  criminals,  when  banished,  were  to  forfeit  the  half 
of  their  fortunes ;  and  persons  condemned  for  disturbing  the  public 
peace,'^^  or  for  any  other  of  those  offences  against  the  public  welfare 
included  under  the  term  " Majestas  imniitiuta,^^  or  "  IcBsa"  were 
to  be  expelled  from  Italy  by  the  form  of  forbidding  them  the  use 
of  fire  and  water  within  so  many  miles  of  the  capital.  But  this 
strictness  ill  accorded  with  the  indemnities  which  he  had  himself 
granted  to  so  many  persons  condemned  for  bribery  and  other 
offences;'^''  or  with  his  reversing  the  sentences  of  degradation 
formerly  passed  by  the  censors  upon  several  who  had  since 
served  him  in  the  civil  war.  A  third  law,  which  was  most  com- 
pletely at  variance  with  the  popular  principles  on  which  he  had 
professed  heretofore  to  act,  contained  an  alteration  of  the  Aurelian 
law  respecting  the  persons  to  whom  the  judicial  power  was  to  be 
intrusted.  By  that  law,  passed  as  we  have  seen  in  the  first  con- 
sulship of  Pompey  and  Crassus  (u.c.  683),  the  judges  were  to  be 
chosen  from  the  senate,  the  equestrian  order,  and  from  a  descrip- 
tion of  men  among  the  plebeians  who  possessed  a  competent  for- 
tune, and  were  known  by  the  name  of  Tribuni  ^rarii.  But 
Caesar  now  made  the  Tribuni  ^rarii  no  longer  eligible,  and 
confined  the  judicial  power  exclusively  to  the  members  of  the 
senate,  or  of  the  equestrian  order. '''  Another  of  Caesar's  mea- 
sures was  directed  against  extravagance  in  the  expenses  of  the 
table,  being  a  renewal  and  an  enforcement  of  the  old  sumptuary 
laws.  Intemperance  in  eating  and  drinking  was  not  Caesar's  fa- 
vourite sensuality  ;  and  perhaps  his  feelings  as  a  soldier  may  have 
made  him  dislike  an  indulgence  which  he  might  think  incon- 
sistent with  the  hardiness  of  a  military  nation.     But  he  found 

154  Cicero,  Philippic.  L  8.  '"  Suetonius,  41. 

155  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  42.  '53  guetonius,  4L  Dion  Cassius,  XLIIL 

156  Cicero,  Philippic.  L  10.  226. 


LAWS  AND  REGULATIONS  OF  C^SAR.  34 1 

that  the  impatience  which  men  feel  at  being  controlled  by  law,  in 
a  matter  so  entirely  of  a  domestic  nature,  was  too  strong  in  this 
point  for  his  authority  ;  and  learning  that  as  soon  as  he  left  Rome 
his  enactments  were  disregarded,  he  wrote  angrily  from  Spain  to 
say  that  he  was  resolved  henceforward  to  remain  constantly  in 
the  capital,  that  his  laws  might  be  duly  observed  ;^^^  and  after- 
wards, he  is  said  not  only  to  have  posted  guards  at  the  markets, 
to  prevent  the  sale  of  any  forbidden  articles,'*"  but  sometimes  to 
have  sent  his  lictors  and  soldiers  into  private  houses,  and  to  have 
actually  carried  off  from  the  table  any  dishes  which  exceeded  the 
allowed  expense  of  private  entertainments.  There  were  others 
of  his  acts  which  excited  great  odium  against  him  at  the  time, 
and  which  proceeded  indeed,  very  probably,  from  selfish  motives  ; 
but  which  were  really  wise  and  liberal,  and  loudly  called  for  by  the 
existing  circumstances  of  the  empire.  He  conferred  the  rights  of 
Roman  citizenship  on  a  whole  legion  of  soldiers  whom  he  had  rais- 
ed in  Transalpine  Gaul,  and  called  by  the  name  of  the  Alaudse.^^' 
He  bestowed  also  the  same  privilege  on  many  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  and  intended  to  communicate  it  to  all  the  peo- 
ple within  the  Alps,'^^  a  purpose  which  was  carried  into  effect 
soon  after  his  death  by  M,  Antonius  and  Octavius.  He  gave  also 
the  inferior  distinction  of  the  rights  of  Latin  citizenship,  " /m5 
Latii^''  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  Sicily.  '^  ^  He  introduced  a  number 
of  persons  into  the  senate,  so  that  the  majority  of  the  whole  body 
were  said  to  owe  their  admission  to  him  ;'*^  and  amongst  the  rest 
were  several  Transalpine  Gauls  ;"5  upon  which  an  ironical  no- 
tice was  handed  about  in  Rome,  ordering  "  that  no  one  should 
pretend  to  show  the  new  senators  the  way  to  the  senate-house." 
He  raised  several  new  families  to  the  dignity  of  patricians, '**  in 
order  to  supply  the  diminution  of  that  order  in  the  late  war;  and 
he  admitted  all  physicians,  as  well  as  the  professors  of  all  other 
liberal  arts  and  sciences,  resident  at  Rome,  to  the  right  of  citizen- 
ship. All  these  acts  had  a  beneficial  tendency,  as  far  as  they  con- 
tributed to  place  the  inhabitants  of  different  parts  of  the  empire 
on  a  level  with  each  other  ;  and  prepared  the  way  for  their  form- 
ing gradually  one  united  nation,  instead  of  regarding  one  another, 
as  hitherto,  in  the  light  of  masters  and  slaves,  between  whom 

159  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,Xin.  epist.  VIL  those  raised,  on  this  occasion,  to  the  rank 

16"  Suetonius,  43.  of  patricians.     This  is  not  impossible,  as 

16'  Suetonius,  24.  Caesar  would  naturally  fix  upon  those  fa- 

162  Appian,  de  Bello  Civili,  V.  3.  milies  which  were  noble,  though  not  patri- 

163  Cicero,  ad  Atticuni,  XIV.  epist.  XIL  cians  ;  and,  as  Cicero  was  almost  the  only 
^64  Cicero,  de  Divinatione,  IL  9.  man  surviving  who  had  been  consul  before 

165  Suetonius,  76.  80.  the    civil  wars,  his  family  would  readily 

166  Suetonius,  41.  Tacitus,  Annal.  XL  suggest  itself  as  one  of  the  first  to  receive 
25.  Dion  Cassius  makes  Q.  Fufius  Ca-  this  accession  of  dignity.  Dion  Cassius, 
lenus  say,  in  his  speech  in  defence  of  M.  306. 

Antonius,  that  Cicero's  family  was  among 


342  REFORM  OF  THE  CALENDAR. 

there  existed  an  insuperable  barrier.  Another  class  of  Caesar's 
measures  regarded  the  important  subject  of  population,  and  was 
an  attempt  to  relieve  the  capital  from  some  portion  of  that  multi- 
tude of  indigent  citizens  by  which  it  was  overburdened,  and  to 
substitute  free  inhabitants  in  the  room  of  some  of  the  slaves,  who 
were  now  almost  the  sole  cultivators  of  the  soil  in  many  parts  of 
Italy.  He  is  said  to  have  settled  no  fewer  than  eighty  thousand 
citizens,  ^^''  many  of  them  freedmen,  in  different  colonies,  and  to 
have  restored  on  this  occasion  many  towns  which  had  been  ruin- 
ed in  former  wars,  particularly  Carthage  and  Corinth.  These 
two  famous  cities  had  been  both  destroyed  in  the  same  year,  ex- 
actly a  century  before  the  period  of  their  restoration ;  they  w^ere 
now  rebuilt  together,  and  in  a  very  short  time  rose  to  a  high  de- 
gree of  wealth  and  importance.  Then,  to  insure  the  existence  of 
a  free  population  in  Italy, '^^  he  forbade  all  citizens,  between  the 
ages  of  twenty  and  forty,  from  being  abroad  for  more  than  three 
years  together,  except  on  military  service  ;  nor  were  the  sons  of 
senators  allowed  to  leave  the  country  at  all,  except  they  travelled 
in  the  suite  of  a  magistrate.  He  also  insisted  that  all  graziers, 
and  persons  who  fed  sheep  or  other  animals  on  a  large  scale, 
should  employ  freedmen  in  the  proportion  of  at  least  one-third 
out  of  the  whole  number  of  their  shepherds  or  herdsmen.  But 
the  short  duration  of  Caesar's  power  prevented  these  regulations 
from  producing  any  sufficient  elfect ;  and  in  the  reign  of  Augus- 
tus'«^  it  was  still  matter  of  complaint  that  many  districts  of  Italy 
were  only  redeemed  from  desolation  by  the  number  of  slaves  be- 
longing to  the  great  landed  proprietors  of  Rome. 

The  reform  of  the  calendar,  which  was  accomplished  by  Cae- 
sar, is  too  famous  to  be  altogether  passed  over  in  si-  Reform  of  the  caien- 
lence.  It  has  been  observed  several  times  in  the  '^'"■• 
course  of  this  history,  that  the  nominal  time  was  about  two 
months  in  advance  of  the  real  season  of  the  year,  so  that  what 
was  called  midsummer,  w^as  in  reality  the  latter  end  of  April. 
This  confusion  was  mainly  owing  to  the  strange  power  allowed 
to  the  pontifices  of  intercalating  or  adding  to  the  year  what  num- 
ber of  days  they  pleased  ;  and  this  power  was  very  capriciously 
exercised,  as  the  interests  of  their  friends  might  require  a  greater 
number  to  be  added  to  lengthen  the  period  of  their  being  in  office, 
or  a  less  number  in  order  to  shorten  the  term,  when  the  annual 
magistracies  were  held  by  men  of  the  opposite  party.  Caesar  now 
employed  the  ablest  astronomers  of  the  age  to  place  the  computa- 
tion of  time  on  a  true  fooling  ;^^°  and  two  months  were  added  to 
the  current  year,  that  on  the  ensuing  first  of  January  the  real 
and  nominal  time  might  agree  with  one  another.     For  the  future, 

'6T  Suetonius,  42.     Strabo,  VIII.  436  ;         i^g  Livy,  VI.  12. 
XVII.  968,  edit.  Xyland.  i'"  Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  59.  Suetonius, 

168  Suetonius,  ubi  supra.  40- 


CiESAR'S  ARROGANCE  GIVES  OFFENCE. 


343 


the  year  was  to  consist  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days,  and 
a  single  day  was  to  be  added  every  fourth  year,  according  to  our 
present  practice ;  so  that  this  JuUan  calendar  has  been  followed 
ever  since  by  the  nations  of  Europe,  with  only  the  slight  correction 
introduced  by  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  in  1582,  and  adopted  in  Great 
Britain  in  1752,  under  the  denomination  of  the  New  Style. 

Such  were  the  principal  public  measures  of  Caesar's  govern- 
ment ;  but  it  was  not  by  these  that  he  provoked  the  Additional  honours 
conspiracy  to  which  he  fell  a  victim,  so  much  as  by  Jterhh  vktofyYn 
the  arrogance  of  his  personal  behaviour,  and  his  u^c"^ 
open  assumption  of  the  state,  as  well  as  of  the  power,  of  an  ab- 
solute sovereign.  After  his  last  victory  over  the  sons  of  Pompey 
in  Spain,  the  liattery  of  the  senate  added  yet  more  to  the  extrava- 
gant honours  which  they  had  already  lavished  on  him  ;  and  it 
appears  that  the  homage  thus  profusely  offered  to  him  was  more 
than  he  could  bear,  and  that  he  fancied  himself  greater  in  propor- 
tion to  tbe  increased  servility  with  which  he  was  regarded.  It 
was  voted  that  he  should  be  styled  the  "  father  of  his  country,"' 
and  that  the  title  "  imperator"  should  be  prefixed  to  his  name  ;*^' 
that  his  person  should  be  declared  sacred  ;  and  that  he  should  be 
appointed  dictator  for  life.  His  statue  was  placed  in  the  temple 
of  Q-uirinus  or  Romulus,'"  and  in  the  capitol,  next  to  those  of  the 
seven  traditional  kings  of  Rome,  and  of  L.  Junius  Brutus,  the 
founder  of  the  commonwealth.  He  was  allowed  to  wear,  on  all 
public  festivities,  the  dress  used  by  victorious  generals  at  their 
triumphs  ;'"  and  at  all  times  to  have  a  crown  of  laurel  on  his 
head.  The  month  in  which  he  was  born,  and  which  had  till 
then  been  called  Quintilis,  was  now  named  Julius,  or  July,  in 
honour  of  him.  Money  was  stamped  with  his  image  ;  and  a 
guard  of  senators  and  citizens  of  the  equestrian  order  was  voted 
for  the  security  of  his  person.  It  was  apparently  soon  after  his 
return  from  Spain,  that  the  whole  body  of  the  senate  waited  upon 
him  to  communicate  to  him  the  decrees  which  they  had  passed 
in  his  honour.  He  received  them  in  state  in  front  of  the  temple 
of  Venus  Genitrix  which  he  had  himself  founded  ;'^*  but  he 
never  rose  from  his  seal,  either  when  they  first  approached  him, 
or  when  they  presented  to  him  so  many  tokens  of  their  submission 
and  devotion.  This  was  an  affront  which  was  never  forgiven  ; 
and  it  was  particularly  remarked, '^^  that  during  He  gives  offence  by 
his  own  triumph,  a  short  time  before,  when  L.  Pon-  tel^lTou""'' °^ ^" 
tins  Aquila,  one  of  the  tribunes,  allowed  his  triumphal  chariot  to 
pass  by  the  benches  appropriated  to  himself  and  his  colleagues 
without  rising  from  his  place,  Caesar  noticed  it  with  great  indig- 

"1  Livy,  Epitome,  CXVI.     Dion  Gas-  "4  Livy,  Epitome,  CXVI.     Dion  Gas- 

sius,  XLIII.  235,  236.  sius,  XLIV.  244. 

172  Gicero.ad  Atticum.XII.epist.  XLV.  '^s  Suetonius,  78. 
i''^  Suetonius. 

23 


344  "^^lE  DIADEM  REJECTED  BY  CESAR. 

nation,  openly  saying,  that  Aquila  had  bettter  at  once  take  from 
him  the  administration  of  the  commonweaUh  ;  and  for  some  days 
afterwards,  whenever  he  promised  any  thing  to  any  one  who 
waited  upon  him,  he  used  ironically  to  add,  "  But  you  must  ob- 
tain the  consent  of  Pontius  Aquila  !"  On  another  occasion  when,  at 
the  time  of  the  Latin  holydays,^'^  Caesar  was  riding  into  Rome  in 
solemn  procession,  after  having  performed  the  usual  sacrifices  on 
the  Alban  hill,  some  voices  amongst  the  nmltitude  saluted  him 
with  the  title  of  king,  and  a  laurel  crown,  bound  round  with  the 
white  fillet  or  diadem,  which  was  the  well-known  ornament  of 
royalty,  was  placed  upon  one  of  his  statues.     Two  of  the  tri- 
bunes, Epidius  MaruUus  and  C.  Csesetius  Flavius,  ordered  the 
diadem  to  be  taken  off  frop'  the  laurel  wreath,  and  the  man  who 
had  put  it  on  the  statue  to  be  taken  into  custody.     Upon  this  Cas- 
sar  upbraided  them  in  strong  language  for  endeavouring  to  excite 
the  popular  odium  against  him,  as  if  he  were  really  ambitious  of 
the  kingly  title  ;  and  by  an  exercise  of  what  Paterculus  calls  his 
censorian  power,'"  he  forbade  them  acting  any  more  as  tribunes, 
and  expelled  them  from  the  senate,  deploring  at  the  same  time, 
we  are  told,  his  own  hard  fortune  in  being  thus  obliged  either  to 
do  violence  to  the  clemency  of  his  nature,  or  to  suffer  his  dignity 
to  be  compromised.     It  is  added,  that  Cccsar  so  deeply  resented 
the  conduct  of  these  tribunes,'"  that  he  applied  to  the  father  of 
Cassetius  to  renounce  his  son  for  his  seditions  behaviour,  promising 
him  that  he  would  aurply  provide  for  his  two  other  sons,  if  he 
complied  with  his  wishes.     But  the  old  man  replied,  "that  Gsesar 
should  rather  deprive  him  of  all  his  children,  than  prevail  on  him 
to  turn  one  of  them  out  of  his  house  as  deserving  to  be  given  up 
by  his  father."     Yet  Caesar  was  probably  well  aware  of  the  odium 
to  which  he  would  be  exposed  if  he  were  suspected  of  aiming  at 
the  honours  of  royalty  ;  and  it  was  to  remove  any  such  impres- 
sion from  the  public  mind,  that  he  took  occasion  to  answer  to  the 
acclamations  of  the  populace,  on  one  occasion,  when  they  were 
saluting  him  with  the  title  of  king,  "  that  he  Avas  Caesar,  and  not 
a  king."    With  the  same  view  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  had  con- 
certed beforehand    the  famous  scene  which  took  place  on  the 
fifteenth   February,  at  the  festival  of  the  Lupercalia,  when  M. 
Antonius,  who  then  held  the  office  of  consul,  approach.ed  Caesar, 
as  he  Avas  sitting  in  state  iir  the  rostra  above  the  forum,  and  pre- 
sented to  him  a  royal  diadem.     A  murmur  ran  through  the  mul- 
titude,'"* but  it  was  instantly  changed  into  loud  applause,  when 
Caesar  rejected  the  pi ofieied  ornament,  and  persisted  in  his  refu- 
sal, although  Anionius  threw  himself  at  his  feet,  imploring  him, 
in  the  name  of  the  Roman  people,  to  accept  it.     To  complete  the 

"«  Dion  Cassius.XIjlV.  245.    Suetoni-         "*  Valerius  Maximus,  V.  7. 
us,  79.  '"  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  34. 

'"  II.  68. 


CESAR'S  IRREGULARITY  IN  BESTOWING  OFFICES.  345 

purpose  for  which  this  scene  was  in  all  probability  acted,  Antoniiis 
caused  a  memorandum  to  be  entered  in  the  calendar  for  the  year, 
"  That  on  the  day  of  the  Lupercalia,  M.  Antonius,  the  consul,  had, 
by  the  command  of  the  people,  offered  the  dignify  of  king  to  C. 
Caesar,  perpetual  dictator,  and  that  Caesar  had  refused  to  accept  it." 
Yet  the  opinion  was  still  entertained,  that  Cassar  coveted  this  im- 
lawful  and  abhorred  title  ;  and  as  mankind  are  the  slaves  of  words, 
the  imputation  of  aspiring  to  be  king  was  eagerly  laid  to  his 
charge  by  his  enemies,  as  one  which  would  most  surely  provoke 
against  him  the  popular  hatred. 

Another  part  of  Cajsar's  conduct  which  gave  great  offence, 
was  his  assuming  so  openly  not  only  the  patronage  Ciesar  gives  offence  by 
of  the  ordinary  offices  of  the  state,  but  the  power  orbestowing X "e"^' 
of  bestowing  them  in  an  unprecedented  manner,  in  order  to  suit 
his  own  policy.     At  Ihe  beginning  of  the  year  708,  he  had  as- 
sumed the  title  of  consul,  together  with  his  dictatorship,  but  he 
had   no  colleague,  and  the  office  was,  in  fact,  merely  nominal. 
But  on  his  return  to  Rome  in  October,""  after  he  had  finished  the 
campaign  in  Spain,  wishing  for  an  opportunity  of  rewarding  two 
of  his  adherents,  he  resigned  his  consulship,  and  appointed  Q,. 
Fabius   Maximus  and  C.  Trebonius  to  succeed  him  for  the  re- 
maining three  months  of  the  year.     It  happened  that  Q.  Fabius 
died  on  the  thirty-first  of  December,  early  in  the  morning  ;*^'  and 
that  no  occasion  of  exercising  his  patronage  niiglit  be  lost,  Ca3sar 
caused  the  coniitia  to  assemble  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  to  elect  C.  Caninius  Rebilus  for  the  few  remaining  hours  of 
the  year.     The  benefit  of  this  short-lived  honour  appears  to  have 
been,  that  it  conferred  on  the  person   who  enjoyed  it  the  rank  of 
senator  for  life.     Caesar,  in  like  manner,  increased  the  number  of 
praetors  to  fourteen, '^^  that  of  aediles  to  six,  and  that  of  quaestors  to 
forty  :   he  also  added  one  new  member  to  the  college  of  augurs, 
one  to  that  of  the  Pontifices,  one  to  the  Q,uindecemviri  or  keepers 
of  the  Sibylline  books,  and  three  to  the  Septemviri  Epulonum, 
who  had  the  care  of  providing  the  feasts  ot  the  gods  on  all  great 
solemnities.     He  made  a  point  of  rewarding  every  one  who  had 
served  him  ;  and  thus  he  did  not  hesitate  to  intrust  the  charge  of 
the  public  mint  to  some  of  his  own  slaves,'^^  and  even  to  appoint 
the  son  of  one  of  his  freedmen  to  command  three  of  his  legions 
which  he  left  in  Egypt,  after  his  departure  from  that  country  in 
the  autumn  of  the  year  706.     He  allowed  the  same  spirit  to  in- 
terfere in  the  administration  of  justice ;  and  we  are  told  that  one 
of  his  veterans,''^  who  had  received  a  grant  of  land,  having  been 
brought  before  him  on  a  charge  of  violent  and  oppressive  be- 

180  Dion  Ca3sius,  XLTII.  236.  •"'•«  Dion  Cassius,  XLIIl.  237. 239, 240  : 

>»'  Cicero,  ad   Familiares,  VII.   epist.     XLII.  209. 
XXX.     Plutarch,  in  Caesare,  58.  '*^  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  76. 

'**  Seneca,  de  Beneficiis,  V.  24. 


346  SKETCH  OF  CiESAR'S  MANNERS  AND  BEHAVIOUR. 

havioTir  towards  his  neighbours,  was  not  only  acquitted,  but  was 
presented  by  his  judge  with  the  very  land  on  which  he  had  un- 
justly encroached,  as  soon  as  he  had  reminded  Caesar  of  some  per- 
sonal services  which  he  had  rendered  him  during  his  first 
campaign  in  Spain.  In  fact,  Caesar  openly  avowed,  that  if  ruf- 
fians and  cut-throats  had  supported  him  in  his  quarrel,  he  should 
think  himself  bound  fully  to  requite  them.'^^  Yet  after  all,  in  spite 
of  his  multiplication  of  offices,  and  the  profusion  with  which  he 
bestowed  them,  the  claims  of  his  partisans  were  more  than  he 
could  satisfy  ;  and  many  of  those  who  had  served  him  through  all 
his  career  of  wickedness,  were  afterwards  in  the  number  of  his  as- 
sassins, because  they  did  not  think  themselves  sufficiently  re- 
warded, i^® 

Cicero  has  left  us  a  curious  sketch  of  a  visit  which  he  receiv- 
sketch  of  his  per-  ed  froui  CsBsar  at  his  villa  near  Puteoli,  in  the 
behavSuf.'"'" ''"  month  of  December,  708.'"  On  the  twentieth  of 
December,  Caesar  arrived  at  the  house  of  L.  Philippus,  the  father- 
in-law  of  Octavius,  attended  by  two  thousand  soldiers,  who  follow- 
ed him  either  for  the  security  of  his  person,  or  as  a  mere  guard 
of  honour.  He  spent  the  morning  of  the  following  day  at  the 
house  of  Philippus,  but  was  engaged  the  whole  time  in  transact- 
ing business  in  private  with  L.  Balbus.  About  one  or  two  o'clock 
he  took  a  walk  on  the  sea-shore  ;  after  which  he  went  into  a  bath, 
and  heard,  with  the  utmost  composure,  a  most  virulent  epigram 
of  Catulus  against  him,  in  which  he  was  taxed,  in  plain  terms, 
with  those  abominable  profligacies  to  which  we  have  before  al- 
luded. "'^  After  this  he  took  his  place  at  Cicero's  house,  his 
immediate  attendants  forming  part  of  the  company,  whilst  the 
rest  of  his  suite  were  entertained  in  separate  apartments,  accord- 
ing to  their  rank  and  respectability.  "  Caesar  seemed  to  enjoy 
himself  exceedingly,"  sa^^s  Cicero,  "  and  was  in  very  good  spirits. 
The  conversation  did  not  touch  at  all  on  politics,  but  we  talked 
much  on  literary  subjects."'89  Yet,  however  agreeable  he  might 
make  himself  in  private  society,  he  kept  up  a  degree  of  state  at 
Rome,  which  rendered  access  to  his  person  difficult  and  humili- 
ating to  those  who  had  lived  with  him  so  long,  in  former  times,  on 
a  footing  of  equality.  Cicero  complains  of  the  vexations  and 
mortifications  which  he  was  obliged  to  endure  in  obtaining  an 
<  audience  from  him  ;'^'  and  he  was  told  by  C.  Matins,'"  that  once, 
when  he  had  been  detained  for  a  long  time,  waiting  till  Caesar 
could  receive  him,  Cassar  had  himself  observed.  "  that  he  must 

'*^  Suetonius,  72.  '*  Cicero,  ad    Familiares,    VI.    epist. 

*^'  Seneca,  de  IxSl,  III.  30.  XIV.     "  Quum  omnem  adeundi  et  conve- 

•"  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIII.  epist.  LII.  niendi    illius    indignitatem  et  molestiam 

""  Catullus,  Cann.  29  and  57.  pertulissem." 

'"^  "  T,Trov6aTov  ov^'n',  ip  Sermone  ;  (j>t\6-  '^1  Epistol.  ad  Atticum,   XIV.  epist.  I. 

\oya,  multa  "  II. 


CESAR'S  PLANS  OP  CONQUEST  AND  IMPROVEMENT.        347 

necessarily  be  very  unpopular,  when  M.  Cicero  was  thus  kept  in 
attendance,  and  conld  not  see  him  whenever  it  suited  him."  '•  I 
know,"  he  continued,  "  that  no  one  would  be  more  ready  than 
himself  to  make  allowances  for  me,  but  I  am  sure  that  he  must 
detest  me."  There  were,  liowever,  many  incautious  expressions 
of  his  own,  which  found  their  way  into  general  circulation,  and 
excited  a  much  stronger  feeling  against  him.  He  was  accustomed 
to  ridicule  Sylla  for  resigning  the  dictatorship;'^^  he  used  to  say 
"  that  the  commonwealth  was  now  nothing  ;  it  was  a  mere  name, 
totally  devoid  of  any  reality ;"  and  in  language  yet  more  arro- 
gant, he  added,  "  that  he  ought  now  to  be  spoken  to  with  more 
deference,  and  that  what  he  said  should  be  considered  as  law." 
Yet  he  would  not  believe  that  he  had  any  thing  to  fear  from  pop- 
ular resentment,  insisting  that  his  life  was  of  the  hls  confidence  in  his 
utmost  importance  to  his  country;  for  that  his  am-  own  security. 
bition  was  now  satisfied  ;  but  that  if  he  were  to  die,  the  republic 
would  again  be  involved  in  civil  wars  more  miserably  than  ever. 
Besides,  his  great  conrage  rendered  him  insensible  to  danger,  and 
impatient  of  precautions.  In  spite  of  the  advice  of  his  friends 
Hirtius  and  Pansa,"^  who  advised  him  to  guard  by  the  sword 
that  power  which  the  sword  had  won  for  him,  he  used  to  say 
that  he  would  rather  die  than  make  himself  an  object  of  terror  to 
the  people  ;  and  he  so  far  confided  in  his  popularity,  or  in  the  as- 
cendency which  he  had  acquired,  that  he  dismissed  the  guard  of 
Spanish  soldiers  which  had  been  in  the  habit  of  attending  him. 
xVIeantime,  as  if  his  government  at  home  were  his  plans  of  conquest 
settled  in  fall  security,  he  formed  plans  of  foreign  provoment.*^^"'^  ™' 
conquests  on  the  most  extensive  scale,  which  would  employ  him 
for  some  years  at  a  distance  from  Rome.  He  talked  of  attacking 
theParthians,'^^  and  of  subduing  those  wild  tribes  who  dwelt  on 
the  banks  of  the  Danube,  and  who  occasionally  made  inroads 
upon  the  Roman  territory  in  Thrace ;  and  in  order  to  provide  for 
the  administration  of  affairs  during  his  absence,  he  drew  out  a 
list  of  persons  who  were  to  hold  the  principal  offices  of  state  for 
the  next  two  years, '^^  still  retaining  to  himself  the  title  and 
authority  of  dictator.  Nor,  whilst  projecting  schemes  of  conquest, 
was  he  neglectful  of  the  internal  improvement  of  his  dominions. 
It  was  mentioned,  that  he  was  intending  to  frame  a  digest  of  all 
the  Roman  laws;''*  to  form  public  libraries,  containing  all  the 
most  valuable  works  of  Greek,  as  well  as  of  Roman  literature  ; 
to  build  in  the  capital  a  temple  in  honour  of  Mars,  and  a  theatre, 
both  in  the  highest  style  of  magnificence ;  to  drain  the  Pontine 

192  Suetonius,  77.  86.  i9^5  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  VI. 

193  Velieius  Faterculus,  II.  57.     Sueto-     Dion   Cassius,  XLIII.  239. 
nius,  86.  '96  Suetonius,  44. 

i9<  Suetonius,  44.  Dion  Cassius,  XLIII. 
239.     Plutarcli,  58. 


348  SKETCH  OP  THE  PRINCIPAL  CONSPIRATORS. 

marshes ;  to  make  a  grand  line  of  communication  across  the 
Apennines  from  the  Tiber  to  tlie  Adriatic ;  to  carry  a  canal  from 
Rome  to  Tarracina,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  arrival  of  goods  in 
the  capital  from  Sicily  and  the  East ;  to  improve  and  enlarge  the 
harbour  of  Ostia,  and  to  dig  through  the  isthmus  of  Corinth. 
Such  are  said  to  have  been  his  designs  :  and  preparations  were 
already  made  for  carrying  the  military  part  of  them  into  execu- 
tion. His  nephew,  C  Octavius,'^^  whom  he  had  named  as  his 
master  of  the  horse  for  one  of  tlie  years  of  his  intended  absence, 
•was  sent  over  to  ApoUonia,  in  Epirus,  there  to  remain  and  to  pur- 
sue his  literary  studies,  till  Cccsar  should  arrive  in  Greece  to  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  his  army ;  and  a  force  both  of  infantry 
and  cavalry  had  been  already  transported  across  the  Ionian 
gulf,'^^  and  was  quartered  in  Macedonia,  waiting  till  the  return 
of  spring  should  enable  them  to  commence  their  expedition  against 
Parthia. 

It  was  about  this  time  reported,  that  L.  Cotta,  one  of  the 
Report  that  it  was  in-  Quiudecemviri,  or  keepers  of  the  Sibylline  books, 
^nded  to  declare  him  ^^^^  intending  to  proposc  to  the  senate  that  Casar 
should  be  declared  king,'^*  and  this  step  was  to  be  urged  on  the 
authority  of  the  Sibylline  oracles,  which  declared  that  a  king  was 
necessary  to  the  safety  of  Rome,  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  Par- 
thia. Whether  the  rumour  was  trne  or  false,  it  is  said  to  have 
hastened  the  resolution  of  those  persons  who  had  already  formed 
A  conspiracy  formed  »  couspiracy  against  Caesar's  life,  and  to  have  deter- 
against  his  life.  miucd  them  to  choose  the  fifteenth  or  ides  of  March, 

for  the  execution  of  their  purpose,  that  being  the  day  on  which 
it  was  believed  that  L.  Cotta  would  bring  forward  his  proposal 
before  the  senate.  It  remains,  therefore,  that  we  give  some  ac- 
count of  the  origin  of  this  famous  conspiracy,  and  of  the  principal 
persons  who  were  engaged  in  it. 

It  is  agreed  on  all  sides  that  M,  Junius  Brutus  andC.  Cassius 
Sketch  of  the  prin-  Lougiuus  wcie  thc  chicf  promotcrs  of  the  design. 
cipai conspirators.  'pj^g  formcr  of  thcsc  was  the  son  of  that  M.  Brutus 
M.  Junius  Brutus.  ^y]r^Q  |^^(j  takcu  part  in  the  rebellion  of  M.  Lepidus  im- 
mediately after  the  death  of  Sylla,  and  who  had  in  consequence 
been  put  to  death  at  Mutina,  by  the  orders  of  Pompey,  in  the 
year  676.  The  son,  M.  Brutus,  was  by  his  mother's  side  the  ne- 
phew of  M,  Cato,  and  he  accompanied  his  uncle  to  Cyprus  in  the 
year  695,  when  he  was  sent  by  P.  Clodius  to  annex  that  island 
to  the  Roman  empire.     It  appears,  however,  that  he  did  not  copy 

i»7  Dion    Cassius,  XLIII.    239  ;  XLV.  worst  authority,  and  that  is  saying  not  a 

271.     Velieius  Paterculus,  II.  59.  iiitle,  of  all    the  svrilers  who  have  left  us 

'98  Appian,  de   Bello    Civili,   II.     110.  accounts  of  these  times. 

Appian  says  there   were  sixteen   legions,  '99  Suetonius,    79.     Cicero,  de  Divina- 

and  ten  thousand  cavalry  ;  a  most  ridicu-  tione,  II.  54. 
lous   exaggeration.     But    Appian    is  the 


M.  JUNIUS  BRUTUS.  349 

the  example  of  Cato's  integrity  ;  for  having  become  the  creditor 
of  the  citizens  of  Salamis  to  a  large  amount,-'"'  he  employed  one 
M.  Scaptius,  a  man  of  infamous  character,  to  enforce  the  payment 
of  his  debt,  together  with  an  interest  four  times  exceeding  the 
rate  allowed  by  law.     And  when  Cicero  governed  the  province 
of  Cilicia,  to  which  Cyprus  seems  to  have  been  attached,  Brutus 
wrote  to  him,  and  was  supported  by  T.  Atticus  in  his  request,  en- 
treating him  to  give  Scaptius  a  commission  as  an  officer  of  the 
Roman  government,  and  to  allow  him  to  employ  a  military  force 
to  exact  from  the  Salaminians  the  usurious  interest  which  he 
illegally  demanded.     Cicero  was  too  upright  a  magistrate  to  com* 
ply  with  such  requests  ;  but  they  were  so  agreeable  to  the  prac- 
tice of  the  times,  that  he  continued  to  live  on  intimate  terms  with 
the  man  who  could  prefer  them;  and  the  literary  tastes  of  Brutus 
were  a  recommendation  which  he  could  not  resist ;  so  that  he  ap- 
pears soon  to  have  forgotten  the  affair  of  Scaptius,  and  to  have 
spoken  and  thought  of  Brutus  with  great  regard.     They  both,  in- 
deed, were  of  the  same  party  in  politics  ;   and  we  are  told  that 
Brutus  exerted  himself  very  actively  in  Pompey's  service  in  the 
campaign  of  705  in  Greece,^"  and  being  taken  prisoner  after  the 
battle  of  Pharsalia,  received  his  life  from  the  conqueror.     Before 
Caesar  set  out  for  Africa  to  carry  on  war  against  Scipio  and  Juba, 
he  conferred  on  Brutus'^"'^  the  government  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  j*^" 
and  in  that  province  Brutus  accordingly  remained,  and  was  ac- 
tually holding  an  office  under  Caesar,  while  his  uncle  Cato  was 
maintaining  the  contest  in  Africa,  and  committing  suicide  rather 
than  fall  alive  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  His  character,  however, 
seems  to  have  been  greatly  improved  since  his  treatment  of  the 
Salaminians  ;  for  he  is  said  to  have  governed  Cisalpine  Gaul  with 
great  integrity  and  humanity,*^"  insomuch  that  his   statue  was 
preserved  in  Milan  when  Augustus  had  obtained  the  sovereignty 
of  the  empire  ;  and  the  popularity  which  he  obtained  was  reflected 

2«"  Cicero,  acl  Atticura,  V.  epist.  XXI. ;  hiin  much  more  than  any  honours  could 
VI.  epist.  I.  II.  III.  oblige."  Life  of  Cicero,  II.  210,  8vo.  edit. 

201  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XI.  epist.  IV.     1819. 

Dion   Cassius,    XLI.    184.      Plutarch,   in  Ferguson's  conjecture,  so  far  as  we  have 

Bruto,  6.  been  able  to  find,  is  as  destitute  of  any  au- 

202  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  VI.  epist.  thority  or  probubility  as  Middleton's  in- 
VI.  sertion  of  the  words  which  we  have  print- 

203  "  Where,"  says  Ferguson,  "  he  re-  ed  in  italics,  and  which  endeavour  to 
mained,  perhaps,  rather  under  safe  custody,  represent  Brulus  as  sacrificing  his  patriotic 
than  high  in  the  confiJence  of  Caesar."  independence  to  the  entreaties  of  his 
Book  V.  1.  "  He  was  induced,"  says  mother.  As  to  the  rest  of  Middleton's 
Middleton,  "  by  Caesar's  generosity,  and  statement,  we  can  only  wonder  that  a 
his  mother's  prayers,  to  lay  down  his  arms  writer,  in  a  Christian  country,  should  think 
and  return  to  Italy.  Caesar  endeavoured  that  he  was  panegyrizing  his  hero  by  im- 
to  oblige  him  by  all  the  honours  which  his  putingto  him  such  a  disposition. 

power  could  bestow  ;  but  the  indignity  of         *"■»  Plutarch,   in    Bruto,   6.     Coniparat. 
receiving  from  a  master  what  he  ought  to     Dionis.  cum  Bruto,  5. 
have  received  from  a  free  people,  shocked 


350  C.  CASSIUS  LONGINUS. 

in  some  measure,  we  are  told,  upon  the  government  of  Caesar, 
from  whom  he  had  received  his  appointment.  In  the  year  708  he 
returned  to  Rome,  but  afterwards  set  out  to  meet  Caesar  on  his  re- 
turn from  Spain,  and  in  an  interview  which  he  had  with  him  at 
Nicaea,'^"^  pleaded  the  cause  of  Deiotarus,  king  of  Galatia,  with 
such  warmth  and  freedom,  that  Caesar  was  struck  by  it,  and  was 
reminded  of  what  he  used  frequently  to  say  of  Brutns,  that  what 
his  inclinations  might  be,  made  a  very  great  ditference,  but  that 
whatever  they  were,  they  would  be  nothing  lukewarm.  It  was 
about  this  time,  also,  that  Brutus  divorced  his  first  Avife,  Appia, 
the  daughter  of  Appius  Claudius,  and  married  tlie  famous  Porcia, 
his  cousin,  the  daughter  of  Cato.  Soon  after  he  received  another 
mark  of  Caesar's  favour, '^"^  in  being  appointed  Prcetor  Urhanus 
for  the  year  709  ;  and  he  was  holding  that  office  when  he  resolved 
to  become  the  assassin  of  the  man  whose  government  he  had 
twice  acknowledged,  by  consenting  himself  to  act  in  a  public 
station  under  it.  Sir  Matthew  Hale  did  well  to  accept  the  place 
of  judge  during  the  usurpation  of  Cromwell  ;  but  what  should  we 
think  of  him  if  whilst  filling  that  office,  he  had  associated  him- 
self with  Colonel  Titus,  and  other  such  wretches,  in  their  plans 
to  remove  the  protector  by  assassination  ? 

C.  Cassius  Longinus  was  remarkable,  even  Avhen  a  boy,  for 
c.  cassius  Longinus.  the  pridc  and  violence  of  his  temper,  if  we  may  be- 
lieve the  anecdotes  reported  of  him  by  Plutarch^"  and  Valerius 
Maximus.  He  accompanied  M.  Crassus  into  Parthia  as  his  quaestor, 
and  distinguished  himself,  after  the  death  of  his  general,  by  con- 
ducting the  wreck  of  the  Roman  army  back  to  Syria  in  safety. 
We  have  already  spoken  of  him  as  being  one  of  the  tribunes  at 
the  beginning  of  the  civil  war  ;  and  have  mentioned  his  having 
the  command  of  the  Syrian  squadron  in  Pompey's  fleet,  and  the 
interruption  which  he  met  with,  whilst  engaged  successfully 
against  the  enemy,  from  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Pharsalia.  He 
afterwards  resigned  the  contest,  and  submitted  himself  to  Caesar 
in  Asia  Minor,  when  Caesar  was  returning  from  Egypt  into  Italy  ; 
yet  Cicero  assertSj^"^  that  at  that  very  time  he  had  intended  to  as- 
sassinate the  man  whose  clemency  he  was  consenting  to  solicit, 
had  not  an  accident  prevented  the  accomplishment  of  his  purpose. 
He  was  not  only  spared  by  Caesar,  but  was  appointed  by  him  one 
of  his  lieutenants  j^^^  a  favour  bestowed  by  magistrates  on  their 
friends,  in  order  to  invest  them  with  a  public  character,  and  thus 
enable  them  to  reside  or  to  travel  in  the  provinces  with  greater 
comfort  and  dignity.  Even  during  the  last  campaign  of  Caesar 
in  Spain,  Cassius  wrote  to  Cicero,  saying  that  he  was  anxious 

205  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  I.  207  Jn    Bruto,    9.      Valerius   Maximus, 

206  Plutarch,   in  Bruto,  7.     Dion  Gas-     III.  1. 

sius,  XLIV.  246.  20s  Philippic.  II.  11. 

'^^  Cicero,  ad  Fainiliares,  VI.  epist .  VI. 


DECIMUS  BRUTUS,  C.  TREBONIUS,  CIMBER,  GALEA,  ETC.       351 

that  Caesar  should  be  victorious," •"  for  that  he  preferred  an  old 
and  merciful  master  to  a  new  and  cruel  one.  He  also,  together 
with  Brutus,  was  appointed  one  of  the  praetors  for  the  year  709,^" 
at  a  moment  in  which  he  was  entirely  discontented  with  Caesar's 
government,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  person  by  whose  in- 
trigues the  first  elements  of  the  conspiracy  were  formed. 

Next  to  M.  Brutus  and  C.  Cassius,  may  be  ranked  Decimus 
Brutus  and  C.  Trebonius.  These  had  both  served  Decimus  Brutus  and 
Caesar  in  the  civil  war,  and  had  commanded  the  ^  Trebonius. 
land  and  sea  forces  employed  by  him  in  the  siege  of  Massilia. 
Since  that  time  Trebonius  had  been  appointed  proconsul  of  the 
Farther  Spain,  and  more  recently,  as  we  have  seen,  had  enjoyed 
the  title  of  consul  during  the  last  three  months  of  the  year  708. 
Decimus  Brutus  was  chosen  to  succeed  to  the  consulship  in  the  year 
711, '^"^  and  to  the  command  of  the  province  of  Cisalpine  Gaul  imme- 
diately ;  he  was  also  named  by  Caasar  in  his  will,  amongst  those 
persons  who  were  to  inherit  his  fortune,  in  case  of  the  failure  of 
his  direct  heirs.  Another  of  the  conspirators  was 
L.  Tillius  Cimber,  a  man  notorious  for  his  drunken-  '  '  '"^  ""  "' 
ness  and  low  violence,*^'^  who  had  been  throughout  the  civil  war 
a  vehement  partisan  of  Caesar,  and  had  received  from  him  lately 
the  appointment  to  the  province  of  Bithynia.^'^  Ser.  Sulpicius 
Galba,  the  great  grandfather  of  the  emperor  of  that 
name,  had  also  served  under  Caesar  in  Gaul,  and 
probably,  in  the  civil  war  ;  but  he  was  now  offended,  because 
Caesar  had  not  given  him  the  honour  of  the  consulship.^'^  L. 
Minucius  Basilus  is  also  mentioned  as  having  had  a 

d^-w  ,  •       /^        1  o  I  ,^  1  L.  Minucius  Basilus. 

ni  Caesars  army  in  Gaul,^'®  and  as  now 

being  one  of  the  conspirators  against  him;  while -P.  Servilius 

Casca,  Cn.  Domitius  iEiiobarbus,  L.  Pontius  Aquila,  and  Q,.  Liga- 

rius,  had  been  attached  to  the  party  of  Pompey,  although  they 

had  since  submitted,  and  received  the  conqueror's  pardon.     Liga- 

rius,    in  particular,  had   been   suffered  to  return  to 

XI-  ri  ,!•••  r  O,.  Ligarius. 

Italy  m  consequence  01  the  earnest  solicitations  01 
his  friends,  amongst  whom  Cicero  had  appealed  most  strongly  to 
Caesar's  clemency,^'^  and  had  gone  so  far  as  to  represent  Ligarius 
penitent  for  his  fault,  taking  refuge  in  Caesar's  mercy,  and  implor- 
ing pardon  for  his  past  conduct.  Cn.  Domitius^'^  cn.  Domitius 
was  the  son  of  that  L.  Domitius,  who  had  been  the  iEnobarbus. 

210  Ad  Familiares,  XV.  episl.  XIX.  215  Suetonius,  in  Galba,  3. 

211  Plutarch,  in  Bruto,    7.     Cicero,  ad  216  CjEsar,    de    Bello    Gallico,   VI.    29. 
Familiares,  XI.  epist.  II.  III.  He  had  afterwards  fought  in  Spain  under 

212  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  58.  60.  Sue-  Cneius  Ponipeius   in    708,  and  had  then 
tonius,  in  Caesare,  83.  submitted  to  Ccesar,  promising  to  be  failh- 

213  Seneca,  epist.  LXXXIII.     De  Ira,     ful  to  him  hereafter,  as   he    had  been  to 
III.  30.  Pompeius.     Auctor  de  Bell.  Ilispan.  19. 

214  Appian.deBelloCivdi,  III.  2.  Cice-         217  Cicero,  pro  Ligirio,  10. 

ro,  ad  Familiares,  XII.  epist.  XIII.  213  Uig  name  is  mentioned  amongst  the 


352  MOTIVES  OF  THE  CONSPIRATORS. 

unsuccessful  candidate  for  the  consulship,  in  opposition  to  Pom- 
pey  and  Crassus,  in  the  year  698,  who  had  been  appointed  as 
Caesar's  successor  in  Gaul  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war,  who 
had  been  taken  prisoner  at  Corfinium,  and  had  afterwards  been 
killed  at  Pharsalia.  His  son  was  also  the  nephew  of  Cato,  whose 
sister  L.  Domitius  had  married  ;  so  that  this  young  man  was 
likely  to  inherit  a  violent  hatred  against  Caesar  ;  nor  does  it  ap- 
pear that  he  had  ever  imitated  the  conduct  of  Brutus  in  accepting 
places  of  confidence  and  honour  from  the  conqueror. 

The  motives  by  which  the  conspirators  were  actuated,  which, 
perhaps,  they  themselves  could  not  have  analyzed  exactly,  have 
been  variously  guessed  by  historians,  according  to  their  own  pre- 
vailing opinions.  Personal  and  party  feelings  may  be  confounded 
unconsciously  with  patriotism,  even  by  the  very  man  who  is  in- 
fluenced by  them ;  nor  would  it  be  reasonable  to  deny  that  many 
of  Caesar's  murderers  had  persuaded  themselves  that  the  interests 
of  their  country  were  promoted  by  their  act.  But  if  wo  could  in- 
quire by  what  process  they  had  acquired  this  persuasion,  and  with 
how  much  self-deception  it  was  accompanied,  we  should,  it  is  pro- 
bable, find  that  their  motives  were  widely  distinct  from  that  purity, 
and  singleness,  and  sincerity  of  purpose  •  which  are  essential  to 
real  goodness.  At  any  rate,  it  is  clear  that  they  who  had  served 
Caesar  in  the  civil  war,  and  had  shared  in  the  honours  and  ad- 
vantages of  his  victory,  could  with  no  shadow  of  justice  become 
his  murderers.  Their  patriotism  ought  to  have  been  shown  when 
Caesar  first  commenced  his  rebellion  ;  and  had  they  then  followed 
the  example  of  Labienus,  and  forsaken  their  general  when  he 
began  to  be  guilty  of  treason  against  his  country,  their  motives 
might  have  been  unquestioned,  and  their  conduct  would  have 
been  really  just  and  honourable.  Nor  can  even  Brutus  and  Cas- 
sius  be  excused  for  accepting  honours  and  offices  from  a  govern- 
ment which  they  must  have  considered  as  unlawful  and  tyrannical. 
If  Caesar's  power  were  required  by  the  circumstances  of  the  com- 
monwealth, to  destroy  him  was  mischievous;  if  it  were  an  evil 
which  was  only  to  be  endured  so  long  as  it  was  inevitable,  to 
countenance  it  by  acting  under  it  in  a  public  station,  was  an 
abandonment  of  their  duty  to  their  country.  But  above  all,  the 
act  of  assassination  is  in  itself  so  hateful,  and  involves  in  it  so  much 
dissimulation  and  treachery,  that  whatever  allowance  may  be 
made  for  the  perpretrators,  when  we  consider  the  moral  ignorance 
of  the  times  in  which  they  lived,  their  conduct  must  never  be 

assassins  of  Caesir   by  Cicero,   Philippic,  in   it,  anil    did  Cicero  favour  from  policy 

II.  11  ;  but  Suetonius  (in  Nerone,  3,)  says  this   false    pretension?  or  were    Domitius 

that  he  was  accused,  without  foundation,  himself  and  his  posterity  anxious  in  after- 

of  having  had  a  share  in  the  deed.     Was  times  to    deny  the  fact,  when  he  was  re- 

he     among    those    patrician    youths   who  ceiving  the  favours  of  Augustus,  or  when 

joined  the  conspirators  immediately  after  one  of  them,  Nero,  ascended  the  imperial 

the  murder,  wishing  to  appear  concerned  throne  1 


CiESAR'S  WARNINGS.  353. 

spoken  of  without  condemnation.  And  it  is  satisfactory  to  find 
that  crimes  of  this  nature  have  generally  heen  as  fruitless  as  they 
deserved  to  be.  Harmodius  and  Aristogiton,  by  murdering  Hip- 
parchus,  only  subjected  Athens  to  a  heavier  tyranny  ;  and  the 
assassination  of  Caesar  furnished  something  of  a  pretence  to  his 
surviving  followers,  to  involve  the  most  eminent  friends  of  the  com- 
monwealth in  one  unsparing  destruction. 

The  whole  number  of  the  conspirators  is  said  to  have  exceeded 
sixty  ;  and*  their  intention  was  at  first  to  have  effected  their  pur- 
pose either  in  the  street  in  which  Caesar  lived,  or  in  the  Campus 
Martins,  when  he  was  presiding  at  the  elections  of  magistrates ; 
but  when  they  heard  that  the  senate  was  summoned  to  meet  on 
the  fifteenth  of  March,  and  it  was  rumoured  that  the  proposal  of 
bestowing  on  Cassar  the  title  of  king  was  then  to  be  brought  for- 
ward, they  fixed  upon  that  day,  and  on  that  meeting  of  the  senate, 
as  the  time  and  place  best  suited  for  their  attempt. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fourteenth  of  March,  Caesar  was  supping 
with  M.  Lepidus,  his  master  of  the  horse,  who  was     Events  which  hap 

,',  ,^-,1-  .,  ,  pened    previous   to 

now  at  the  head  01  a  body  of  troops  wuhout  the  caesar  3  murder. 
walls,2i9  and  was  preparing  shortly  to  march  with  them  into 
Transalpine  Gaul,  which  had  been  assigned  to  him  by  Caesar  as 
his  province.  It  happened  that  Caesar  was  engaged  in  writing, 
when  the  rest  of  the  party  began  to  discuss  the  queslion,  "  What 
kind  of  death  is  most  to  be  desired  ?"  The  subject  on  which 
they  were  talking  caught  his  attention,  and  he  cried  out,  before 
any  one  else  had  expressed  an  opinion,  "  That  the  best  death  was 
a  sudden  one."  A  coincidence  so  remarkable  was  likely  to  be 
remembered  afterwards  by  all  who  had  been  present ;  but  it  is 
said,  also,  that  he  had  been  often  warned  by  the  augurs  to  beware 
of  the  Ides  of  March  f'^'^  and  these  predictions  had,  probably, 
wrought  on  the  mind  of  his  wife,  Calpurnia,  so  that,  on  the  night 
that  preceded  that  dreaded  day,  her  rest  was  broken  by  feverish 
dreams,  and  in  the  morning  her  impression  of  fear  was  so  strong, 
that  she  earnestly  besought  her  husband  not  to  stir  from  home. 
He  himself,  we  are  told,  felt  himself  a  little  unwell  f"^^  and  being 
thus  more  ready  to  be  infected  by  superstitious  fears,  he  was  in- 
clined to  comply  with  Calpurnia's  wishes,  and  allowed  some  part 
of  the  morning  to  pass  away,  and  the  senate  to  be  already  assem- 
bled, without  having  as  yet  quitted  his  house.  At  such  a  moment 
the  conspirators  were  alive  to  every  suspicion  ;  and  becoming 
uneasy  at  his  delay,  Decimus  Brutus  was  sent  to  call  on  him,'^''' 
and  to  persuade  him  to  attend  the  senate,  by  urging  to  him  the 
offence  that  he  would  naturally  give,  if  he  appeared  to  slight  that 
body  at  the  very  moment  when  they  were  preparing  to  confer  on 

219  Dion  Cassius,  XLTII.  240  ;  XLIV.         2:0  Plutarch,  63      Suetonius,  81. 
24*(.     Plutarch,.in  CiEsare,  6.3.   Suetonius,         291  Suetonius,  81. 
87.  222  Suetonius,  81.     Plutarch,  64. 


354  CESAR'S  ASSASSINATION. 

him  the  title  of  king.  Decimus  Brutus  visited  Ca3sar,  and  being 
entirely  in  his  confidence,  his  arguments  were  listened  to,  and 
Csesar  set  out  about  eleven  o'clock  to  go  to  the  senate-house. 
He  is  nearly  warned  in  Whcii  hc  was  ou  hls  Way  thithcr,  Artemidorus  of 
time  of  his  danger.  Cuidus,  a  Grcck  sophist,  who  was  admitted  into  the 
houses  of  some  of  the  conspirators,  and  had  there  become  acquainted 
with  some  facts  that  had  excited  his  suspicions,  approached  him 
with  a  written  statement  of  the  information  which  he  had  obtained, 
and  putting  it  into  his  hands,  begged  him  to  read  it  instantly,  as 
it  was  of  the  last  importance.  Cassar,  it  is  said,  tried  to  look  at 
it,  but  he  was  prevented  by  the  crowd  which  pressed  around  him, 
and  by  the  numerous  writings  of  various  sorts  that  were  presented 
to  him  as  he  passed  along.  Still,  however,  he  held  it  in  his  hand, 
and  continued  to  keep  it  there  when  he  entered  the  senate-house. 

M.  Antonius,  who  was  at  this  time  Caesar's  colleague  in  the 
Antoniu:*  is  taken  consulshlp,  was  OU  tho  polut  of  following  him  into 
at't1fe''e,nranceof  ll^e  scnatc,  whcu  C.  Trcbonlus  called  him  aside,^"^ 
the  senate.  j^,^(j  detained  him  without,  by  professing  to  desire 

some  conversation  with  him.  It  is  said  that  some  of  the  conspir- 
ators had  wished  to  include  him  in  the  fate  of  Csesar ;  but  Brutus 
had  objected  to  it  as  a  piece  of  unnecessary  bloodshed  ;  and  when 
it  was  remembered  that  he  himself,  not  long  ago,  had  proposed  to 
Trebonius  the  very  act  which  they  were  now  about  to  perform, 
they  consented  that  his  life  should  not  be  endangered.  Meantime, 
as  Caesar  entered  the  senate-house,  all  the  senators  rose  to  receive 
him.  The  conspirators  had  contrived  to  surround  his  person  in 
the  street,  and  they  now  formed  his  immediate  train  as  he  passed 
on  to  the  curule  chair,  which  had  been  prepared,  as  usual  for  his 
reception.  That  chair  had  been  placed  near  the  pedestal  of  a 
statue  of  Pompey  the  Great ;  for  the  building  in  whicli  the  senate 
was  assembled  had  been  one  of  Pompey's  public  works  ;"<  and 
it  is  said  that  Cassius,'^^^  labouring  under  the  strong  feeling  of  the 
moment,  turned  himself  to  the  image,  and  seemed  to  implore  its 
assistance  in  the  deed  which  was  to  be  perpetrated. 

When  Caesar  had  taken  his  seat,  the  conspirators  gathered 
Assassination  of  cs-  morc  closelv  arouud  him,  and  L.  Tillius  Cimber 

sar,  March  15th,  U.C.  .        i  ,    •  -r  r^  •    •  oo^         i    •    i 

7U9,  A.  c.  44  or  45.  approaclicd  hmi  as  if  to  orier  some  petition, '^-^  which 
he  continued  to  press  with  vehemence  when  Csesar  seemed  un- 
willing to  grant  it,  and  the  other  conspirators  joined  in  supporting 
his  request.  At  last,  when  Csesar  appeared  impatient  of  further 
importunity,  Cimber  took  hold  of  his  robe  and  pulled  it  down  from 
his  shoulders ;  an  action  which  was  the  signal  agreed  upon  with 
his  associates  for  commencing  their  attack.     It  is  said  that   the 

223  Cicero,    Philippic.  II.   14.     Velleius         ♦25  Plutarch,  in    Caesare,  66. 
Paterculus,  II.  58  226  Suetonius,  82.     Plutarch,  66. 

221  "  Curia  Pompeia."     Cicero,  de  Di- 
vinatione,  II.  9. 


CHARACTER  OF  C^SAR. 


355 


dagger  of  P.  Casca  took  the  lead  in  the  work  of  blood,  and  that 
Caesar,  in  the  first  instance  of  surprise,  attempted  to  resist  and 
to  force  his  way  through  the  circle  which  surrounded  him.  But 
when  all  the  conspirators  rushed  upon  him,  and  were  so  eager  to 
have  a  share  in  his  death,  that  they  wounded  one  another  in  the 
confusion,  he  drew  his  robe  closely  round  him,  and  having  covered 
his  face,  fell  without  a  struggle  or  a  groan.  He  received  three  and 
twenty  wounds,  and  it  was  observed  that  the  blood,  as  it  streamed 
from  then*,  bathed  the  pedestal  of  Pompey's  statue.  No  sooner 
was  the  murder  finished,  than  M,  Brutus,*^"  raising  his  gory  dagger 
in  his  hand,  turned  round  towards  the  assembled  senators,  and 
called  on  Cicero  by  name,  congratulating  him  on  the  recovery  of 
their  country's  liberty.  But  to  preserve  order  at  such  a  moment 
was  hopeless  :  the  senators  fled  in  dismay  ;  Antonius  made  haste 
to  escape  to  his  house ;  and  a  universal  consternation  was  spread 
through  the  city;  till  the  conspirators,  going  in  a  body  to  the 
forum,  addressed  the  people,  and  by  assuring  them  that  no  vio- 
lence was  intended  to  any  one,  but  that  their  only  object  had  been 
to  assert  the  liberty  of  Rome,  they  succeeded  in  restoring  com- 
parative tranquillity.  Still,  however,  distrusting  the  state  of  the 
popular  feeling,  they  withdrew  into  the  capitol,  which  Decimus 
Brutus  had  secured  with  a  band  of  gladiators  whom  he  retained 
in  his  service ;  and  there,  having  been  joined  by  several  of  the 
nobility,  they  passed  the  first  night  after  the  murder.  Meanwhile, 
the  body  of  Caesar  was  left  for  some  hours,  amidst  the  general 
confusion,  on  the  spot  where  it  fell  ;"^  till  at  last  three  of  his  slaves 
placed  it  on  a  litter,  and  carried  it  home,  one  of  the  arms  hanging 
down  on  the  outside  of  the  litter,  and  presenting  a  ghastly  spec- 
tacle. It  was  asserted  by  the  surgeon,  who  examined  the  wounds, 
that  out  of  so  many,  one  alone  was  mortal ;  that,  namely,  which 
he  had  received  in  the  breast  when  he  first  attempted  to  break 
through  the  circle  of  his  assassins, 

Caesar  is  said  to  have  been  in  his  stature  tall,"'  and  of  a  fair 
complexion,  but  with  black  and  lively  eyes.  In 
attention  to  his  person  and  dress  he  almost  exceeded  ^^""'='"°'"  ^'^''''• 
the  bounds  of  mere  neatness  ;  and  in  gratifying  his  tastes  for  villas, 
furniture,  pictures,  statues,  and  in  the  choice  of  his  slaves,  he  was 
accustomed  to  spare  no  expense  or  trouble.  He  was  temperate  in 
his  eating  and  drinking,  as  became  a  soldier  ;  and  his  activity  of 
body  corresponded  with  the  extraordinary  vigour  of  his  mind.  It 
is  a  remarkable  feature  in  his  character,  that  he  seems  to  have 
been  alive  to  so  many  and  such  various  enjoyments ;  excessively 
addicted  to  gross  sensualities,  a  lover  of  every  kind  of  intellectual 
gratification,  from  the  humblest  of  the  fine  arts  to  the  highest  and 

S2V  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  12.   35.  Dion         22s  Suetonius,  82. 
Cassius,  XLIV.  249,  250.  229  guetonius,  45,  46,  47. 


356  CHARACTER  OF  C^SAR. 

deepest  parts  of  philosophy,  enamoured  at  the  same  time  of  popu- 
lar honours,  and,  above  all  things,  ambitious  of  political  greatness. 
He  is  said  to  have  composed  two  books.^^n  a  q^  ^j^g  Method  of 
speaking  Latin  with  the  greatest  Propriety,"  while  he  was  cross- 
ing the  Alps  on  his  return  from  his  winter  quarters  in  the  north 
of  Italy  to  rejoin  his  army  in  Gaul ;  and  on  another  occasion  he 
wrote  a  poem  entitled  "  The  Journey,"  while  he  was  travelling 
into  Spam  with  the  utmost  rapidity  to  oppose  the  progress  of  the 
sons  of  Pompey  in  the  year  7U8.  His  "  Commentaries,"  which 
alone,  of  all  his  writings,  have  reached  posterity,  are  admirably 
calculated  to  answer  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  designed, 
the  impressing  his  leaders  with  the  most  favourable  notions  of 
himself.  Although  the  representations  which  they  contain  are  a 
continued  picture  of  his  abilities  and  successes,  yet,  because  they 
are  given  in  a  quiet  and  unpretending  style,  they  have  gained 
credit  for  trut  i  and  impartiality  ;  and  critics,  in  their  simplicity, 
have  extolled  the  modesty  of  the  author,  because  he  speaks  of 
himself  in  the  third  person.  As  a  general,  it  is  needless  to  pro- 
nounce his  eulogy  ;  we  may  observe,  however,  that  the  quality 
which  most  contributed  to  his  success  on  several  occasions  was 
his  great  activity  ;  and  although  this  may  seem  a  virtue  no  way 
peculiar  to  men  of  superior  minds,  yet  in  the  practical  business  of 
life  there  is  none  which  produces  more  important  results.  Nor  is 
it,  in  fact,  an  ordinary  quality  when  exhibited  in  persons  invested 
with  extensive  power ;  for  then  it  implies  quickness  and  decision 
in  difiiculties,  than  which  nothing  conl'ers  on  one  man  a  more  com- 
manding superiority  over  others.  In  his  political  career  Caesar  was 
at  once  patient  and  daring  ;  and  the  uniform  success  of  all  his 
schemes  through  so  many  years,  must  prove  his  judgment  in  the 
choice  of  means  to  accomplish  his  purposes.  One  weakness  he 
seems  to  have  possessed,  and  that  was  vanity  ;  which  he  indulged 
unseasonably  and  fatally  in  receiving  so  greedily  the  honours 
which  were  at  last  heaped  upon  him,  and  in  disgusting  the  public 
feeling  by  expressing,  with  so  little  reserve,  his  sense  of  his  own 
superiority.  The  submissions  which  he  met  with  were  indeed 
enough  to  excite  his  arrogance  ;  for  not  the  most  servile  flattery  of 
our  own  clergy  and  lawyers  to  the  Tudor  and  Stuart  princes  can 
equal  the  meanness  and  extravagance  of  the  language  addressed  to 
Caesar  by  the  republican  Romans.  In  fact,  we  see  from  ditibrent 
parts  oi  Cicero's  works,  and  particularly  from  many  of  the  letters 
inserted  in  the  collection  of  his  correspondence,  that  the  expressions 
used  by  inferiors  towards  their  superiors  in  rank,  seem  to  imply 
very  little  independence  of  feeling  in  the  bidk  of  the  Roman  peo- 
ple: and  the  excessive  compliments  which  Cicero  delighted  to 
receive,  and  which  he  paid  with  equal  liberality,  betray  a  littleness 

230  Cicero,  de  claris  Oratoribus,  72.  Suetonius,  56. 


CHARACTER  OF  C^SAR.  357 

and  indelicacy  of  mind  which  we  should  not  have  expected  to 
meet  with  in  men  of  high  birth  and  station,  the  citizens  of  a  free 
commonwealth. 

If  from  the  intellectual  we  turn  to  the  moral  character  of  Caesar, 
the  whole  range  of  history  can  hardly  furnish  a  picture  of  greater 
deformity.  Never  did  any  man  occasion  so  large  an  amount  of 
human  misery,  with  so  little  provocation.  In  his  campaigns  in 
Gaul,  he  is  said  to  have,  destroyed  1,000,000  of  men  in  battle,'^^' 
and  to  have  made  prisoners  1,000,000  more,  many  of  whom  were 
destined  to  perish  as  gladiators,  and  all  were  torn  from  their  coun- 
try and  reduced  to  slavery.  The  slaughter  which  he  occasioned 
in  the  civil  wars  cannot  be  computed ;  nor  can  we  estimate  the 
degree  of  suffering  caused  in  every  part  of  the  empire  by  his  spoli- 
ations and  confiscations,  and  by  the  various  acts  of  extortion  and 
oppression  which  he  tolerated  in  his  followers.  "When  we  con- 
sider that  the  sole  object  of  his  conquests  in  Gaul  was  to  enrich 
himself  and  to  discipline  his  army,  that  he  might  be  enabled  the 
better  to  attack  his  country ;  and  that  the  sole  provocation  on 
which  he  commenced  the  civil  war,  was  the  resolution  of  the 
senate  to  recall  him  from  a  command  which  he  had  already  en- 
joyed for  nine  years,  after  having  obtained  it  in  the  beginning  by 
tumult  and  violence  ;  we  may  judge  what  credit  ought  to  be  given 
him  for  his  clemency  in  not  opening  lists  of  proscription  after  his 
sword  had  already  cut  off  his  principal  adversaries,  and  had  lev^el- 
led  their  party  with  the  dust.  Yet  after  all  his  crimes,  the  cir- 
cumstances of  his  death  render  him  almost  an  object  of  compas- 
sion \  and  though  it  cannot  be  said  of  his  assassins,  that 

"  Their  greater  crime  made  his  like  specks  appear, 
From  which  the  sun  in  glory  is  not  clear," 

yet  we  naturally  sympathize  with  the  victim,  when  the  murderers, 
by  having  abetted  or  countenanced  his  offences,  had  deprived 
themselves  of  all  just  title  to  punish  them,  and  when  his  fall  was 
only  accomplished  by  the  treachery  of  assassination. 

231  Plutarch,  in  Cffisare.  15.     Pliny  has  the   persons   whom   Ca33ar  had  killed  in 

estimated  the  sum  with  greater   minute-  war  to   amount  altogether  to  1,192,000, 

ness,  probably  from  the  returns  exhibited  exclusive  of  those  who  had  perished  in  the 

at  Caesar's  triumphs  of  the  number  of  en-  civil  war,  and  of  whom  no  account  was 

emies  whom  he  had  destroyed.  Pie  makes  taken.     Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  VII.  25. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CAIUS  OCTAVIUS  C^SAR  AUGUSTUS.— A  VIEW  OF  THE  HISTORY 
OF  ROME.— FROM  U.C.  709  TO  U.C.  722,  A.C.  45  TO  A.C.  32. 

We  have  already  spoken  slightly  of  the  family  of  Augustus 
u  c.  709  to 722,  A.  c.  Cscsar,  aud  have  mentioned  his  relationship  to  C, 
parerftege  and'  early  JuHus  Ca^sar,  as  beiiig  thc  graudsou  of  his  sister 
life  or  Augustus.  Julia.  Julia  married  M.  Attius  Balbus,  a  native  of 
Aricia/  who  rose  to  the  rnnk  of  praetor  at  Rome  ;  and  Attia,  their 
daughter,  married  C.  Octavius,  a  man  of  respectable  family,  who 
also  obtained  the  same  dignity,  and  died  when  he  was  on  the 
point  of  offering  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  consulship.  He 
left  behind  him  one  son,  C.  Octavius,  who  was  born  at  Rome  on 
the  twenty-third  of  September,  u.c.  690.  in  the  consulship  of  M.  Ci- 
cero and  C.  Antonius.  The  young  Octavius  lost  his  farher  when 
he  was  only  four  years  old,  and  his  mother  soon  after  married  L. 
Philippus,  under  whose  care  he  was  brought  up,  till  his  great 
uncle,  Julius  Cfesar,  having  no  children,  began  to  regard  him  as 
his  heir,'^  and  when  he  was  between  sixteen  and  seventeen  years 
of  age,  bestowed  on  him  some  military  rewards  at  the  celebration 
of  his  triumph  for  his  victories  in  Africa.^  In  the  following  year  he 
accompanied  his  uncle  into  Spain,  where  he  is  said  to  have  given 
signs  of  talents  and  of  activity  ;  and  in  the  winter  of  that  same 
year  he  was  sent,  as  we  have  seen,  to  ApoUonia  in  Epirus,  there 
to  employ  himself  in  completing  his  education  till  Caesar  should 
be  ready  to  take  him  with  him  on  his  expedition  against  the  Par- 
thians.  He  was  accordingly  living  quietly  at  Apollonia  when  the 
news  of  his  uncle's  death  called  him  forward,  when  hardly  more 
than  eighteen  years  of  age,  to  act  a  principal  part  in  the  conten- 
tions of  the  times. 

On  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth  of  March,  Brutus  and  Cassius, 
state  of  affiairs  in  With  their  assoclatcs,  were  still  in  the  capitol,  and 
de°aTh.  '  ^     Cicero  and  several  other  persons  attached  to  the 

aristocratical  party^  had  joined  them  there.  Antonius  finding  him- 
self exposed  to  no  danger,  appeared  again  in  public,  as  consul ; 

1  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  4.  3  Suetonius,  8. 

2  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  59.  *  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  35. 


DISPOSITION  OF  THE  VETERANS.  359 

and  Dolabella,^  who  had  been  appointed  by  Caesar  to  succeed  him 
in  the  consulship,  as  soon  as  he  should  commence  his  expedition 
against  the  Parthians,  now  at  once  assumed  the  ensigns  of  that 
dignity ;  although  with  strange  inconsistency  he  went  up  into 
the  capitol  to  visit  the  conspirators,  and  if  Appian  may  be  be- 
lieved,* strongly  inveighed  against  the  late  dictator  in  a  speech 
addressed  to  the  multitude  in  the  forum.  M.  Lepidus,  who,  as 
we  have  seen,  was  at  this  time  invested  with  a  military  command, 
having  been  lately  appointed  to  the  government  of  the  Nearer 
Spain,  had  some  intentions",  it  is  said,  of  availing  himself  of  his 
actual  power  to  establish  himself  in  the  place  of  Csesar ;''  but  An- 
tonius,  who  had  no  wish  to  see  his  own  views  thus  anticipated, 
easily  prevailed  upon  him  to  lay  aside  such  designs  for  the  pre- 
sent ;  representing  to  him,  we  may  suppose,  the  danger  of  such 
an  attempt,  and  encouraging  him  with  the  prospect  of  obtaining 
hereafter  all  that  he  desired,  if  he  would  consent  to  temporize  at 
the  moment.  But  the  real  obstacle  to  the  restoration  of  the  com- 
monwealth, consisted  in  the  numbers  and  dispositions  of  Caesar's 
veteran  soldiers,  many  of  whom  were  waiting  in  Disposition  of  the 
Rome  to  receive  their  promised  allotments  of  land  ;  veterans. 
and  others  had  come  up  from  their  new  settlements  to  compli- 
ment then-  old  general,  by  attending  in  his  train  when  he  should 
march  out  of  the  city  to  commence  his  eastern  expedition.^  These 
then  naturally  resented  the  death  of  their  benefactor,  and  feared 
at  the  same  time  lest  they  should  be  deprived  of  their  grants  of 
land  if  he  were  declared  a  tyrant,  and  his  acts  should  be  reversed. 
They  were  therefore  a  great  encouragement  to  Antonius  and  Lepi- 
dus, and  gave  such  alarm  to  the  conspirators,  that  they  remained 
in  the  capitol,  still  trusting  to  the  gladiators  of  Decimus  Brutus 
for  protection,  and  not  venturing  to  expose  their  persons  in  the 
streets  or  in  the  forum.  Nor  were  the  veterans  the  only  set  of  men 
who  were  interested  in  upholding  the  legality  of  Caesar's  govern- 
ment. He  had  nominated,  as  we  have  seen,  the  principal  magis- 
trates of  the  commonwealth  for  the  next  two  years,  under  pre- 
tence of  preventing  any  disorders  during  his  absence  in  Asia  ; 
and  the  individuals  who,  by  virtue  of  these  appointments,  were 
either  in  the  actual  enjoyment  or  in  the  expectation  of  offices 
either  honourable  or  lucrative,  were  little  disposed  to  submit  their 
pretensions  to  the  chance  of  being  confirmed  or  rejected  by  the 
free  votes  of  the  Roman  people.  Besides,  the  late  civil  war  had 
so  extended  over  every  part  of  the  empire,  and  every  province 
contained  so  many  persons  who  had  risen  to  affluence  or  distinc- 
tion in  consequence  of  the  offices  or  of  the  grants  of  forfeited 
estates  conferred  on  them  by  Caesar,  that  to  repel  all  his  measures, 

5  Dion  Cassius,  XLIV.  250.    '  1  Dion  Cassius,  XLIV.  257. 

s  De  Bello  Civili,  II.  122.  s  Appian,  de  Bello  Civili,  II.  119. 

24 


360  MEETING  OF  THE  SENATE. 

and  to  brand  his  government  as  an  usurpation,  would  have  at 
once  unsettled  the  whole  existing  order  of  society.  The  foreign- 
ers who  had  been  admitted  to  the  rights  of  Roman  citizens,  and 
the  many  individuals  who,  in  the  course  of  the  late  commotions, 
had  risen  from  humble  stations  to  greatness,  would  have  ill 
brooked  the  return  of  that  exclusive  and  insulting  system  Avhich 
was  upheld  by  the  friends  of  the  old  aristocracy. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  act  of  the  assassins  of  Csesar 
was  likely  to  have  no  other  effect  than  to  expose  their  country  to 
a  fresh  series  of  miseries,  from  which  it  would  have  no  better  pros- 
pect of  relief,  than  a  return  at  last  to  that  very  military  despot- 
ism which  they  had  so  rashly  attempted  to  overthrow.  Cicero 
indeed  had  advised  the  only  measiu'e  which  could  have  given  the 
conspirators  any  chance  of  maintaining  their  ground  in  Rome  ;' 
for  he  had  urged  Brutus  and  Cassius  to  summon  the  senate,  by 
their  authority  as  prastors,  to  assemble  in  the  capitol  immediately 
after  Csesar's  death,  before  Antonius  had  recovered  from  his  panic, 
or  the  veterans  had  had  time  to  calculate  their  own  strength  or  to 
look  out  for  a  new  leader.  But  this  counsel  was  not  followed ; 
and  it  was  left  for  Antonius,  in  his  character  of  consul,  to  call  the 
senate  together  at  the  temple  of  the  Earth  on  the  seventeenth  of 
March, ^''  when  the  doors  of  the  assembly  were  beset  by  Caesar's 
veterans  in  arms,  and  when  they  who  hoped  that  they  had  re- 
stored the  old  constitution  of  the  commonwealth  dared  not  even 
to  leave  the  shelter  of  the  capitol.  Nor  was  it  a  slight  circum- 
stance, that  Calpurnia,  Cassar's  widow,  had  put  into  Antonius's 
hands  the  money  and  all  the  papers  of  her  late  husband;"  a  trust 
from  which  he  intended  to  derive  the  most  important  benefits. 

In  the  meeting  of  the  senate  on  the  seventeenth  of  March,  the 
Meeting  of  the  senate  I'eviving  Strength  of  Ceesar's  party  was  already  dis- 
on  the  i7tii  of  March,  tiuctly  marked.  Instead  of  declaring  him  a  tyrant, 
it  was  ordered  that  the  late  dictator  should  be  honoured  with  the 
usual  funeral  rites  paid  to  distinguished  persons,"^  and  that  Anto- 
nius should  deliver  to  the  multitude  an  oration  in  his  praise.  All 
his  acts  were  confirmed  ;  his  appointments  of  public  ofiicers  for 
the  next  two  years  were  pronounced  valid  ;  and  all  the  grants  of 
lands  made  to  the  veterans  were  to  be  preserved  inviolable.  In 
return  for  these  concessions,  the  partisans  of  Ccesar  acceded  to 
Cicero's  proposal,^ ^  that  the  whole  transaction  of  the  ides  of  March 
should  be  consigned  to  oblivion,  and  that  all  hostile  designs  should 
be  relinquished  on  all  sides.  Antonius  in  particular  expressed 
himself  warmly  in  favour  of  a  general  and  lasting  peace ;  and 
this  being  the  prevailing  feeling  of  the  assembly,  the  act  of  ob- 

9  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  X.  12  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  VL 

10  Cicero.ad  Atticum.XIV.  epist.  XIV.;     IX.  X.    J'hilippic,  I.  1.  7. 

and  Philippic,  II.  35.  13  Cicero,  Philippic.  I.  I.  13  ;  11.36. 

"Ji  Appian,  II.  125. 


CESAR'S  FUNERAL.  3gl 

livion  was  passed  :  Antoniiis   sent  his  son  to  the       j^  gg^^^^,  ^^^j  ^^ 
capitol  as  a  hostage  for  his  sincerity.     The  princi-       amnesty  passes. 
pal  conspirators  then  descended  from  it ;  and  we  are  told  that 
Brutus  that  same  evening  supped  with  Lepidus,  and  Cassius  with 
Antonius.'* 

After  this  apparent  termination  of  all  dissensions,  the  conduct 
of  Antonius  was  exceedingly  artful.  He  frequently  invited  the 
most  distinguished  members  of  the  senate  to  his  house,  and  con- 
sulted them  as  to  the  measures  which  it  would  be  expedient  to 
pursue.  On  the  other  hand,  by  coming  forward  to  deliver  Cassar's 
funeral  oration,  he  gave  the  veterans  reason  to  understand  that 
he  was  really  attached  to  their  late  commander,  and  would  not 
fail,  when  an  opportunity  should  otfer,  to  act  upon  his  real  senti- 
ments.    In  the  meantime  Caesar's  will  was  opened 

1  -1  J     -J.  -\    ^^      J.    r^    r\   J.       ■  Caesar's  will  opened. 

and  rea(||  and  it  appeared  that  u.  Uctavius  was 
named  the  heir  to  the  greatest  part  of  the  property,  ^^  a.j^(j  ^i^g^j  \-^q 
was  adopted  into  the  name  and  family  of  Caesar.  Several  of  the 
conspirators  had  been  appointed  guardians  to  Caesar's  son,  if  ever 
he  should  have  one ;  and  Decimus  Brutus,  as  has  been  said  be- 
fore, was  mentioned  amongst  those  who  were  to  inherit  his  for- 
tune, in  case  of  the  failure  of  his  regular  heirs.  To  the  Roman 
people  Caesar  bequeathed  his  gardens  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Tiber  ;  and  to  each  citizen  a  sum  of  money  amounting  to  about 
21.  Ss.  His  funeral  was  prepared  in  a  style  of  great 
magnificence;'*  the  pile  on  which  the  body  was  to  ^^'"^  "*"" 

be  consumed  had  been  raised  in  the  Campus  Martins ;  and  a 
small  model  of  the  temple  of  Venus  Genitrix,  which  he  had  built 
and  dedicated,  was  placed  in  front  of  the  rostra  in  order  to  receive 
the  bier,  whilst  the  funeral  oration  was  delivered.  The  bier  was 
made  of  ivory,  and  covered  with  scarlet  and  gold,  and  at  the  head 
of  it  was  displayed  on  a  pole  the  very  dress  in  which  he  had  been 
assassinated.  In  the  dramatic  entertainments  which  were  ex- 
hibited as  a  part  of  the  solemnity,  passages  were  selected  from 
the  plays  of  Pacuvius  and  Attius,  which  the  audience  might 
readily  apply  to  the  circumstances  of  Caesar's  fate ;  particularly 
one  line  from  Pacuvius, 

"  Was  I  so  merciful, 
But  to  provide  assassins  for  myself?" 

When  then  Antonius  came  forward  in  the  rostra  to  speak  the  fu- 
neral oration,  he  ordered  the  crier  to  read  aloud  to  the  multitude 
all  the  decrees  of  the  senate,  by  which  Caesar  had  been  invested 
with  so  many  and  such  extraordinary  honours,  and  the  oath 
which   all  the  senators  had   taken  to  defend  his  person ;  after 

i<  Dion  Cassius,  XLIV.  257.    Plutarch,        is  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  83.  • 
in  Brute,  19.  '^  Suetonius,  in  Csesare,  84. 


362  RIOTS  OF  THE  POPULACE. 

which  he  added  only  a  few  words  of  his  own.i^  But  his  purpose 
was  sufficiently  answered,  and  enough  had  been  done  to  excite 
the  feelings  of  the  multitude,  disposed  as  they  were  of  themselves 
to  remember  Caesar's  brilliant  achievements  with  admiration,  and 
his  liberalities  with  gratitude  and  regret.  Instead  of  carrying  the 
body  to  the  Campus  Martins,  some  proposed  to  burn  it  in  the  tem- 
ple of  Jupiter  in  the  capitol,  and  others  in  the  senate-house  of 
Pompey,  which  had  been  the  scene  of  his  murder.  But  on  a  sud- 
den, two  of  the  veteran  soldiers  who  attended  the  funeral,  stepped 
forward  armed  with  their  swords,  and  each  holding  two  javelins 
His  bodr  burned  in  iH  his  hand,  and  set  fire  to  the  bier  with  lighted 
the  forum.  torchos  lu  the  place  where  it  was  standing  in  the 

front  of  the  rostra.  The  flames  were  fed  by  the  zeal  of  the  sur- 
rounding crowd  with  a  quantity  of  dry  brush-wood,  and  with  the 
benches  and  seats  which  were  usually  left  in  the  fori|»i :  those 
who  had  brought  offerings  of  various  kinds  to  present  them  at 
the  funeral  pile,  now  threw  them  in  to  increase  the  conflagration  ; 
the  musicians  and  actors  in  the  funeral  games  stripped  olf  their 
dresses,  and  cast  them  also  into  the  fire  ;  several  matrons  added 
their  own  ornaments,  and  those  of  their  children,  while  the  vete- 
ran soldiers  crowned  the  whole  with  the  offering  of  their  own 
arms.  Groups  of  foreigners  of  various  nations  were  seen  express- 
ing their  grief  according  to  the  fashion  of  their  several  comitries  : 
and  amongst  these  the  Jews  were  particularly  remarkable  ;  tlieir 
hatred  to  Pompey  for  his  violation  of  the  sanctity  of  their  temple 
having,  perhaps,  disposed  them  to  support  the  cause  of  his  adver- 
Riots  of  the  populace  s^iy.  Whcu  the  populaco  were  satiated  with  feed- 
on  that  occasion.  jj^g  jj^g  fjj.g^  tjjgy  disperscd  iu  all  directions,  bent 
upon  violence  and  bloodshed.  They  attacked  the  houses  of  those 
persons  who  were  known  to  be  adverse  to  Caesar  ;'3  and  especial- 
ly those  of  the  chief  conspirators,  Brutus  and  Cassius,  whence 
they  were  driven  off  by  force  of  arms,  as  in  the  old  disorders  and 
contests  between  Clodius  and  Milo.  In  the  midst  of  their  fury, 
they  fell  in  with  a  man  by  name  Helvius  Cinna ;  and  mistaking 
him  for  Cornelius  Cinna,  who  had  given  great  offence  by  a  speech 
delivered  the  day  before,  full  of  invective  against  Caesar,  they 
instantly  nun-dered  him,  and  carried  his  head  about  with  them 
on  the  head  of  a  pike.  This  display  of  the  temper  of  the  popu- 
lace served  the  purposes  of  Antonius  by  intimidating  the  conspir- 
ators ;  but  as  he  designed  to  establish  his  power  on  a  surer  basis 
than  the  support  of  a  riotous  rabble,  he  appeared  to  give  no  coun- 
tenance to  their  excesses.     A  mixed  multitude,  consisting  of  slaves, 

I''  Perpauca  a  se  verba  addidit. — Sue-  speech  which  he  ascribes  to   Cicero,  and 

tonius,  in  Caesare,  84.  Dion  Cassius  makes  which  is  about  as  genuine  as  the  pretended 

him    deliver    a    speech    on  this   occasion  funeral  oration  of  Antonius. 

which  occupies  nearly  nine  folio  pages. —  '^  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  36.    Suetonius, 

He  had  just  before  filled  six  pages  with  a  in  Ceesare,  85. 


STORY  OF  C.  AMATIUS.  353 

and  foreigners,  and  citizens  of  the  lowest  class,  erected  a  marble 
pillar,*'  twenty  feet  high,  in  the  forum,  with  an  inscription  declar- 
ing it  to  be  dedicated  to  Caesar,  under  the  title  of  "  Father  of  his 
country."  Close  by  this  pillar  there  was  an  altar  raised,  on  which 
sacrifices  continued  for  some  time  to  be  offered  to  Caesar  as  a  god ; 
and  parties  at  variance  with  one  another  would  come  to  this  spot, 
and  decide  their  quarrels  by  an  oath  in  Caesar's  name.  The 
groups  that  used  to  assemble  round  this  column  menaced  the  cap- 
ital daily  with  scenes  of  outrage  similar  to  those  which  had  been 
exhibited  at  Caesar's  funeral ;  till  P.  Dolabella  proceeded  to  dis- 
perse them,  and  with  the  usual  summary  severity  Doiabeiia  disperses 
of  a  Roman  magistrate,  crucified  a  number  of  the  "le  rioters. 
slaves,  and  threw  down  from  the  Tarpeian  rock  those  free  citi- 
zens who  were  most  forward  in  exciting  these  disturbances.*^"  It 
is  said  that  when  Dolabella  returned  to  his  house  after  these  exe- 
cutions, he  was  followed  by  a  crowd  of  all  ranks  of  persons,  testi- 
fying their  admiration  of  his  conduct ;  that  he  received  similar 
applauses  shortly  afterwards  in  the  theatre  ;  and  that  Cicero  was 
warmly  compUmented  by  his  friends  on  this  earnest  of  patriotic 
intentions  which  his  son-in-law  had  afforded. 

•  Antonius  had  also  an  opportunity  about  the  same  time  of 
araining  the  good  opinion  of  the  hiarher  classes  of 

°.^-  °    1  .-  •  •       -1  °  rni  Story  of  C.  Amatius, 

Citizens  by  acting  in  a  similar  manner.  There  the  pretended  grand- 
was  a  man  of  very  low  origin,  of  the  name  of  C.  ^°°°^^''""'- 
Amatius,  who  some  months  before,  in  the  lifetime  of  Caesar, 
had  claimed  to  be  the  grandson  of  the  famous  Marius,  and  had 
applied  to  Cicero  as  a  relation  and  townsman  of  Marius,*'  to  sup- 
port him  in  making  good  his  pretensions.  Cicero  was  not  dis- 
posed to  commit  himself  by  maintaining  such  a  cause ;  but  the 
name  of  Marius  was  popular  amongst  a  large  proportion  of  the 
common  people  ;  and  we  are  told  that  almost  all  the  companies 
of  the  different  trades  in  Rome,^^  together  with  some  of  the  newly 
founded  colonies  of  the  veterans,  and  even  some  considerable  free 
towns  of  Italy,  believed  the  story  of  Amatius,  and  chose  him  to  be 
their  patron.  He  was  followed  also  by  a  considerable  multitude 
when  he  appeared  in  the  streets  ;  till  Caesar,  impatient  of  such  a 
rival  in  popularity,  issued  a  decree  to  banish  him  from  Italy.  But 
after  the  ides  of  March,  he  returned  again  to  Rome,  and  professed, 
as  the  descendant  of  Marius,  to  feel  particular  regret  for  the  mur- 
der of  his  relation,  Caesar ;  insomuch,  that  he  continually  insti- 
gated the  populace  to  take  vengeance  on  the  conspirators,  and 
under  this  pretence  had  formed  a  design,  as  we  are  told,^^  to  mas- 

19  Suetonius,  85.  Cicero,  Philippic.  I  2.         21  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XII.  epist.XLIX. 

20  Cicero,  Philippic.  I.  2.  12  ,  ad  Atti-     Livy,  Epitome,  CXVI. 

cum,   XIV.  epist.    XVI.;  ad  Familiares,        22  Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  15. 
IX.   epist.  XIV.  23  Cicero,  Philippic.  I.  2.  Valerius  Max- 


364        THE  CONSPIRATORS  RETIRE  FROM  ROME. 

sacre  the  principal  senators  of  the  aristocratical  party,  and  to  rule 
in  Rome  as  L.  Saturninus  and  P.  Sulpicius  had  done  in  former 
times.  But  the  days  were  past  in  which  ambition  could  hope  to 
rise  by  the  mere  support  of  the  turbulent  rabble  of  the  capital. 
Antonius,  glad,  perhaps,  to  please  and  to  blind  his  opponents  so 
cheaply,  employed  a  miUtary  force  against  Amatius,  and  having 
arrested  him,  ordered  him  to  be  put  to  death  in  prison,  in  pur- 
suance of  a  decree  of  the  senate,  and  caused  his  body  to  be 
dragged  by  a  hook  through  the  streets,  and  to  be  thrown  into  the 
Tiber.  This  execution  took  place  about  the  middle  of  April  ;'* 
and  up  to  this  period,  Antonius  had  appeared  desirous  in  several 
instances  to  maintain  the  old  constitution  of  the  commonwealth. 
To  lessen  the  dissatisfaction  that  might  be  felt  by  many  at  the 
confirmation  of  all  the  acts  of  Caesar, ^^  he  assured  the  senate  that 
Cassar's  papers  contained  no  grants  of  privileges  or  peculiar  exemp- 
tions of  any  sort,  and  that  they  directed  the  recall  of  only  one  exile, 
Sex.  Clodius  ;  he  agreed,  moreover,  to  the  motion  of  Ser.  Sulpicius, 
that  none  of  Ca3sar's  decrees  or  grants  should  be  published,  which 
had  not  already  been  announced  by  public  advertisement  before 
The  office  of  dictator  thc  Idcs  of  Marcli.  Abovc  all,  he  proposed  that  the 
nius.°  ^  '^  ^  ^'^^°'  office  of  dictator  should  be  for  ever  abolished  p  a 
proposal  which  was  most  joyfully  acceded  to  by  the  senate,  and 
for  which  they  bestowed  on  him  their  thanks  in  the  warmest 
terms.  His  treatment  of  C,  Amatius,  combining  with  his  be- 
haviour in  all  these  instances,  is  said  to  have  given  satisfaction 
even  to  Brutus  himself  ;^^  and  seemed  to  afibrd  so  fair  a  prospect 
of  future  tranquillity,  that  Cicero,  in  a  letter  to  Atticus,  expresses 
his  belief  that  Brutus  might  now  go  in  safety  through  the  forum, 
with  a  cover  of  gold  upon  his  head.'^'' 

But  these  hopes  were  chequered  by  fears  even  from  the  be- 
The  conspirators  gaming,  aud  it  was  not  long  before  they  were  de- 
retire  from  Rome.  stroycd  altogether.  The  tumults  in  the  city,  and 
the  threatening  language  held  by  Csesar's  veterans,  who  were  now 
assembled  at  Rome  in  great  numbers,  rendered  the  situation  of 
the  conspirators  so  unsafe,  or  at  least  so  uncomfortable,  that  they 
judged  it  expedient  to  withdraw  for  the  present  out  of  the  reach 
of  danger.  At  first  they  had  remained  in  their  own  houses  at 
Rome,  and  had  only  avoided  appearing  in  public  f^  but  when  the 
disorders  continued,  they  thought  it  best  to  remove  to  a  greater 
distance ;  and,  accordingly,  Brutus,  apparently  accompanied  by 

imus,  ubi  supra.     Appian,  de  Bello  Civili,  26  Conf.  Ciceron,  ad     Atticum,    XIV. 

III.  2,  .3.                       .  epist.  VIII. 

24  Conf.   Ciceron.    ad   Atticum,   XIV.  27  Conf.   Ciceron.    ad    Atticum,   XIV, 
epist.  VII.  VIII.  epist.  XVI. 

25  Conf.  Ciceron.  Philippic.  I.  1.  ss  Conf.    Ciceron.  ad   Atticum,    XIV. 

epist.  V. 


ANTONIUS  FORGES  GRANTS  IN  CESAR'S  NAME.  355 

Cassius,  retired  to  his  own  villa  at  Lanuvium  f^  Trebonius  set 
out  ill  the  most  private  manner  to  go  to  his  province  of  Asia  ;  and 
Decimus  Brutus  hastened  to  Cisalpine  Gaul,^"  to  secure  the  com- 
mand of  that  province,  which  Csesar,  as  has  been  already  noticed, 
had  conferred  on  him  before  his  death.  This  appears  to  have 
been  a  sudden  resolution  ;  for  there  is  extant  a  letter  from  Deci- 
mus Brutus,  to  M.  Brutus  and  Cassius,^'  dated  in  the  month  of 
April,  m  which  he  speaks  in  a  very  desponding  manner  of  the 
state  of  his  party,  and  says  that  they  have  no  other  resource  but 
to  withdraw  into  a  voluntary  exile  ;  that  they  can  do  nothing  at 
present,  as  they  have  no  military  force  to  support  them ;  nor  was 
there  any  quarter  to  which  they  could  look  for  aid,  except  to  the 
camp  of  Sex.  Pompeius,  in  Spain,  and  Q,.  Cascilius  Bassus,  in 
Syria.  Yet  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  April,  Cicero  oedmus  Brmus 
had  received  intelligence  from  Atticus,  that  Decimus  of  cTsaipfnrGaui" 
Brutus  had  already  joined  his  legions  in  Cisalpine  Gaul ;  and  in 
that  province  he  remained  during  the  whole  summer,  endeavour- 
ing to  strengthen  himself  to  the  utmost  against  any  attempts  of 
his  adversaries.  In  order  to  acquire  some  reputation  for  himself, 
and  to  obtain  the  means  of  attaching  his  soldiers  to  him  by  his 
liberality,  he  employed  his  time  in  attacking  some  of  the  Gaulish 
tribes  who  inhabited  the  Alps  f"^  and  having  taken  many  of  their 
strongholds,  and  wasted  their  country,  he  received  from  his  army 
the  title  of  imperator,  and  was  enabled,  as  he  hoped,  to  gratify  it 
with  a  large  share  of  plunder. 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  the  conspirators  from  Rome,  Anto- 
nius  proceeded  to  show  the  use  which  he  intended  to  make  of  the 
confirmation  of  Caesar's  acts  by  the  senate.  In  spite  of  the  re- 
striction to  which  he  had  himself  assented,  that  no  new  grant 
should  be  published  after  the  ides  of  March,  Anto-  Antonius  forges  gram? 
nius  is  accused  of  having  commenced  a  system  of  sei?s^tS;mfrrhfsmvL 
audacious  forgeries,  ^^  affixing  notices  in  the  forum  "benefit. 
of  all  sorts  of  donations  and  immunities,  both  to  states  and  pri- 
vate individuals,  which  he  pretended  to  have  discovered  amongst 
Cassar's  papers,  but  which  he  is  charged  with  having  invented  at 
his  own  discretion,  and  sold  as  an  unfailing  source  of  revenue  to 
himself.  Besides  all  this,  he  is  taxed  with  having  appropriated  an 
immense  treasure  which  Caesar  had  acquired  by  his  confiscations 
and  plunderings,  and  had  deposited  in  the  temple  of  Ops.  With 
this  money,  Antonius  is  said  to  have  discharged  the  debts  of  his 
colleague,  Dolabella,  and  to  have  thus  secured  him  to  his  own 
interests ;  at  the  same  time  he  found  his  power  of  selling  forged 

23  Conf.    Ciceron.    ad  Atticum,    epist.  32  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist  IV. 

VII.  X.  33  Velleius  Faterculus,  II.  60.     Cicero, 

3»  Conf.    Ciceron.    ad  Atticum,  epist.  Philippic.  II.  37,  38  ;  Pliilippic.  V.  4  :  ad 

XIII.  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  XII.  XVIII . 

2'  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  I. 


366  OCTAVIUS  RETURNS  TO  ITALY  FROM  EPIRUS. 

grants  so  profitable  to  himself,  that,  if  we  may  believe  Cicero,  he 
paid  all  his  own  debts,  to  the  amount  of  above  300,000^.,  in  the 
short  interval  that  elapsed  between  the  ides  of  March  and  the  first 
of  April. 

In  order  to  obviate  effectually  all  opposition  to  his  views,  he 
He  courts  CiEsar'8  n^^dc  a  progrcss  through  several  parts  of  Italy  in 
veteran  soldiers.  ^ho  mouths  of  April  dLud  Maj,^*  1X1  which  he  took 
occasion  to  address  himself  to  Caesar's  veterans  in  their  different 
settlements,  and  to  conjure  them  to  bind  themselves  by  oath,  to 
maintain  all  Cassar's  acts,  and  to  procure  the  appointment  of  two 
commissioners  to  inspect  his  papers  every  month,  in  order  to  de- 
cide whether  all  their  provisions  were  duly  carried  into  effect.  He 
also  spread  a  report,  that  the  veterans  would  be  most  nearly  con- 
cerned in  the  discussion  which  was  to  take  place  in  the  senate  on 
the  first  of  June  f^  and  this  rumour  induced  them,  as  he  intended, 
to  assemble  in  crowds  at  Rome,  so  that  it  became  unsafe  for  the 
conspirators  or  their  friends  to  be  present  at  the  meeting.  Yet, 
during  all  this  time,  Antonius  preserved  an  appearance  of  respect 
"and  civility  towards  Brutus  and  Cassius.  He  had  prevailed  on 
them  to  dismiss  their  friends,  who  had  assembled  from  several  of 
the  municipal  towns  of  Italy  to  protect  them,  assuring  them  that 
it  would  be  wise  to  avoid  every  appearance  of  suspicion  or  hos- 
tility ;  and  he  had  also  proposed  to  the  senate,  that  Brutus  should 
be  dispensed  from  the  observation  of  the  law,^^  which  forbade  a 
praetor  to  be  more  than  ten  days  absent  from  Rome.  He  wrote, 
also,  to  Cicero  in  very  friendly  language,  requesting  him  to  con- 
sent to  the  restoration  of  Sex.  Clodius  from  exile  ;  and  telling 
him,  that  although  he  might  be  bound  in  duty  to  restore  him,  as 
his  recall  had  been  one  of  Cassar's  acts,  yet  he  would  not  press 
the  point,  Tinless  Cicero  was  willing  to  agree  to  it.  Cicero,  in  re- 
turn, assured  Antonius  of  his  perfect  readiness  to  comply  with  his 
request ;  and  added,  that  both  on  public  and  private  grounds 
there  was  no  man  for  whom  he  entertained  a  higher  regard.^'" 
Such  was  his  language  towards  the  end  of  the  month  of  April  j  in 
the  September  following  he  delivered  his  first  philippic. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  tidings  of  Caesars  murder  had  reached 
c.octavius  returns  to  ^is  ucphew,  C.  Octavius,  at  Apollonia,  whither, 
Italy  from  Epirus.  jjg  ^y^  havc  beforc  mentioned,  he  had  been  sent  to 
complete  his  education,  and  to  be  in  readiness  also  to  attend  his 
uncle  when  he  should  set  out  on  his  expedition  into  Parthia.  As 
the  probable  heir  of  Caesar's  greatness,  he  already  received  many 
attentions  from  the  officers  of  the  army  which  was  then  quartered 

^  Cicero.  Philippic     II.   39  ;  ad  Atti-  B.  Nam  quum  te  semper  amavi,  primura 

cum,  XIV.  epist.  XXI.  tuo  studio,  post  etiam  beneficio  provoca- 

33  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  II.  tus  ;    tum    his  temporibus    Respublica    te 

36  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  13.  mihi  ita  commendavit,utcarioremhabeam 

37  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  XIII.  neminem. 


HE  IS  COOLLY  RECEIVED  BY  ANTONIUS.  367 

in  Macedonia  ;  and  when  Caesar's  death  was  known,  M.  Vipsa- 
nius  Agrippa,  and  Q,.  Sabidienus  Rufus,  who  are  here  first  spoken 
of  as  his  friends,^^  advised  him  to  embrace  the  offers  which  many, 
of  the  soldiers  and  centurions  made  him,  of  assisting  him  to  re- 
venge his  uncle's  murder.  But  as  he  was  not  yet  aware  of  the 
strength  of  that  party  which  he  would  find  opposed  to  him,  he 
judged  it  expedient  in  the  first  instance  to  return  to  Italy  in  a  pri- 
vate manner.  On  his  arrival  at  Brundusium  he  learned  the  parti- 
culars of  Cassar's  death,  and  was  informed  also  of  the  contents  of 
his  will,^'  by  which  himself  was  declared  his  heir,  and  his  adopt- 
ed son.  He  did  not  hesitate  instantly  to  accept  this  adoption, 
and  to  assume  the  name  of  Caesar ;  and,  it  is  said,  numerous 
parties  of  his  uncle's  veterans,  who  had  obtained  settlements  in 
the  districts  of  Italy,  through  which  he  passed,  came  from  their 
homes  to  meet  him,  and  to  assure  him  of  their  support."  He  ar- 
rived at  Neapolis  on  the  eighteenth  of  April,^'  and  had  an  inter- 
view there  with  L.  Balbus,  who  had  been  so  long  the  confidential 
friend  of  Caesar,  and  who  reported  to  Cicero,  on  the  very  same 
day,  that  Octavius  was  resolved  to  accept  the  inheritance  be- 
queathed to  him.  From  Neapolis  he  proceeded  to  see  his  mother, 
and  his  father-in-law,  L.  Philippus,  at  their  villa  near  Puteoli.  It 
happened  that  Cicero  was  at  this  time  at  his  own  villa,  which 
was  almost  close  to  that  of  Philippus  ;^2  and  ^lot  only  L.  Ba4buSj 
but  A.  Hirtius  and  C.  Pansa  were  also  staying  in  the  same  neigh- 
bourhood. Octavius,  doubtless,  consulted  these  old  adherents  of 
his  uncle  with  some  anxiety,  as  to  the  prospects  which  were 
opened  to  him  at  Rome  ;  he  expressed,  however,  great  respect  and 
regard  for  Cicero,  as  he  was  disposed  at  present  to  conciliate  per- 
sons of  every  party,  although  Cicero,  in  conformity  with  the  ex- 
ample of  L.  Philippus,  did  not  address  him  by  the  name  of  Cae- 
sar. It  is  said,  indeed,  that  both  his  mother  and  his  father-in-law 
earnestly  dissuaded  him  from  coming  forward  as  his  uncle's  heir, 
and  from  availing  himself  of  his  adoption  into  the  Julian  family  ;^^ 
but  his  own  resolution  was  taken,  and  he  continued  his  jour- 
ney to  Rome  without  loss  of  time.  On  his  arrival  in  the  capital 
he  requested  an  interview  with  M.  Antonius,  hop-  ^e « coniiy  received 
ing,  probably,  to  form  at  once  a  coalition  with  him,  i^y  Antonius. 
in  order  to  take  vengeance  on  the  perpetrators  of  his  uncle's  rftur- 
der ;  but  Antonius  was  at  this  time  in  the  height  of  his  power, 
as  the  executor,  in  a  manner,  of  Caesar's  grants  and  ordinances  ; 
nor  was  he  disposed  to  admit  such  an  associate  as  Octavius,  who 
as  the  relation  and  heir  of  Caesar,  would  naturally  take  the  high- 
est place  in  any  party  that  might  be  formed  to  avenge  his  death. 

33  Velleius  Paterculns,  II.  59.  *i  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  X. 

39  Dion  Cassius,  XLV.  271.     Velleius  ^2  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  XI. 

Paterculns,  ubi  supra.  ^'  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  60.     Sueto- 

io  Appian,  de  Belle  Civili,  III.  12.  nius,  in  Augusto,  8. 


368  CESAR'S  FRIENDS  ARE  SUSPICIOUS 

Accordingly  he  treated  him  with  great  coolness,  and  declined  any 
co-operation  with  him ;  upon  which  Octaviiis,  not  at  all  dis- 
couraged, proceeded  to  exhibit  some  games  to  the  people  in  hon- 
our of  Caesar's  victories,"  the  management  of  which  was  under- 
taken by  two  of  Caesar's  old  friends,  Matius  and  Postumius.  It 
was  on  this  occasion  that  Octavius  ventured  to  exhibit  Caesar's 
state  chair,  which  the  senate  had  allowed  him  to  use  whenever 
he  appeared  in  public  ;  but  the  tribunes  of  the  people  ordered  it 
to  be  removed  ;  and  it  appears  that  the  whole  of  the  equestrian 
order  loudly  applauded  them  for  doing  so.  It  is  said,  too,  that 
Antonius  in  this  instance  supported  the  tribunes  ;^^  and  that  he 
also  opposed  the  views  which  Octavius  entertained  of  being 
elected  tribune  himself,^ ^  in  the  place  of  one  of  that  body  who 
happened  to  die  about  this  time.  Irritated  at  this  behaviour,  Oc- 
tavius began  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  aristocratical  party,^^  to 
speak  with  apparent  respect  of  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  seem  de- 
sirous of  courting  the  friendship  of  Cicero.  In  the  meantime  he 
exerted  himself  more  earnestly  to  secure  to  himself  the  attach- 
ment of  the  legions,^*  well  knowing  that  if  he  could  gain  their 
support,  he  might  make  his  own  terms  either  with  Antonius  or 
with  the  aristocracy. 

We  may  suppose  that  Antonius  felt  himself  greatly  strength- 
ened by  the  favourable  reception  which  Caesar's  colonies  of  veter- 
ans had  given  him,  during  his  progress  through  different  parts  of 
Italy  in  the  months  of  April  and  May.  The  expectations  of  the 
veterans  were  raised  by  the  reports  so  industriously  spread,  that 
their  interests  would  be  nearly  concerned  in  the  measures  to  be 
proposed  at  Rome  when  the  senate  should  assemble  on  the  first  of 
June  ;  and  it  was  probably  whispered  among  them,  that  the  aris- 
tocratical party  would  endeavour  to  recall  or  to  diminish  the  grants 
cssar'3  friends  are  of  1^^^  which  they  worc  at  prcscnt  enjoying.  Sus- 
STf^theMlato-  picions  of  a  similar  kind  were,  indeed,  not  confined 
craticai  party.  ^q  ^|-^g  soldlcrs  and  inferior  officers,  but  were  shared 

largely  by  those  who  had  been  most  familiarly  connected  with 
Caesar,  by  Balbus,  Hirtius,  Oppius,  Matius,  and  by  their  friends 
ill  general.  Assassination  is  a  crime  which,  when  once  practised 
or  defended  by  a  political  party,  must  render  it  impossible  for  their 
opponents  to  trust  them  again  ;  and  while  Cassar's  friends  regarded 

**  Cicero,    ad    Familiares,  XI.    epist.  en   variously  and   corruptly  in  the  MSS. 

XXVIII. ;  ad  Atticum,  XV.  epist.  III.  but  which  Schiltz,  in  his  edition,  hcs  ven- 

^5  Plutarch,  in  Antonio,  16.     Appian,  tured  to  alter,  on  conjectrve,  into  De  Le- 

de  Bello  Civili,  III.  30.  gioneproh^.     He  supposes  that  Cicero  al- 

«  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,. 10.     Appian,  ludes  to  a  disposition  manifested  by  one  of 

III.  31.     Dion  Cassius,  XLV.  272.  the  legions  to  take  part  against  Antonius. 

47  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XV,  epist.  XII.  That  Octavius  was  intriguing  with  Csesar's 

43  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XV.  epist.  IV.  veterans  is  stated  by  Appian,  III.  31  ;  but 

dated  the  twenty-third  of  May.     In  this  none  of  them  actually  joined  him  in  arms 

letter  there  occurs  a  passage  which  is  giv-  till  a  later  period. 


OP  THE  ARISTOCRATICAL  PARTY.  359 

the  late  dictator  as  the  victim  of  his  own  unsuspecting  confidence, 
they  naturally  imagined  that  the  conspirators  and  their  friends 
assumed  the  language  of  moderation  only  whilst  they  were  over- 
awed by  the  populace  and  the  veterans  ;^^  and  that  so  soon  as 
Decimus  Brutus  should  have  organized  an  army  in  Cisalpine 
Gaul,  and  Sex.  Pompeius  with  his  rapidly  increasing  force  should 
have  arrived  from  Spain  to  join  him.  the  aristocratical  party  would 
retract  the  concessions  made  in  the  temple  of  the  Earth  on  the 
seventeenth  of  March,  and  would  annul  all  the  acts  of  Caesar's 
sovereignty,  as  they  had  formerly  intended  to  do  to  those  of  his 
first  consulship.  With  regard  to  Brutus  and  Cassius  themselves, 
although  they  were  living  in  apparent  privacy  at  Lanuvium,  yet 
it  was  suspected  that  they  were  turning  their  views  towards  the 
eastern  provinces,^"  and  were  trusting  to  establish  their  ascendency 
over  that  portion  of  the  empire.  Their  associate  Trebonius  was 
already  gone  to  take  possession  of  the  province  of  Asia.  Q,.  Cee- 
cilius  Bassus  was  still  in  arms  against  Csesar's  officers  in  Syria ; 
Deiotarus,  king  of  Galatia,^'  whomCassar  had  deprived  of  a  part 
of  his  dominions  for  his  adherence  to  the  cause  of  Pompey,  had 
immediately,  upon  receiving  tidings  of  Cassar's  death,  reinstated 
himself  in  the  territories  which  he  had  lost ;  the  name  of  Cassius 
was  highly  respected  in  Syria,  from  the  ability  which  he  had 
shown  in  preserving  the  wreck  of  Crassus's  army  after  the  Parthian 
expedition,  and  more  recently  in  conducting  the  operations  of  the 
Syrian  squadron  in  Pompey's  fleet,  during  the  late  civil  wars ; 
and  there  were  in  Greece  and  Macedonia  many  who  had  suffered 
severely  from  Caesar's  confiscations,^^  ^^jj  -^y}^Q  would  therefore 
gladly  contribute  to  aid  the  reviving  cause  of  the  aristocracy.  On 
all  these  accounts  the  better  class  of  Caesar's  friends  distrusted  the 
fair  professions  of  the  conspirators,  and  dreaded  the  approach  of  a 

*9  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  epist.  XXII.  June  or  July,  while  appointing  the  praetors 

YTTodcdiv  banc   habent,    (scil.   Ceesariani,)  as  usual  to  their  provincial  governments, 

eamque  prse  se  ferunt,  virum  clarissimum  bestowed  on  them  respectively  Crete  and, 

interfectum,  totam  Rempublicam  illius  in-  as  it  appears,  Cyrenaica.     These  proofs  of 

teritu    perturbatam  ;  irrita   fore  quae   ille  the  inaccuracy  of  the  later  writers   make 

egisset,  simul  ac  desistamus  timere  ;  cle-  us  approach  with  regret  to  that  period  when 

mentiam  illi  malo  fuisse,  qua  si  usus  non  we  shall  be  obliged  to  follow  them  entirely, 

esset,  nihil  ei  tale  accidere  potuisse.  and  when  we  shall  lose  the  invaluable  gui- 

5"  It  is  asserted  by  Appian,  III.  2,  and  dance  of  Cicero,  whose  letters  are  our 
by  Florus,  IV.  7,  that  Macedonia  and  Syria  only  good  authority  for  the  transactions  of 
had  been  assigned  by  Caesar  to  Brutus  and  these  times. 
Cassius  before  his  death ;  and  Appian  si  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  37. 
adds,  that  this  appointment  was  confirmed  52  The  people  of  Buthrotum  in  Epirus, 
by  the  senate  on  the  17th  of  March,  but  for  instance,  are  often  spoken  of  in  Cice- 
afterwards  revoked  by  Antonius  before  the  ro's  letters  as  having  had  their  lands  con- 
arrival  of  Octavius  at  Rome.  But  it  is  fiscated  by  Caesar  for  the  benefit  of  his 
evident  from  Cicero,  that  this  was  not  the  veterans.  And  the  people  of  Dyme,  in 
case,  and  that  Brutus  and  Cassius  had  not,  Achaia,  being  in  the  same  predicament,  had 
like  Trebonius  and  Decimus  Brutus,  any  recourse  to  piracy  about  this  very  time,  to 
provinces  of  which  they  could  claim  the  afford  them  a  maintenance.  See  Cicero, 
command,  till  the  senate,  in  the  month  of  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  I. 


370  LAWS  PASSED  BY  ANTONIUS  AND  DOLABELLA. 

counter-revolution  ;  while  Antonius  and  Dolabella,  sharing  these 
feelings  perhaps  themselves,  and  at  any  rate  well  aware  of  the 
policy  of  pretending  to  feel  them,  prepared  to  make  these  sus- 
picions their  own  ground  of  justification  for  the  violent  course 
which  they  were  now  going  to  pursue. 

The  presence  of  the  veterans  at  Rome,  and  the  hostile  feehngs 
which  they  were  said  to  entertain  towards  the  friends  of  the  old 
constitution,  created  an  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  the  conspira- 
tors and  their  friends,  to  attend  the  approaching  meeting  of  the 
senate  on  the  first  of  June.  As  the  day  drew  nearer,  the  violent 
dispositions  of  the  soldiers  seemed  likely  to  find  a  leader  in  Anto- 
nius ;  and  the  show  of  military  force  at  his  disposal  was  so 
menacing,  that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  senators  absented 
themselves  from  the  capital,"  and  their  absence  furnished  Anto- 
nius with  a  pretext  for  neglecting  the  authority  of  the  senate  from 
Laws  passe,  by  Anto-  thls  tlmc  forward.  Accordingly,  on  the  second  of 
nius  and  Dolabella.  June,^*  a  law  was  passcd  iu  the  assembly  of  the 
people,  intrusting  to  the  consuls  the  entire  cognizance  of  all  Cae- 
sar's acts  and  measures,  and  thus  sanctioning  that  absolute  con- 
trol which  they  already  exercised,  by  having  Caesar's  papers  in 
their  possession ;  and,  it  is  added,  his  secretary  in  their  pay.^^ 
Another  law  bestowed  on  Antonius  the  command  of  the  province 
of  Cisalpine  Gaul  for  six  years,"  together  with  the  army  which 
had  been  sent  over  into  Greece  by  Caesar,  in  preparation  for  his 
expedition  against  Parthia.  This  was  in  direct  violation  of  Cae- 
sar's law,  which  forbade  the  consular  provinces  to  be  given  to  any 
one  for  a  longer  period  than  two  years ;  but,  if  we  may  believe 
Cicero,"  the  soldiers  of  Antonius  occupied  all  the  avenues  to  the 
forum,  and  kept  out  all  whom  they  thought  likely  to  oppose  the 
measure.  At  the  same  time  Macedonia  was  given  for  two  years, 
equally  in  defiance  of  Caesar's  law,  to  C.  Antonius,  the  brother  of 
Marcus,  who  was  one  of  the  praetors  for  the  year  j^^  and  P.  Dola- 
bella obtained  the  appointment  to  the  province  of  Syria. 

On  the  fifth  of  June  the  senate  was  again  assembled,^*  and  it 
was  voted  that  Brutus  should  be  sent  into  Asia,  and  Cassius  into 
Sicily,  to  buy  corn,  and  see  that  it  was  transported  to  Rome  for 
the  supply  of  the  market  of  the  capital.  Brutus  and  Cassius  were 
at  this  time  at  Antium,^''  and  Cicero  met  them  there  on  the  eighth, 
and  consulted  with  them  on  the  propriety  of  accepting  or  refusing 
such  an  appointment.  The  commission  to  buy  corn  they  con- 
sidered as  degrading  ;  and  Servilia,  the  mother  of  Brutus,  who, 

53  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  42.  57  Philippic.  I.  9.  10  ;  V.  4. 

54  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  XVI.         ss  Cicero,  Philippic.  V.  3.     Dion  Cas- 

55  Cicero,   ad    Atticum,    XIV.     epist.     sius,  XLV.  274.  277. 

XVIII.     Appian,  de  Bello  Civili,  III.  5.  59  Cicero,  ad   Atticum,  XV.   epist.  IX. 

55  Cicero,  Philippic.  V.  3  ;  II.  42  ;  I.  2.        ^  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XV.  epist.  XI. 
8.     Dion  Cassius,  XLV.  274. 


LAWS  PASSED  BY  ANTONIUS  TO  GRATIFY  THE  ARMY.       371 

from  her  intimacy  with  Caesar,  enjoyed  considerable  influence 
amongst  the  members  of  his  party,  assured  Cassius,  who  was 
particularly  averse  to  it,  that  she  would  procure  the  repeal  of  that 
part  of  the  senate's  decree  which  related  to  the  corn.  However, 
both  Brutus  and  Cassius  were  invested  with  the  character  of  pub- 
lic officers,  and  provinces  were  voted  to  them  in  common  with 
the  other  prsetors  ;^'  but  whether  the  vote  was  passed  at  this  time, 
or  a  few  weeks  later,  does  not  sufficiently  appear.  It  was  pro- 
posed, we  are  told,  by  Antonius,  and  was  accompanied  by  a  permis- 
sion to  them  to  appoint  a  greater  number  of  lieutenants  than  was 
usually  allowed  ;  for  Antonius  had  not  yet  laid  aside  the  appear- 
ance of  friendship  towards  them.  Yet  his  other  acts  as  consul 
seemed  to  declare  that  he  was  not  really  inclined  to  content  him- 
self with  the  condition  of  a  citizen  in  a  free  commonwealth.  He 
brought  forward  at  once  an  agrarian  law,  a  change 
in  the  constitution  of  the  judicial  power,  and  another  ^^* "  ^"*°'""^- 
in  the  manner  of  proceeding  against  persons  charged  with  rioting, 
or  with  treasonable  practices.  So  invariably  did  each  new  adven- 
turer tread  in  the  steps  of  his  predecessors,  and  endeavour  to  re- 
open the  door  which  they  had  successively  hoped  to  shut  against 
all  future  demagogues,  so  soon  as  they  had  themselves  passed 
through  it.  By  his  agrarian  law,  Antonius  proposed  to  nominate 
a  commission  of  seven  persons.^-  who  were  to  possess  the  usual 
exorbitant  powers  granted  to  such  commissioners  in  declaring  what 
were  national  domains,  and  in  distributing  them  at  their  pleasure. 
Their  authority  was  so  extensive,  that  Cicero  hyperbolically 
describes  them  as  empowered  to  divide  the  whole  of  Italy  ]^^ 
and  it  is  mentioned,  that  Campania,"  together  with  some  of  the 
most  valuable  lands  possessed  by  the  commonwealth  in  Sicily, 
were  amongst  the  districts  to  be  subjected  to  their  disposal.  The 
constitution  of  the  judicial  power  had  been,  as  we  have  seen,  a  fre- 
quent subject  of  dispute  during  the  course  of  the  last  century ;  and 
one  of  Cassar's  late  enactments  had  bestowed  it,  exclusively,  on  the 
senatorian  and  equestrian  orders,  and  had  repealed  the  more  liberal 
provisions  of  the  Aurelian  law,  by  which  it  had  been  communica- 
ted also  to  some  of  the  wealthiest  class  of  the  plebeians.  Antonius, 
however,  proposed  not  only  to  repeal  Caesar's  restrictions,  but  to 
open  the  judicial  power  more  indiscriminately  than  ever,  by  mak- 
ing any  man  eligible  who  had  ever  held  the  rank  of  centurion ;" 
and,  in  fact,  by  so  removing  all  the  qualifications  formerly  required, 
that  common  soldiers  and  naturalized  foreigners  might  now  be- 
come judges.  His  third  and  worst  measure  was  to  allow  an  ap- 
peal to  the  people  from  all  persons  convicted  before  the  ordinary 
tribunals,  of  any  acts  in  violation  of  the  public  peace  f^  a  law 

«i  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  13..  «*  Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  39. 

62  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XV.  epist.  XIX.         ^^  Cicero,  Philippic.  I.  8  ;  V.  5,  6. 

63  Cicero,  Philippic.  V.  3,  es  Cicero,  Philippic.  I.  9.  10. 


372    ANIMOSITY  BETWEEN  ANTONIUS  AND  THE  CONSPIRATORS. 

which  was,  in  fact,  a  promise  of  impunity  to  all  who  should  be 
guilty  of  riots  or  seditions.  These  acts  were  all  carried,  it  is  said, 
by  violence,"  and  in  contempt  of  all  the  religious  impediments 
with  which  their  opponents  attempted  to  obstruct  their  course. 
Antonius  was  openly  escorted  by  armed  men  in  the  forum  and  in 
the  senate  ;  and  the  veterans,  whose  grants  of  land  he  had  taken 
care  to  confirm  by  the  authority  of  the  people,  were  present  in 
crowds  in  the  capital  to  support  him  against  all  opposition. 

While  these  proceedings  were  going  on  at  Rome,  Brutus  and 
Growing ammosity  Casslus  Were  chiefly  at  Antium,  or  in  Campania  ; 
llTfhe  co"nsp/ra-  ^^^^  ^^'^''^  wcrc  preparing  to  pass  over  into  Asia, 
""■s.  Brutus  was  to  exhibit  some  games  at  Rome  in  the 

early  part  of  July  ;^^  but  as  as  he  did  not  like  to  appear  in  the 
city  himself,  C.  Antonius,  as  one  of  his  colleagues  in  the  praetor- 
ship,  undertook  the  management  of  them  in  his  name.  It  was 
on  this  occasion  that  the  people  eagerly  caught  at  some  passages 
in  one  of  the  dramatic  entertainments  which  seemed  applicable  to 
Brutus,  and  received  them  with  enthusiastic  applause.  This, 
perhaps,  irritated  and  alarmed  Antonius  ;  nor  was  he  pleased  that 
Brutus  and  Cassius,  in  one  of  their  proclamations  which  they 
issued  as  praetors,  should  have  declared  their  intention  still  to  ab- 
sent themselves  from  Rome  on  account  of  the  disordered  state  of 
the  capital,^'  and  that  they  were  evidently  preparing  to  leave 
Italy  and  repair  to  the  eastern  provinces.  Antonius,  in  a  counter- 
proclamation,  treated  this  language  as  a  declaration  of  war,  and 
threatened  to  have  recourse  to  arms ;  his  tone  in  his  public 
speeches  became  more  arrogant ;  and  he  was  heard  to  say  openly 
that  none  could  hope  to  save  their  lives,  except  their  party  should 
prove  victorious  j'^"  which  was,  in  other  words,  a  denunciation  of 
woe  to  the  vanquished.  L.  Piso,  Caesar's  father-in-law,^'  ven- 
tured to  speak  against  Antonius  in  the  senate  on  the  first  of  Au- 
gust, but  no  one  supported  him,  and  finding  all  resistance  hope- 
less, he  forbore  to  attend  in  the  senate  again.  Yet  soon  after  this 
it  appears  that  Brutus  and  Cassius  entertained  the  hope  of  organ- 
izing a  more  successful  opposition  ;"  for  they  sent  letters  to  all  the 
senators  of  consular  and  praetorian  rank,  requesting  them  to  be  pre- 
sent in  the  senate  on  the  first  of  September ;  and  on  the  seventeenth 
of  August,  Brutus  met  Cicero  at  Yelia  ;  and  finding  that  he  had 
already  renounced  his  design  of  leaving  Italy,  and  was  then 
returning  to  Rome,  he  expressed  the  greatest  satisfaction  at  this 
change  of  purpose,  and  his  hopes  that  Cicero  was  going  to  take 

67  Cicero,  Philippic.  I.  10  ;  II.  42 ;  V.  '"  Cicero,    ad    Atticum,    XV.     epist. 

4.  6,  7.  XXII.^;  Philippic.  V.  8,  nisi  victorem,  ne- 

63  Cicero,     ad    Atticum,    XV.     epist.  minem  victurum. 

XXVI.  ;  XVI.  epist.  I.  II.     Dion  Cassius,  ^i  Cicero,    ad     Atticum,    XVI.   epist. 

XLVII.  338.  VII. ;  Philippic.  I.  4.  6. 

69  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XL  epist.  III.  '2  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  VII. 


SEX.  POMPEIUS  RESTORED  TO  HIS  COUNTRY.  373 

an  active  part  in  the  administration  of  the  commonwealth.  It  is 
probable  that  Brutus  and  Cassius,  being  now  fully  resolved  to  se- 
cure to  themselves,  if  possible,  the  resources  of  the  eastern  prov- 
inces, were  anxious  to  acquire  such  a  support  in  the  senate  as 
might  free  them  from  the  charge  of  rebellion,  and  might  insure  for 
all  their  proceedings  the  sanction  of  the  government  at  home. 
■  We  cannot  tell,  however,  by  what  means  they  hoped  to  deprive 
Antonius  of  his  military  superiority  in  Italy ;  and  yet,  while  he 
retained  it  they  could  not  calculate  on  their  party's  obtaining  the 
ascendency  either  in  the  senate  or  in  the  forum.  Perhaps  they 
trusted  that  many  of  Caesar's  old  officers,  and  particularly  Hirtius 
and  Pansa,  the  two  consuls  elect,  were  disgusted  with  the  late 
conduct  of  Antonius,  and  would  be  able  to  counteract  his  influ- 
ence over  the  minds  of  the  soldiers.'^^  But  their  plans  and  their 
cause  were  finally  ruined  by  the  interference  of  C.  Octavius,  who, 
taking  to  himself  the  part  which  Hirtius  and  Pansa  might  have 
performed  sincerely  and  effectually,  succeeded  indeed  in  drawing 
away  the  army  from  Antonius,  but  only  to  attach  it  to  himself ; 
and  coming  forward  as  the  heir  and  adopted  son  of  Caesar,  rallied 
around  him  the  whole  strength  of  his  uncle's  adherents,  and  was 
thus  enabled,  eventually,  to  dictate  terms  to  Antonius  on  the  one 
Jiand,  and  on  the  other  to  crush  for  ever  the  reviving  hopes  of  the 
aristocracy. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  aristocratical  party  lost  an 
army,  which,  if  it  had  existed  for  a  few  months  sex. Pompeius  restor- 
longer,  might  have  altered  the  Avhole  complexion  agreement'withLepi^ 
of  affairs.  We  have  already  stated  that  Sex.  Pom-  '^"'• 
peius  was  in  arms  against  the  officers  of  Caesar  in  Spain,  at  the 
period  of  Csesar's  assassination.  He  had  been  gradually  in- 
creasing his  strength,  had  defeated  C.  Asinius  PoUio,  Caesar's 
lieutenant,''*  and  had  made  himself  master  of  New  Carthage,  and 
of  most  of  the  towns  in  what  was  called  the  Farther  Spain.  The 
tidings  of  Caesar's  death  gave  him  great  encouragement,  and  pro- 
duced a  general  sensation  in  his  favour  ;  he  had  seven  legions  un- 
der his  command,  which  constituted  a  formidable  force,  although 
they  were  probably  composed  chiefly  of  ill-disciplined  troops,  and 
might  not  perhaps  have  had  their  full  complement  in  point  of 
numbers.  Thus  circumstanced,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  con- 
suls at  Rome,  couched,  according  to  Cicero,  in  firm  but  temperate 
language,  in  which  he  demanded  his  restoration  to  his  country  ; 
and  that  all  armies  in  every  part  of  the  empire  should  be  equally 
disbanded.  At  the  same  time  he  wrote  to  his  father-in-law, 
L.  Libo,"  to  say  that  he  would  conclude  no  peace  unless  he  could 
recover  the  property  of  his  father  which  had  been  confiscated  by 

"  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XV.  epist.  XXII.         ''^  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  IV. 
dated  on  the  25th  of  June.  Dion  Cassius,  XLV.  274,  275. 

■^5  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  IV. 


374         CICERO  COMMENCES  HIS  OPPOSITION  TO  ANTONIUS. 

Ceesar,  and  sold  to  different  individuals  by  public  auction.  The 
validity  of  these  sales,  as  well  as  of  all  the  rest  of  Caisar's  acts, 
had  been  recently  confirmed  by  law  ;  and  besides,  Antonius  him- 
self had  been  the  purchaser  of  Pompey's  house  at  Rome,  and  was 
now  actually  residing  in  it ;  so  that  it  was  not  likely  to  be  given 
up  without  some  compensation.  But  at  this  time  M.  Lcpidus  com- 
manded the  province  of  the  Hither  Spain,^«  and  thus  found  him-  • 
self  exposed  to  the  first  attacks  of  an  enemy  who  had  already 
overrun  the  whole  of  the  Farther  Spain,  and  had  defeated  one  of 
Caesar's  lieutenants  in  the  field.  Lepidus  felt  himself  unequal  to 
the  contest,  and  was  therefore  warmly  disposed  to  accede  to  all 
that  Sex.  Pompeius  requested."  The  senate  willingly  confirmed 
what  Lepidus  had  promised  ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  Sex.  Pom- 
peius should  be  restored  to  his  country,  and  that  a  sum  amount- 
ing to  about  5,650,000Z.  should  be  granted  to  him  out  of  the  trea- 
sury, to  enable  him  to  redeem  his  father's  property.  Satisfied 
with  these  conditions,  Pompeius  gave  up  his  army,  quitted  the 
province  in  which  he  had  so  long  maintained  himself,  and  re- 
paired to  Massilia,'^  where  he  remained  for  some  time  in  a  state 
of  suspense,  not  deeming  it  expedient  or  safe  to  return  to  Rome 
in  the  midst  of  those  disorders  which  had  now  again  begun  to 
distract  the  commonwealth. 

We  have  said  that  Cicero  was  met  by  Brutus  at  Velia  on  the 
Cicero  commences.  Seventeenth  of  August,  and  was  requested  by  him 
A^tom^i^°""°°  '°  to  take  an  active  part  from  henceforward  in  the 
management  of  public  affairs  ;  in  other  words,  to  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  aristocratical  party,  and  make  one  vigorous  at- 
tempt to  recover  for  them  their  ancient  ascendency.  This,  indeed, 
was  now  become  Cicero's  fixed  resolution  ;  he  thought  he  saw  a 
more  favourable  opportunity  for  acting  with  effect,  than  had  oc- 
curred at  any  period  of  the  late  war  between  Cassar  and  Pompey ; 
and  laying  aside  at  last  all  hesitation,  he  went  to  Rome  to  com- 
mence his  memorable  career  of  opposition  to  Antonius,  and  to  all 
the  partisans  of  his  revolutionary  system.  He  arrived  in  the 
capital  on  the  thirty-first  of  August,  and  on  the  following  day  the 
senate  was  to  assemble,  in  order  to  vote  a  solemn  thanksgiving  to 
the  gods  in  honour  of  Csesar's  exploits.  According  to  his  own  ac- 
count,^' Cicero  feeling  some  fatigue  from  his  journey,  and  not  con- 
sidering the  business  on  which  the  senate  was  summoned  to  be 
very  important,  forbore  to  attend  the  meeting.  His  absence  greatly 
exasperated  Antonius,  who  interpreted  it  probably  into  an  insinu- 
ation that  it  was  useless  to  appear  in  the  senate  while  the  debates 

'6  Cicero,  Philippic.  V.  14,  15  ;  XIII.    Paterculus  on  another  occasion,  II.  63, 
4,  5.     Dion  Cassius,  XLV.  275.  and  it  is  equally  applicable  here. 

TT  Quum   Lepido    omnes   Imperatores         "i^  Cicero,  Philippic.  XIII.  6.     Appian, 
forent  meliores,  is  the  remark  of  Velleius    de  Bello  Civili,  IV.  84. 

''s  Cicero,  Philippic.  I.  5,  et  seq. 


OCTAVIUS  COMES  FORWARD  AGAINST  ANTONIUS.     375 

of  that  body  were  overawed  by  a  military  force.  Accordingly, 
Antonius  spoke  with  great  violence,  and  threatened  to  come  and 
pull  down  Cicero's  house,  if  he  persisted  in  absenting  himself  It 
was  usual,  we  must  remember,  for  the  consuls  to  enforce  the  at- 
tendance of  senators  either  by  a  fine,  or  by  seizing  some  article  of 
their  property  as  a  security  for  their  appearance  ;  but  the  threat  of 
Antonius  far  exceeded  the  authority  which  any  former  consuls 
had  been  known  to  exercise  in  similar  circumstances.  On  the 
following  day,  however,  Cicero  did  attend  the  senate,  when  yVn- 
tonius  in  his  turn  was  absent ;  and  he  then  delivered  the  speech 
which  is  known  by  the  name  of  the  first  PhiHppic  Oration.  It 
contains  a  strong  condemnation  of  the  measures  which  Antonius 
was  pursuing,  expressed  however  in  temperate  language,  and  un- 
mixed with  personalities  ;  yet  it  gave  Antonius  the  greatest  of- 
fence. He  summoned  the  senate  to  meet  again  on  the  nineteenth 
of  September,  and  on  that  day  replied  to  Cicero's  attack  upon 
his  measures  by  a  violent  invective,^"  in  which,  amongst  other 
things,  he  charged  him  with  being  an  accomplice  in  Caesar's 
murder  ;  intending,  as  Cicero  asserted,  to  excite  the  resentment  of 
the  veterans  against  him,  and  hoping  that  they  would  make  some 
attempts  on  his  life,  if  he  ventured  to  appear  in  the  senate-house. 
But  Cicero  having  suspected,  whether  justly  or  no,  that  he  could 
not  attend  without  danger,  was  resolved  not  to  risk  the  experi- 
ment :  and  similar  fears,  he  tells  us,  kept  away  P.  Servilius,  who 
had  expressed  the  same  sentiments  as  he  had  done  on  the  second 
of  September  ;  and  L.  Piso,  who  had  set  the  first  example  of  op- 
position to  Antonius,  by  his  speech  on  the  first  of  August.  The 
famous  oration,  therefore,  which  is  entitled  the  Second  Philippic, 
and  which  professes  to  have  been  spoken  in  the  senate  on  the 
nineteenth  of  September,  in  reply  to  the  invectives  of  Antonius, 
was  in  reality  never  delivered  at  all,  but  was  written  by  Cicero 
about  this  time,  and  sent  to  Atticus  in  the  month  of  October,  with 
an  express  caution  that  he  would  not  let  it  be  seen  by  those 
friends  of  Antonius  who  were  in  the  habit  of  visiting  at  his 
house."  In  fact  Cicero  retired  into  the  country  soon  afterwards, 
and  remained  for  some  time  at  one  or  other  of  his  villas,  only 
going  to  Rome  at  intervals,  and  leaving  it  again  immediately. 
He  thought  that  nothing  could  be  done  in  the  senate  till  the  new 
consuls  entered  upon  their  office  ;  meantime  an  unexpected  ene- 
my suddenly  came  forward  against  Antonius,  and  attacked  him 
with  weapons  more  effectual  than  Cicero's  eloquence. 

We  have  seen  that  C.  Octavius  had  been  coolly  received  by 
Antonius  at  his  first  arrival  in  Rome,  after  Caesar's  c.  octavius  comes 
murder.     It  is  said,  that  not  content  with  slighting     tonTus'.  "^'""^' 

80  Cicero,  Philippic.  V.  7  :  ad  Familia-        ^i  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  XI. 
res,  XII.  epist,  II.  Caleni  interventum  et  Galvenee  cavebis. 

25 


376  ALARM  OF  ANTONIUS. 

him  as  a  political  associate,  Antonius  endeavoured  to  obstruct,  or 
at  least  to  delay,  his  adoption  into  the  Julian  family  ;  as  he  could 
not  claim  the  possession  of  his  uncle's  inheritances'^  till  he  had  gone 
through  the  forms  by  which  he  became  Caesar's  adopted  son. 
On  this  provocation,  Octavius  resolved  to  do  himself  justice  by 
the  most  atrocious  means,  and  although  he  was  only  nineteen 
years  of  age,  he  suborned  some  ruffians  to  assassinate  Antonius,^^ 
the  consul  of  the  republic,  in  his  own  house.  The  attempt  was 
discovered  in  time,  but  it  threw  Antonius  into  the  utmost  perplex- 
ity and  alarm.  As  it  had  not  succeeded,  a  large  portion  of  the 
people  doubted  its  reality,  and  believed  that  the  charge  had  been 
falsely  brought  forward  against  Octavius,  in  order  to  procure  his 
ruin,  that  Antonius  might  enjoy  his  property  without  disturbance. 
So  strong  in  fact  was  the  public  feeling,  and  so  unpopular  was 
Antonius  at  this  period,  that  he  did  not  think  it  advisable  to  bring 
his  intended  assassins  to  trial.  But  he  trembled  at  the  insecurity 
of  his  situation  ;  and  finding  that  Octavius  was  now  leagued  with 
his  enemies,  and  being  informed  probably  of  the  intrigues  which 
he  was  carrying  on  with  Csesar's  veterans,  he  thought  that  he 
should  require  the  support  of  a  stronger  military  force  than  the 
guard  with  which  he  had  hitherto  protected  his  person,  and  by 
which  he  had  overawed  the  senate  and  the  forum.  In  justice  to 
his  memory  we  should  remember,  that  the  assassination  of  Caesar 
might  w^ell  have  deterred  him  from  exposing  himself  in  a  similar 
manner  to  the  daggers  of  the  conspirators  or  of  their  partisans  ; 
and  that  when  Cicero  so  loudly  complains  of  the  introduction  of 
a  barbarian  guard  into  the  senate-house,  he  should  have  reflected 
that  the  crime,  committed  by  his  own  friends,  had  rendered  such 
a  precaution  natural,  if  not  necessary.  Be  this  as  it  may,  Antoni- 
us thought  his  present  force  insufficient  any  longer  to  defend  him  ; 
and,  accordingly,  he  set  out  on  the  ninth  of  October  for  Brundu- 
sium,®^  in  order  to  secure  the  four  legions  which  were  quartered  in 
that  neighbourhood,  and  which  having  formed  part  of  the  army 
assembled  in  Macedonia  by  Caesar  for  his  Parthian  expedition,  had 
lately  returned  to  Italy,  and  remained  still  embodied,  under  no 
other  authority  than  that  of  their  own  immediate  officers.  When 
he  arrived  at  Brundusium^^  he  proceeded  to  address  the  soldiers, 
and  offered  to  each  man  a  gratuity  of  about  3/.  45.  7d.,  in  order  to 
win  them  to  his  interests ;  but  far  from  receiving  this  offer  with 
thankfulness,  the  troops  murmured  at  it  and  ridiculed  it.  as  utterly 
inadequate  to  their  expectations  ;  and  many  of  the  centurions  and 
soldiers  appeared  inclined  to  disown  his  authority  altogether. 
Alarmed  at  these  symptoms,  he  sent  for  several  of  those  centurions, 

82  Floras,  IV.  4.     Dion  Cassius,  XLV.         ^^  Cicero,    ad  Familiares,   XII.    cpist. 

272.  XXIII. 

*'  Cicero,    ad  Familiares,    XII.    epist.         ^s  Dion    Cassius,   XLV.  276.     Cicero, 

XXIIL     Seneca,  de  dementia,  I.  9.  Philippic.  IIL  2}  V.  8. 


THE  LEGIONS  PREFER  OCTAVIUS.  377 

whom  he  most  suspected,  to  his  own  quarters,  and  there  caused 
them  to  be  instantly  executed.  But  this  severity  failed  to  effect  its 
object ;  the  legions  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  follow  him ;  and 
at  the  same  time  the  tidings  which  he  received  of  the  proceedings  of 
Octavius,  made  him  feel  the  necessity  of  returning  to  Rome  with- 
out delay.  In  fact,  no  sooner  had  he  set  out  for  Brundusium,  than 
Octavius  hastened  into  Campania,  and  by  giving  to  He  persuades  Ciesar-s 
each  man  a  donation  of  about  IGZ.,^^  he  prevailed  veterans  to  join  him. 
upon  Caesar's  veterans,  who  had  been  settled  at  Casilinum  and 
Calatia,  to  join  his  standard.  He  then  applied  to  some  other  of  the 
military  colonies  in  that  neighbourhood,  and  succeeded  in  raising 
a  considerable  force,  which  lie  began  to  organize  at  Capua  with 
the  greatest  activity.  The  municipal  towns,*""  no  less  than  the 
establishments  of  the  veterans,  testified  the  strongest  attachment 
to  his  cause ;  and  he  wrote  at  the  same  time  to  Cicero,  requesting 
a  personal  interview  with  him,  asking  his  advice  as  to  his  subse- 
quent movements,  and  wishing  him  to  come  forward  as  his  avowed 
associate,  and  to  exert  his  intluence  in  the  senate  in  his  behalf 

Cicero  could  not  but  entertain  a  natural  distrust  of  so  danger- 
ous an  assistant ;  and  expressed,  in  a  letter  to  Atticus,^^  his  una- 
vailing wishes  tliat  Brutus  were  at  hand  instead  of  Octavius  to 
turn  the  impending  crisis  to  the  advantage  of  the  commonwealth. 
But  Brntus  and  Cassius  were  already  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Ionian  Gulf  ;  and  to  wait  for  their  return  was  impossible.  In  an 
evil  hour,  therefore,  for  himself,  did  Cicero  listen  to  the  advances 
of  Octavius,  and  encourage  him  to  repair  to  Rome,  and  endeavour 
to  strengthen  his  party  by  the  favour  of  the  popular  assembly. 
Octavius  adopted  this  plan,  and  was  introduced  into  the  forum, 
and  brought  forward  to  speak,  by  the  tribune  Tiberius  Canutius,^^ 
one  of  the  most  violent  enemies  of  Antonins.  But  his  speech  Avas 
ill  calculated  to  please  the  aristocratical  party;  for  he  attempted, 
we  are  told,  to  recommend  himself  to  the  popular  favour  as  the 
heir  and  adopted  son  of  Caesar ;  he  dwelt  largely  on  the  great 
services  of  the  late  dictator ;  and  when  making  some  promises 
with  regard  to  his  own  future  conduct,  he  stretched  out  his  hand 
towards  a  statue  of  Caesar,  which  Antonins  had  lately  placed  in 
the  rostra,®"  and  swore  that  he  would  be  true  to  his  word,  "as  he 
hoped  to  arrive  at  his  father's  greatness."  But  not  feeling  himself 
strong  enough  as  yet  to  maintain  the  capital  against  Antonius, 
and  finding,  if  we  may  believe  Appian,  that  the  veterans  were  not 
well  disposed  to  fight  in  such  a  quarrel,  he  withdrew  into  Tus- 

86  Cicero,  ad  Atticum.  XVI.  epist.  VIII.  89  Dion  Cassius,  XLV.  276.  Appian, 
IX.  deBelloCivili,  III.  41. 

87  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  XI.  ^  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XII.  epist.  III. 

88  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  VIII.  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  XV.  Jurat.,  "ita 
"0  Brute,  ubi  es?  quantamtufaipt'ai/ amit-  sibi  parentis  honores  consequi  liceat ;"  et 
lis  !"  simul  dextram  intendit  ad  statuam. 


378      EFFORTS  OF  ANTONIUS  TO  SECURE  SUPPORT. 

cany  with  his  forces,  and  endeavoured  to  get  some  assistance  from 
that  quarter. 

In  the  mean  time,  Antonius  was  returning  with  all  speed  to 
Rome,  attended  by  the  legion  of  the  Alaudte,*'  a  corps  which  had 
been  raised  by  Caesar  in  Transalpine  Gaul,  and  had  afterwards, 
as  we  have  seen,  been  admitted  by  him  to  the  rights  of  Roman 
citizens.  Since  his  death  this  legion  had  been  greatly  favoured 
by  Antonius,  and  its  common  soldiers  had  been  rendered  capable, 
by  his  law,  of  serving  amongst  the  third  order  of  judges  on  crimi- 
nal trials.  He  had,  therefore,  apparently  taken  it  with  him  to 
Brundusium,  and  was  now  returning  with  it  to  Rome ;  for  the 
four  legions  which  he  had  gone  to  secure,  had  not  received  him 
so  cordially  as  to  induce  liim  to  rely  on  them  in  any  critical  ser- 
vice •  and  he  was  well  satisfied  that  they  should  consent  to  march 
by  themselves  towards  Gaul,  there,  as  he  hoped,  to  receive  him  as 
their  commander,  when  he  should  arrive  to  take  possession  of 
that  province.  The  Alaudae  then  formed  his  escort  when  he  ap- 
proached Rome,  and  were  left  by  him  at  Tibur,  while  he  entered 
the  city  with  no  other  force  apparently  than  that  which  he  had 
been  long  in  the  habit  of  employing  to  support  his  authority  or 
secure  his  person.  He  then,  as  consul,  issued  a  number  of  pro- 
clamations,'^ charging  Octavius  with  rebellion,  and  threatening  the 
severest  punishments  against  some  other  individuals  whom  he 
considered  as  his  abettors.  He  summoned  the  senate  to  meet  on 
the  twenty-fourth  of  November,  and  announced  that  if  any  mem- 
ber absented  himself,  he  would  be  justly  considered  as  a  conspira- 
tor against  the  consul's  life,  and  a  party  to  the  treasonable  counsels 
Two  of  the  legions  of  Octavius.  But  hc  soou  leamcd  that  one  of  the 
j^o'iroctrvTu"^""^"'^  legions  from  Brundusium,*^  instead  of  pursuing  its 
march  towards  Gaul,  had  suddenly  turned  oil'  towards  the  capital, 
and  had  actually  stationed  itself  at  Alba  in  a  state  of  open  diso- 
bedience to  his  authority.  He  then  repaired  to  the  troops  whom 
he  had  left  at  Tibur,  and  tried,  we  may  suppose,  to  assure  himself 
of  their  fidelity,  by  promising  to  them  abundant  rewards  out  of 
the  property  of  his  antagonists. 

Again  he  returned  to  Rome,  feeling  it  important,  if  possible, 
still  to  maintain  possession  of  the  capital ;  and  not  choosing,  what- 
ever was  his  reason,  to  attend  in  the  senate  on  the  twenty-fourth, 
he  postponed  the  meeting  of  that  body  to  the  twenty-eighth,*^  and 
summoned  the  senators  then  to  assemble  in  the  capitol.  He  was 
extremely  anxious  to  fortify  himself  by  their  authority,  and  to 
obtain  a  vote  which  should  declare  Octavius  and  his  abbettors 
public  enemies.  For  this  purpose  he  prohibited  three  individuals 
by  name,'*  all  of  them  his  vehement  opponents,  from  appearing 

91  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XVI.  epist.  VIII.         ^  Cicero,  Philippic.  III.  8. 
82  Cicero,  Philippic.  III.  7,  8.  95  Cicero,  Philippic.  III.  9. 

»  Cicero,  Philippic.  III.  3  ;  XIII.  9. 


ANTONIUS  RETIRES  TO  CISALPINE  GAUL.  379 

in  the  senate  on  this  occasion ;  threatening  one  of  them  with 
death,  according  to  Cicero,  if  he  ventured  to  disobey  his  injunction. 
But  just  before  the  senate  assembled,  he  was  informed  that  the 
fourth  legion,"  another  of  those  which  he  had  met  at  Brundusium, 
had  not  only  stopped  its  march  towards  Gaul,  but  had  actually 
joined  the  standard  of  Octavius  in  Tuscany.  Under  the  impres- 
sion produced  on  men's  minds  by  this  intelligence,  he  dared  not 
submit  to  the  senate  his  intended  motion  on  the  state  of  the  com- 
monwealth, lest  the  decision  of  the  majority  might  rather  favour 
his  enemies  than  himself.  His  only  hope  lay  in  the  success  of 
his  arms,  and  in  stopping,  by  his  presence,  the  growing  spirit  of 
disaffection  among  the  soldiers.  Accordingly,  the  senate  was  only 
consulted  on  the  question  of  voting  the  usual  thanksgivings  to  the 
gods  in  honour  of  M.  Lepidus  for  his  services  in  Spain ;  and  as 
soon  as  the  senators  separated,  Antonius  proceeded  to  the  custom- 
ary allotment  of  the  provinces  to  the  different  magistrates  of  the 
year  on  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  office.  His  brother,  C. 
Antonius,  received  his  nomination  to  the  province  of  Macedonia, 
which  had  been  already,  as  we  have  seen,  conferred  on  him  by 
the  people ;  and  he  himself,  in  the  same  manner,  entered  upon 
his  own  appointment  to  the  command  of  Cisalpine  Antonius  retires  from 
Gaul.  He  immediately  assumed  the  military  dress,  Ga"f  ^  cisapme 
and  left  the  city  with  the  utmost  secrecy  to  take  the  command  of 
his  troops  at  Tibur  ;"■  whence  he  hastened,  by  cross  roads,  to- 
wards his  province,  fearing  lest  Octavius  might  intercept  his  march. 
On  his  arrival  at  Ariminum,  he  found  there  the  two  remaining 
legions  from  Brundusium,  which  acknowledged  his  authority 
without  dispute  ;  and  with  them  a  third,  according  to  Appian,"* 
which  had  returned  from  Macedonia  after  Antonius's  departure 
from  Brundusium,  and,  choosing  to  embrace  his  party,  had  fol- 
lowed the  other  two  which  still  adhered  to  him  into  Gaul.  These 
forces,  together  with  the  legion  of  the  Alaudse,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  the  veterans  from  Caesar's  colonies,  who  preferred  his 
service  to  that  of  Octavius,  formed  altogether  an  imposing  army ; 
and  there  was  nothing  in  Cisalpine  Gaul  which  could  offer  to  them 
any  resistance  in  the  field.  But  Decimus  Brutus,  He  is  opposed  by  Dec. 
who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  held  the  command  of  eieys^^Mu^a.^ 
that  province  for  some  months,  was  resolved  not  lightly  to  abandon 
it;  and,  accordingly,  threw  hhnself  into  the  town  of  Mutina,"  to 
maintain  that  place  against  the  invader.  Antonius  immediately 
advanced  and  began  to  lay  siege  to  it .;  and  thus  the  commonwealth 
was  again  involved  in  a  civil  war,  when  little  more  than  a  year 
had  elapsed  since  the  termination  of  hostilities  in  Spain,  and  the 
last  triumphant  return  of  Caesar  to  Rome. 

ss  Cicero,  Philippic.  III.  3.  9.  ss  pg  Bello  Civili,  III.   43.  48. 

97  Cicero,  Philippic.  III.  10.  S9  Cicero,  Philippic.  XIII.  9. 


380  CICERO  RETURNS  TO  ROME, 

When  Antonius  left  the  capital  to  take  possession  of  Cisalpine 
Ganl,  his  colleague,  P.  Dolabella,  seems  to  have  been  already  on 
his  way  towards  Syria.  We  find  that  he  was  at  his  villa,  near 
Formia3,  in  the  latter  end  of  October,^""  and  that  he  was  then 
making  some  arrangements  for  the  payment  of  a  debt  due  from 
him  to  Cicero,  while  he  should  be  absent  from  Italy. 

Hence  he  probably  crossed  over  into  Greece  soon  afterwards, 
accompanied  by  a  small  military  force  ;  so  that  Rome,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  December,  was  deserted  by  both  the  consuls,  while  of 
the  tribunes,  two  at  least,  Tiberius  Canutius  and  L.  Cassius,  were 
warmly  devoted  to  the  party  of  the  aristocracy.  The  senate  and 
people  of  Rome  seemed  now,  for  the  first  time  during  many  years, 
to  have  been  left  to  express  their  sentiments  freely  ;  the  terror  of  a 
military  force  was  removed  on  the  one  hand,  nor  does  the  peace 
of  the  city  seem  to  have  been  disturbed  by  any  disorders  of  the 
populace  on  the  other.  The  measures  of  the  government,  there- 
fore, and  the  votes  of  individuals  were  likely  now,  if  ever,  to  be 
independent,  and  wise,  and  pure,  debased  only  by  that  inevitable 
alloy  which  the  actions  and  principles  of  men  will  always  con- 
tract from  the  original  folly  and  selfishness  of  human  nature.  But 
the  influence  of  eloquence  is  a  less  unworthy  motive  than  the  fear  of 
the  sword  ;  and  it  was  a  fit  reward  for  the  general  purity  of  Cicero'S 
character,  that  his  ascendency  marked  the  last  moments  of  his 
country's  freedom  ;  and  that  when  Rome  was  left  to  herself,  she 
ciwro  returns  to  followcd  hls  guidaucc  witli  cnthusiastic  alfection. 
Rom*.  Immediately  on  the  departure  of  Antonius,  he  hasten- 

ed to  return  to  the  capital,  where  he  arrived  on  the  ninth  of  De- 
cember.'*' The  tribunes  had  summoned  the  senate  to  meet  on 
the  twentieth,  that  a  vote  might  be  passed  empowering  the  consuls 
elect,  Hirtius  and  Pansa,  to  provide  for  the  assembling  the  senate 
in  safety  on  the  first  of  January.  A  very  few  days  before  the 
twentieth,  there  appeared  a  proclamation  from  Decimus  Brutus,  in 
which  he  engaged  to  maintain  the  province  of  Cisalpine  Gaul 
against  the  attempts  of  Antonius,  and  to  preserve  it  in  a  state  of 
obedience  to  the  authority  of  the  senate  and  people.  This  de- 
claration was  likely  to  encourage  the  timid  and  the  wavering  ; 
and  that  the  impression  produced  by  it  might  not  be  lost,  Cicero 
went  very  early  to  the  senate  on  the  morning  of  the  twentieth, 
and  having  thus  awakened  an  interest  in  men's  minds,  and  pro- 
cured a  full  attendance  of  senators,  he  delivered  the  speech  which 
is  entitled  the  third  philippic.  In  this  he  proposed  that  the  senate 
should  declare  its  approbation  of  the  conduct  of  Decimus  Brutus, 
and  of  the  province  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  in  upholding  the  senate's 
authority ;  that  it  should  also  express  its  gratitude  to  Octavius, 

loo  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  XV.  epist.  XIII.         ^°^  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  V. 

VI.     Philippic.  III.  4,  5. 


Q.  FUFIUS  CALENUS  DEFENDS  ANTONIUS  IN  THE  SENATE.  331 

and  to  the  two  legions  which  had  deserted  Antonius  ;  and  that  it 
should  order  Decimus  Brutus,  and  all  other  officers  who  held  com- 
mands in  the  provinces  by  virtue  of  Caesar's  arrangements,  to 
retain  their  governments  till  the  senate  should  think  proper  to 
supersede  them.  The  senate  agreed  to  all  that  Cicero  wished  ;^'^^ 
and  thus  not  only  was  M.  Antonius  adjudged  to  have  no  preten- 
sions to  the  province  of  Gaul,  but  the  claims  of  his  brother  upon 
Macedonia,  and  of  P.  Dolabelia  upon  Syria,  were  condemned  on 
the  same  ground.  Meanwhile  the  siege  of  Mutina  was  carried  on 
with  vigour  by  Antonius,  and  Octavius  having  intercepted  some 
cavalry,  archers,  and  elephants, ^"^  which  were  on  their  way  to 
join  the  besieging  army,  was  proceeding  to  attempt  the  relief  of 
the  town,  as  soon  as  he  should  be  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of 
the  consuls  with  fresh  troops  from  Rome.  Such  was  the  state  of 
things  when  the  first  of  January  arrived,  and  the  new  consuls,  A. 
Hirtius  and  C.  Vibius  Pansa,  entered  upon  their 
office.     They  assembled  the  senators  on  the  very  u.c. no. 

first  day  of  their  consulship  ;  first  to  consult  them  generally  on 
the  commonwealth,  and  then  to  determine  on  the  honours  which 
were  to  be  paid  to  C.  Octavius  and  to  Iiis  followers,  according  to 
the  resolution  passed  before  at  the  meeting  of  the  twentieth  of 
December. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected,  composed  as  the  senate  was  in  a 
considerable  proportion  of  the  partisans  of  Caesar,  a.  Futius  caienin  de- 
that  Antonius  should  be  left  altogether  without  an  slnate^"'""'""" ^""^ 
advocate.  The  person  who  first  came  forward  in  his  behalf  was 
Q,.  Fufius  Calenus,  who  had  been  made  consul  by  Caesar  during 
the  last  three  or  four  months  of  the  year  706,  and  had  before  com- 
manded a  separate  division  of  his  army  in  the  campaign  of  the 
preceding  year  in  Greece.  At  an  earlier  period,  in  the  year  692, 
he  had  been  one  of  the  tribunes  ;  and  it  was  owing  to  a  law  pro- 
posed by  him,'"*  and  directing  that  the  judges  should  be  chosen 
by  lot,  instead  of  selected  by  the  praetor,  that  P.  Clodius  obtained 
an  acquittal,  when  tried  for  his  infamous  profanation  of  the  mys- 
teries of  the  Bona  Dea  in  Caesar's  house.  He  now  moved  that  a 
deputation  from  the  senate  should  be  sent  to  Antonius,  to  demand 
of  him  that  he  should  raise  the  siege  of  Mutina  ;  '"^  that  he  should 
abstain  from  all  acts  of  hostility  against  Decimus  Brutus  and  the 
province  of  Cisalpine  Gaul ;  and  that  he  should  submit  himself 
to  the  authority  of  the  senate  and  people.  If  he  refused  to  com- 
ply with  these  demands,  he  was  to  be  declared  a  public  enemy, 
and  the  whole  population  of  the  state  was  to  assume  the  military 
dress,  as  in  a  war  of  the  last  importance  to  the  general  safety.     It 

.    i°2  Cicero,  Philippic.  IV.  1,  etseq.  Dion         !"<  Cicero,  ad  Attieum,  I.  epist.  XVI. 
CiKsius,  XLV.  277.  103  Cicero,  Philippic,  VI.  2,  3. 

103  Cicero,  Philippic.  V.  17.     Dion  Cas- 
sias, XLV.  276. 


382     THE  SENATE  MAKES  PROPOSALS  OF  PEACE  TO  ANTONIUS. 

was  not  supposed  that  Antoiiius  would  accede  to  the  terras  of- 
fered him ;  and  as  he  would  gain  time  to  prosecute  the  siege  of 
Mutina,  and  to  strengthen  his  party  whilst  the  deputation  should 
be  going  to  his  camp  from  Rome  and  returning  with  his  answer, 
Cicero,  well  aware  of  the  necessity  of  decisive  measures,  was 
anxious,  on  this  very  account,  that  he  should  be  declared  a  pub- 
lic enemy  immediately,  and  that  the  people  should  be  summoned 
at  once  to  take  up  arms  against  him.  After  a  vehement  debate, 
however,  which  was  protracted  by  successive  adjournments  during 
three  days,  the  proposal  of  Gl.  Calenus  prevailed,  and  it  was  re- 
solved that  a  deputation  should  be  sent  to  Antonius.  '"^  On  other 
points,  the  opinion  of  Cicero  was  followed ;  settlements  of  land 
were  promised  to  the  veterans  and  to  the  two  legions  which  had 
joined  Octavius  ;'"^  and  an  exemption  from  military  service  was 
granted  to  them  and  to  their  children,  except  in  the  case  of  a 
war  breaking  out  in  Gaul  or  in  Italy.  L.  Egnatuleius,  the  quaestor 
who  had  led  the  fourth  legion  over  to  Octavius,  was  allowed  to  be 
a  candidate  for  and  to  hold  any  public  office  three  years  before  he 
should  have  attained  tli£  age  prescribed  by  law.  To  Octavius 
still  higher  honours  were  paid.  He  was  constituted  an  officer  of 
the  commonwealth,  with  the  title  and  authority  of  propraetor ;  he 
was  admitted  into  the  senate  among  the  senators  of  praetorian 
rank  ;  he  was  allowed  to  be  a  candidate  for  all  public  offices  sev- 
eral years  earlier  than  the  law  permitted  ;  and  on  the  motion  of 
his  step-father,  L.  Philippus,'"^  an  equestrian  statue  was  erected 
to  his  honour  in  the  rostra. 

Immediately  after  this  debate,  the  deputation,  which  was  to 
A  deputation  sent  Carry  ihc  commauds  of  the  senate  to  Antonius,  set 
Antoni'us  w?thpro-  out  ou  Its  joumey.  It  consisted  of  three  members  : 
posais  of  peace.  Scrvius  Sulplclus,  the  Celebrated  lawyer  whom 
Caesar  had  appointed  proconsul  of  Achaia  in  the  year  707  ;  L. 
Philippus,  the  step-father  of  Octavius ;  and  L.  Calpurnius  Piso, 
the  father-in-law  of  Caesar,  who  had  formerly,  when  consul,  coun- 
tenanced the  attacks  of  Clodius  upon  Cicero,  in  order  to  win  the 
favour  of  the  triumvirate.  About  the  same  time,  A.  Hirtius  took 
the  field  and  marched  to  the  relief  of  Mutina;'"^  while  his 
colleague,  C.  Pansa,  remained  at  Rome  to  superintend  the  levies 
of  troops  which  were  carrying  on  with  the  greatest  activity. 
Cicero  meanwhile  was  exerting  himself  to  the  utmost  to  strengthen 
the  cause  of  the  commonwealth  by  securing  the  fidelity  of  the 
different  commanders  in  the  western  provinces.  If  Antonius  were 
obliged  to  retreat  from  before  Mutina,  it  was  a  question  of  the 
last  importance  to  him,  to  ascertain  whether  he  could  hope  to 
find  an  asylum  and  support  in  the  armies  of  Spain  and  of  Trans- 

los  Cicero,  Philippic.  VI.  1.  '"^  Cicero,   ad    Brutiim,  I.    epist.    XV. 

iw  Cicero,  Philippic.  V.  17.  19.  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  61. 

'09  Cicero,  PhiHppic.  VII. 


OFFICERS  COMMANDING  IN  GAUL  AND  SPAIN.  383 

alpine  Gaul,  There  were  three  officers  who  held  Account  of  the  officers 
commands  at  this  time  in  those  countries  ;  M.  JEmi-  and  spa"in'."^ '" 
lius  Lepidus,  the  proconsul  of  Gallia  Narbonensis,  and  of  the 
Hither  or  Nearer  Spain  ;  L.  Munatius  Plancus,  who  enjoyed  the 
government  of  all  the  other  parts  of  Transalpine  Gaul  added  by 
Caesar's  conquests  to  the  Roman  empire  ;  and  C.  Asinius  Pollio, 
who  had  been  employed  in  the  Farther  Spain  against  Sex.  Pom- 
peius  with  the  title  of  Caesar's  lieutenant,  and  still  possessed  the 
chief  authority  in  that   province.     Of  these  three 

T         •!  i-ii.         ••^1,  i  1-1      M.  ^milius  Lepidus. 

men,  Lepidus  was  likely  to  join  that  party  which 
could  most  work  upon  his  hopes  of  personal  advantage  ;  but  his 
inclinations  would  lead  him  to  oppose  the  cause  of  the  common- 
wealth, inasmuch  as  the  forms  of  the  old  constitution  would  con- 
fine within  moderate  bounds  his  irregular  ambition.  L.  Munati- 
us Plancus  is  mentioned  as  one  of  those  persons  who 

1,  ./•  y-^  ^ii^-  1  L-  Munatius  Plancus. 

received  large  presents  from  Caesar,  at  the  time  when 
he  was  employing  the  plunder  of  Gaul  in  purchasing  partisans 
among  the  needy  and  the  prodigal  at  Rome.''"  When  the  civil 
war  began,  we  find  that  L.  Plancus  was  in  Caesar's  service,  and 
held  a  command  in  his  army  in  Spain  during  the  campaign 
against  Afranius  and  Petreius."'  At  a  later  period  he  was  one 
of  his  lieutenants  in  Africa  i'"^  and  on  the  whole,  his  conduct 
throughout  the  war  obtained  for  him  from  Caesar  the  appoint- 
ment to  the  province  of  Transalpine  Gaul,  and  the  nomination  to 
the  consulship  for  the  year  711,  together  with  Decimus  Brutus, 
so  that  he  was  at  this  time  consul  elect.  His  reputation  however 
had  not  kept  pace  with  his  fortune.  Cicero  tells  him  plainly,  in 
one  of  his  letters,"^  that  he  had  been  generally  regarded  as  a 
time-server ;  and  Paterculus  speaks  of  him  as  "  behaving  with 
that  wavering  honour  which  was  characteristic  of  him.""^  But 
as  he  was  at  the  head  of  an  important  province  and  a  considera- 
ble army,  Cicero  tried  to  attach  him  to  the  cause  of  the  common- 
wealth, and  wrote  to  him  a  number  of  letters  to  this  effect,  which 
he  answered  with  the  fairest  professions  of  his  zeal  in  behalf  of 
his  country,  but  without  declaring  his  sentiments  with  regard  to 
Antonius.  C.  Asinius  Pollio,  whose  name  reminds 
us  that  we  are  arrived  at  the  age  of  Virgil  and 
Horace,  was  early  distinguished  as  an  orator,"^  and  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  civil  war  espoused  the  party  of  Caesar,  because,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  account,"®  the  power  of  some  one  of  his  per- 
sonal enemies  in  the  camp  of  Pompey  made  him  afraid  to  join 

110  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  VIII.  eplst.  I.         m  II.  63.     Plancus,  dubia,  id  est,  suS. 

111  CsEsar,  de  Bello  Civili,  I.  and  Auctor    Fide. 

de  Bello  Africano.  ii5  Quintilian,  XII.  6. 

112  Caesar,  de  Bello  Civili,  I.  and  Auctor         "s  Cicero,   ad    Familiares,   X.     epist. 
"de  Bello  Africano.  XXXI. 

113  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  X.  epist.  III. 


384  ANTONIUS  REJECTS  THE  SENATE'S  PROPOSALS. 

the  standard  of  the  commonwealth.  He  served  Caesar  faithfully, 
and  was  left  by  him,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  command  of  the 
province  of  Farther  Spain,  after  the  defeat  of  Cnaeus  Pompeius  at 
Munda.  He  had  since  been  opposed  to  Sex.  Pompeius,  and  had 
been  defeated  by  him,  as  we  have  already  mentioned.  Yet  he 
professed  a  great  zeal  for  the  liberties  of  his  country,  and  a  deter- 
mination to  resist  any  person  whatsoever  who  should  again  at- 
tempt to  gain  absolute  sovereignty.^'''  He  was  at  the  head  of  an 
army  of  three  legions;"^  and  Antonius  had  endeavoured  already 
to  seduce  one  of  these  to  his  own  service,  nor  had  Pollio  been  able 
to  retain  it  in  its  duty  without  difficulty.  In  fact,  the  dispositions 
of  the  soldiers  in  general  were  so  adverse  to  the  establishment  of 
the  old  constitution,  that  when  they  understood  the  quarrel  to  be 
between  Antonius  and  the  cause  of  the  senate  and  the  people, 
they  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  support  the  latter ;  and  it 
was  this  circumstance  that  insured  the  success  of  Octavius,  when 
a  few  months  afterwards  he  revealed  his  own  treasonable  inten- 
tions, and  enslaved  the  senate  whose  authority  he  was  now  af- 
fecting to  uphold. 

Meantime  the  deputation  from  the  senate  had  proceeded  to  the 
Antonius  rejects  the  camp  of  M.  Autouius.  Erc  its  members  had  reached 
proposals  of  the  sen-    ^^^  ^^^^  of  their  joumcy,"*  Ser.  Sulpicius,  the  most 

distinguished  of  their  number,  died  of  an  indisposition  which  had 
attacked  him  before  he  left  Rome,  and  which  had  been  aggravated 
by  the  fatigue  of  travelling,  and  by  the  anxiety  which  he  felt  for 
the  success  of  his  mission.  His  surviving  colleagues,  L.  Philippus 
and  L.  Piso,  were  too  nearly  connected  with  the  family  of  Caesar 
to  be  very  zealous  in  the  cause  of  the  commonwealth.  They 
presented  the  commands  of  the  senate  to  Antonius,  and  consented 
to  carry  back  to  Rome  a  counter  proposal  on  his  part,  "2°  in  which, 
far  from  complying  with  the  orders  which  he  had  received,  he 
agreed  to  give  up  Cisalpine  Gaul  only  on  condition  of  receiving 
in  exchange  the  province  of  Transalpine  Gaul  for  five  years, "^' 
with  an  army  of  six  legions,  and  that  his  brother  should  retain 
Macedonia  as  long  as  Brutus  and  Cassius  should  enjoy  the  com- 
mand of  any  provinces  as  consuls  or  proconsuls.     Besides  these 

11'''  Si  id  agitur  ut  rursus  in  Potestate  om-  this  place  by  mistake  ;  but  it  seems  to  us 

nia  unius  sint,  quicunque  is  est,  ei  me  pro-  that  some  words  have  rather  been  omitted 

fiteor    Inimicum. — Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  in   the    preceding  sentence,  and   that  the 

X.  epist.  XXXI.  clause,  "  tamdiuque  ut  obtineat,  quamdiu 

118  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  X.  epist.  M.  Brutus,  C.  Cassius,  Consules,  prove 
XXXII.  Coss.  Provincias  obtinebunt,"    refers  to  C. 

119  Cicero,  Philippic.  IX.  7.  Antonius,  and  not,  asSchtltz  imagines,  to 

120  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XII.  epist.  IV.  Marcus.     M.  Antonius  throughout  speaks 

121  Cicero,  Philippic.  VIII.  9.  The  text  of  himself  in  the  first  person,  and  immedi- 
towards  the  latter  end  of  the  ninth  chapter  ately  after  the  stipulation  in  behalf  of  his 
of  the  eighth  Philippic  is  evidently  defec-  brother,  which  we  have  just  quoted,  he 
live.  One  senteuce  relative  to  C.  Auto-  adds,  "  Ipse  autem  ut  quinquennium  ob- 
nius  is   marked  by  Schatz  as  inserted  in  tineam." 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  BRUTUS  AND  CASSIUS.  355 

concessions,  he  demanded  grants  of  lands  for  the  soldiers  who  had 
followed  him,  a  confirmation  of  all  grants  already  made  by  him- 
self and  Dolabella,  and  of  all  the  decrees  issued  by  them  on  the 
pretended  anthority  of  Caesar's  papers  ;  and  that  his  law  relating 
to  the  judicial  power  should  be  maintained  inviolate.  When  these 
proposals  were  reported  to  the  senate,  L.  Cassar,'^^  the  uncle  of 
Antonius,  moved  that  the  country  should  be  declared  in  a  state  of 
disturbance  ;  and  the  whole  people  assume  the  military  dress  in 
token  of  the  imminent  danger  which  threatened  the  common- 
wealth. The  spirit  of  all  ranks,  if  we  may  believe  Cicero, ^^''  was 
keenly  alive  to  the  necessity  of  putting  down  the  rebellion  of  An- 
tonius ;  with  the  exception  only  of  those  citizens  who  were  of 
consular  dignity,  whom  age  or  the  honours  and  emoluments  which 
they  had  gained  in  the  last  revolution,  made  unwilling  to  risk  the 
chances  of  another.  Besides,  many  of  these  persons  had  been  so 
connected  with  the  party  of  Caesar,  that  the  revival  of  the  old 
aristocratical  interests,  supported  by  the  eloquence  and  integrity 
of  Cicero,  was  to  them  a  prospect  full  of  apprehension.  They 
served  the  cause  of  Antonias  at  present,  by  professing  an  extreme 
anxiety  for  peace ;  but  they  hoped  to  espouse  it  more  etfectually, 
and  to  introduce  divisions  amongst  the  opposite  party,  so  soon  as 
they  could  find  a  handle  to  insinuate  that  whilst  Caesar's  friends 
were  quarrelling  with  one  another,  the  partisans  of  Pompey  were 
watching  for  the  moment  in  which  they  might  once  more  estab- 
lish their  own  ascendency. 

Nor  was  the  opportunity  which  they  sought  for  backward  in 
presenting  itself  Brutus  and  Cassius  had  left  Italy  proceedings  of  Brutus 
in  the  preceding  autumn,  with  the  intention,  we  a°'i  cassius. 
may  suppose,  of  strengthening  themselves  against  the  enmity  of 
Antonius  by  the  resources  of  the  eastern  provinces.  The  opposi- 
tion begun  by  Cicero  in  the  senate  on  the  second  of  September, 
and  the  subsequent  state  of  terror  under  which  the  senate  was 
said  to  be  kept  by  the  military  force  of  Antonius,  induced  them, 
or  furnished  them  with  a  pretext  to  act  in  a  more  decisive  manner. 
Brutus  at  first  had  repaired  to  Athens, '^^  and  had  remained  there 
for  some  time,  apparently  engrossed  with  the  philosophical  studies 
of  the  place  ;  but  during  this  interval  his  emissaries  had  been  at 
work  in  Macedonia,  endeavouring  to  conciliate  to  his  interests  the 
soldiers  that  were  still  quartered  there  ;  and  he  Avas  himself  gain- 
ing partisans  among  that  numerous  body  of  young  men  of  family  or 
talent  who  were  in  the  habit  of  resorting  to  Athens  as  the  univer- 
sity of  the  ancient  world.  He  was,  however,  principally  enabled 
to  declare  himself  openly  in  consequence  of  an  important  service 

122  Cicero,  Philippic.  VIII.  1.  his  Philippics,  Epist.  ad  Familiares,  XII. 

^23  Compare,  besides  his  assertions  in     epist.  IV.  V. ;  XI.  epist.  VIII. ;  X.  epist.  V. 

12*  Plutarch,  in  Brute,  24. 


386  SUCCESS  OP  BRUTUS  IN  GREECE. 

rendered  him  by  M.  Apuleius/^s  who  had  some  time  past  filled 
the  office  of  quaestor  in  the  province  of  Asia.  Apuleius  happened 
to  be  returning  to  Rome  with  a  large  fleet,  on  board  of  which  was 
a  large  sum  of  money  belonging  to  the  government,  collected  by 
him  in  his  province  for  the  benefit  of  the  revenue  of  the  common- 
wealth. Brutus  met  him  on  the  coast  of  Euboea,  and  prevailed 
upon  him  to  make  over  the  whole  of  this  treasure.  He  was  thus 
in  a  condition  immediately  to  raise  an  army,  partly  by  inviting  to 
his  standard  those  soldiers  who  had  formerly  served  under  Pom- 
pey,'2*  and  who  it  seems  were  still  numerous  in  Thessaly ;  and 
partly  by  tampering  with  the  troops  belonging  to  P.  Dolabella, 
which  were  at  this  time  passing  through  Greece  on  their  way 
towards  Syria.  It  is  particularly  mentioned,  that  two  divisions  of 
Dolabella's  cavalry  were  thus  persuaded  to  desert  their  officers 
and  join  Brutus;^"  and  the  same  means  were  probably  used 
with  effect  towards  a  legion  commanded  by  one  of  the  lieutenants 
of  C.  Antonius,  which  submitted  itself  to  M.  Cicero,  Cicero's 
son,  one  of  those  young  men  whom  Brutus  had  won  to  his  inter- 
ests during  his  residence  at  Athens.  Soon  afterwards,  Q,.  Hor- 
tensius,  the  son  of  the  famous  orator  of  that  name,  who  was  at 
this  time  proconsul  of  Macedonia,  put  the  whole  resources  of  his 
province  at  the  disposal  of  Brutus ;  and  he  was  thus  become  so 
formidable,  that  P.  Vatinius,  proconsul  of  lUyricum,  and  one  of 
Caesar's  oldest  and  most  zealous  partisans,  finding  himself  unable 
to  depend  upon  his  soldiers,  surrendered  to  him  the  important 
town  of  Dyrrhachium,  and  saw  his  troops  immediately  enter  into 
the  service  of  his  enemy.  In  this  manner  Brutus  made  himself 
Brutus  obtains  pos-  mastcr  of  thc  provinces  of  Achaia,  Macedonia,  and 
vtnc'eT  of  Achaia^  lUyricum,  aud  was  become  the  general  of  an  army 
Mac.donia,andiiiy.     ^^  ^^^^^^  legionsj^^B  whllc  C.  Automus,  who  had 

set  out  from  Italy  in  the  hope  of  entering  upon  the  government  of 
Macedonia,  found  that  province  now  armed  against  him,  and  the 
troops  which  he  expected  to  command  adding  themselves  to  the 
forces  of  his  enemy.  Thus  disappointed,  he  threw  himself  into 
Apollonia  with  seven  cohorts  which  still  remained  faithful  to 
him  ;'^»  and  being  master  of  that  city,  and  of  one  or  two  other 
places  in  the  neighbourhood,  he  prepared  to  resist  the  attacks  of 
Brutus. 

It  is  difficult,  while  relying  upon  Cicero's  authority  for  almost 
Dolabella  surprises  tlic  wholc  of  our  accouuts  of  thcsc  tlmcs,  not  to  for- 
p?ovinceofAsiaand  gct  that  thls  authority  is  not  equally  to  be  followed 
murders  c.Trebom-     ^^^  .^^  judgmcuts  of  mcu  and  actlous  as  ill  its  rG- 

123  Cicero,  Philippic.  X.  11;  XIII.  16.         12t  Cicero,  Philippic.  X.  6.     Plutarch, 

Plutarch,  in  Bruto,  24.  Appian,  de  Bello  in  Bruto,  25. 
Civili,  IV.    75.     Cicero,   ad   Familiares,         i23  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  65. 
XIII.  epist.  XLV.  129  Cicero,  Philippic.  X.  6  ;  XI.  11. 

i2«  Plutarch,  in  Bruto,  25. 


DOLABELLA  MURDERS  C.  TREBONIUS.  337 

ports  of  matters  of  fact.  We  catch  insensibly  the  opinions  of  a 
writer  whom  we  are  continually  consulting ;  and  we  do  not  re- 
member that  during  all  the  transactions  which  we  are  now  re- 
lating, he  was  the  active  leader  of  a  party,  and  could  not,  there- 
fore, represent  with  impartiality  the  motives  or  the  merits  of  the 
conduct  of  his  opponents.  Tliis  remark  must  apply  particularly 
to  those  proceedings  of  Dolabella  which  we  are  now  called  to 
notice.  He  found  that  the  assassins  of  CsBsar  were  resolved  to 
consider  as  illegal  all  the  acts  of  his  colleague  M.  Antonius  and 
of  himself  in  their  late  consulship.  Decimus  Brutus  was  main- 
taining Cisalpine  Gaul  against  M.  Antonius,  in  defiance  of  the 
decree  of  the  people  ;  M.  Brutus  was  occupying  Macedonia,  which 
had  been  equally  given  by  the  people  to  C.  Antonius  ;  and  C. 
Cassius  was  proceeding  towards  Syria  to  take  away  that  prov- 
ince in  a  similar  manner  from  Dolabella  himself  Already,  as  we 
have  seen,  Dolabella's  cavalry  had  been  seduced  from  his  service, 
and  had  joined  the  army  of  Brutus  ;  so  that  under  these  circum- 
stances, whilst  his  enemies,  by  their  own  sole  authority,  were 
converting  to  their  own  use  the  resources  of  the  empire,  he  might 
think  himself  justified  in  following  their  example,  and  in  depriv- 
ing their  officers  of  their  provinces,  as  he  himself  and  his  friends 
had  been  deprived  of  those  held  by  themselves.  With  this  view 
he  formed  the  design  of  securing  the  province  of  Asia,  which  was 
now  held  by  C.  Trebonius.  But  in  the  execution  of  this  purpose 
he  is  charged  with  acts  of  the  greatest  perfidy  and  cruelty  ;  he  is 
said  to  have  entered  the  province  of  C.  Trebonius  as  if  he  were 
merely  passing  through  it  on  his  way  to  Syria  :'^°  he  had  an  in- 
terview with  Trebonius,  in  which  he  professed  the  most  friendly 
dispositions  towards  him  ;  and  having  thus  lulled  him  into  a  fatal 
security,  he  made  a  sudden  assault  by  night  upon  the  city  of 
Smyrna,  in  which  Trebonius  then  was,  and  thus  obtained  pos- 
session of  his  person.  Trebonius  thus  treacherously  seized,  was 
immediately  put  to  the  torture  to  draw  from  him  some  informa- 
tion as  to  the  treasure  of  the  province  ;  and  after  he  had  suffered 
these  cruelties  for  two  days,  he  was  beheaded  with  circumstances 
of  additional  barbarity  ;  his  head  was  carried  about  on  the  point 
of  a  spear,  and  his  body  was  exposed  to  the  insults  of  Dolabella's 
soldiers,  and  finally  cast  into  the  sea.  After  this  murder,  Dola- 
bella enriched  himself  by  seizing  some  of  the  public  money  in  the 
province,  and  by  the  plunder  of  a  great  number  of  individuals  ;'^^ 
but  not  having  a  sufficient  force  to  enable  him  at  once  to  main- 
tain Asia,  and  to  prosecute  his  march  towards  Syria,  he  aban- 
doned the  prize  which  he  had  gained,  and  continued  his  progress 
towards  the  east.    But  receiving  alarming  accoimts  of  the  force 

13°  Cicero,  Philippic.  XI.  2,  3.     Livy,        '^i  Ciceao,  ad  Familiares.    XII.    epist. 
Epitome,  CXIX.  XV. 


388  DOLABELLA  KILLS  HIMSELF. 

under  C.  Cassius,  and  thinking  it  probable  that  Syria  would  he 
eftectually  barred  against  him,  he  prepared  a  large  fleet  of  trans- 
ports in  the  ports  of  Lycia,  on  board  of  which  he  intended,  in 
case  of  need,  to  embark  his  troops  and  his  treasures,  and  return  to 
join  Antonius  in  Italy.  This  scheme  was  defeated  by  the  activity 
of  P.  Lentulus  Spinther,  the  son  of  that  Lentulus  who  had  been 
consul  in  the  year  696,  and  to  whom  Cicero  was  largely  indebted 
for  his  recall  from  banishment.  The  younger  P.  Lentulus  had 
been  quaestor  under  Trebonius  in  Asia,  and  had  first  retired  into 
Macedonia  after  the  murder  of  the  proconsul  ;'^^  but  finding  that 
Dolabella  did  not  retain  possession  of  Asia,  he  returned  thither, 
and  having  re-organized  the  administration  of  that  province,  he 
hastened  to  Rhodes  with  the  fleet  under  ^is  command,  in  order 
to  procure  assistance  from  the  government  of  that  island  to  enable 
him  to  attack  the  fleet  of  Dolabella  in  Lycia.  The  Rhodians, 
however,  had  sutfered  too  severely  under  the  dominion  of  the  old 
aristocracy  at  Rome  to  be  inclined  to  support  its  defenders.  They 
had  refused  to  receive  Pompey  himself  within  their  walls,  when 
he  was  a  fugitive  after  the  battle  of  Pharsalia  ;  and  a  squadron  of 
their  ships  had  joined  Cassarat  that  period,  and  had  distinguished 
itself  most  highly  in  his  service  during  the  contest  in  which  he 
was  involved  in  Egypt,  But  P.  Lentulus,  even  without  their  aid, 
was  strong  enough  to  effect  his  purpose  ;  the  ships  of  war  belong- 
ing to  Dolabella  fled  from  Lycia,  and  either  dispersed  and  aban- 
doned his  cause,  or  retreated  to  Cyprus  and  Syria,  while  the 
transports  thus  left  to  themselves  were  immediately  secured  by 
Doiab'iia  is  shut  out  Leutulus.  DolabcUa  arriving  in  Syria  with  a  force 
from  Syria  by  cassiu3.  "which  was  probably  not  very  considerable,  found 
the  gates  of  Antioch  closed  against  him, '^^  and  having  in  vain  en- 
deavoured to  force  an  entrance,  he  fled  in  disorder  to  Laodicea. 
He  is  besieged  in      lu  this  distrcsscd  State  of  his  fortunes,  his  soldiers 

Laodicea,  and  kills         -,  .1  ,    1    ■  11  r  ju'  \r  \. 

himself.  began  to  desert  him,  and  he  soon  round  himseli  be- 

sieged by  C.  Cassius,  who  had  gained  full  possession  of  the  prov- 
ince of  Syria,  and  now  commanded  an  army  of  ten  legions, 
Laodicea  was  blockaded  by  land  and  sea,  till  Dolabella,  hopeless 
of  relief,  and  dreading  the  fate  which  he  had  inflicted  on  Trebo- 
nius;  ended  his  life  by  suicide. ^^^  This  event  took  place  in  the 
summer  of  710,  and  the  tidings  of  it  reached  the  capital,  and 
cheered  the  aristocratical  party  with  amoment's  exultation  im- 
mediately before  their  complete  and  final  overthrow. 

The  army  with  which  Cassius  had  obtained  this  great  suc- 
Account  of  the  pro   ccss,  had  bccn  collected  by  him  from  various  quar- 

ceedings  of  Cassius  in    ,  '     .  ^   •       ^      ^    j  J         !•  w .     ^       •        ^t 

Syria.  ters,  smcc  his  first  departure  irom  Italy  in  the  au- 

tumn of  the  preceding  year.     He  had  first  visited  Trebonius  in 

1*2  Cicero,  ad   Familiares,   XIL  epist.        i'<  Velleius  Paterculus,   II.  69.     Livy, 
XIV.  XV.  Epitome,  121. 

133  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XII.   epist. 
XIII.  XIV.  XV. 


CASSIUS  IN  SYRIA.  389 

the  province  of  Asia,'^^  and  was  liberally  supplied  with  money 
by  his  quffistor,  P.  Lentulus,  who  also  claimed  the  merit  of  winning 
over  to  his  interest  a  large  body  of  cavalry  forming  part  of  Dola- 
bella's  army,  which  had  been  sent  on  by  him  from  Macedonia, 
to  precede  his  march  into  Syria.  Some  forces  were  also  raised  in 
the  province  itself;  and  Cassius,  thus  provided  with  men  and 
money,  did  not  hesitate  to  proceed  to  Syria  without  delay,  while 
Dolabella  was  still  lingering  in  Europe.  He  reached  Syria  in 
the  depth  of  the  winter,  perhaps  about  the  end  of  January  or  be- 
ginning of  February,  when  the  ascendency  of  the  aristocratical 
party  in  Rome,  and  the  measures  taken  against  Antonius,  were 
already  known  in  the  east.  There  was  at  this  time  in  Syria  an 
army,  according  to  Appian,  of  six  legions, '^^  under  the  command 
of  L.  Statins  Murcus,  and  Q,.  Marcius  Crispus,  which  had  been 
committed  to  them  by  Caesar  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  Q.  Cas- 
cilius  Bassus.  and  the  legion  with  which  he  maintained  himself 
in  Apamea.  Both  of  these  officers  had  served  under  Csesar  in  the 
civil  war,  but  they  were  men  of  little  ambition,  and  were  disposed 
to  obey  any  authority  which  might  seem  entitled  to  command 
them.  Accordingly,  they  gave  up  their  legions  to  Cassius  with- 
out hesitation, '^^  believing  that  by  so  doing,  they  should  most  con- 
sult the  wishes  of  the  government  at  Rome  ;  and  this  example 
was  presently  followed  by  the  legion  under  Q,.  Bassus ;  for  al- 
though that  officer  himself  was  sufficiently  desirous  of  retaining 
his  command,  yet  his  soldiers  looked  upon  Cassius  as  so  much 
more  respectable  a  leader,  that  he  was  unable  to  prevent  them 
from  making  him  an  offer  of  their  services.  Soon  afterwards,  A. 
Allienus,  who  had  been  employed  by  Dolabella  to  lead  from 
Egypt  four  legions  which  had  been  mostly  left  there  by  Caesar  to 
secure  the  throne  of  Cleopatra,  meeting  Cassius  in  Syria,  and 
being  neither  willing  nor  able  to  resist  him,  surrendered  to  him 
the  whole  force  which  he  commanded.  With  regard  to  foreign 
states,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  inhabitants  of  Syria  in  gene- 
ral,'^^  and  particularly  the  people  of  Tyre,  as  also  Caesar's  old 
enemy,  Deiotarus,  king  of  Galatia,  were  inclined  to  support  Cas- 
sius ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  Cleopatra,  queen  of  Egypt,  the 
Rhodians,  the  Lycians,  the  people  of  Tarsus, ^^^  and  the  Jews, 
were  the  enemies  of  the  old  aristocracy,  and  devoted  to  any  one 
who  should  profess  himself  the  representative  of  the  party  of 
Caesar.  The  Jews,  however,  being  placed  in  the  midst  of  the 
forces  of  Cassius,  were  soon  obliged  to  submit  to  him  ;  and  he 
proceeded  soon  afterwards  to  attack  the  Rhodians,  whose  emi- 
nence as  a  naval  power  made  their  opposition  more  formidable. 

13^5  Cicero,  ad   Familiares,   XII.   epist.         '3'  Cicero,  Philippic.  XI.  13,  14. 
XIV.     Dion  Cassius,  XLVIT.  342.  i39  Cicero,  ad   Familiares,   XII.   epist. 

'38  De  Bello  Civili,  IV.  58.  XIII.     Dion  Cassius,  XLVII.  343. 

13T  Cicero,   ad  Familiares,   XII.  epist. 
XI.  XII. 


390      VOTE  OP  THE  SENATE  IN  FAVOUR  OF  BRUTUS. 

We  have  thus  carried  on  our  narrative  of  the  state  of  affairs 
Vote  of  the  senate  in  "^  ^ho  cast  to  a  pcriod  soiTie  Hionths  later  than  that 
favour  of  Brutus.  g^{  which  WO  had  arrived,  in  describing  the  course  of 
events  at  Rome  and  in  Italy.  When  M.  Brutus  had  made  himself 
master  of  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  he  sent  despatches  to  the  senate 
containing  an  account  of  his  successes.'^"  After  they  had  been 
read,  CI.  Fufius  Calenus  proposed  that  they  should  be  acknow- 
ledged by  an  answer  of  mere  compliment,  and  that  Brutus  at  the 
same  time  should  be  ordered  to  give  up  the  legions,  the  command 
of  which  he  had  gained  so  irregularly.  But  Cicero,  rejoicing  to 
see  a  powerful  army  in  the  hands  of  a  general  on  Avhom  he  could 
so  fully  rely,  moved  on  the  contrary,  "  that  the  senate  highly  ap- 
proved of  the  conduct  of  BriUus,  and  that  it  confirmed  to  him  in 
the  fullest  manner  the  possession  of  the  armies  and  provinces 
which  he  had  acquired,  requesting  him  at  the  same  time  to  remain 
with  his  forces  as  much  as  possible  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Italy, 
that  he  might  be  ready  to  lend  his  assistance  to  the  commonwealth 
if  pecessary."  This  motion,  it  appears,  was  carried,  and  excited 
probably  no  small  jealousy  amongst  the  partisans  of  Csesar.  Soon 
afterwards,  tidings  arrived  of  the  murder  of  Trebonius,  and  the 
seizure  of  the  province  of  Asia  by  Dolabella.  The  cruelty  which 
had  accompanied  this  action  excited  a  general  feeling  of  indigna- 
Doiabeiia  declared  a  tiou.  Q..  Calcuus,'^^  witli  a  fraukucss  highly  credi- 
pubiic  enemy  by  the  ^^^^^  ^^  him,  bclug  first  askcd  hls  opiuiou  by  his 
son-in-law,  C.  Pansa,  moved  that  Dolabella  should  be  declared  a 
public  enemy,  and  that  his  property  should  be  confiscated  ;  adding, 
that  if  any  senator  should  propose  a  decree  of  greater  severity,  he 
would  gladly  assent  to  it.  But  the  unanimity  which  had  been 
thus  happily  produced  by  the  cruelty  of  Dolabella,  was  soon  dis- 
turbed. It  was  next  to  be  considered  to  whom  the  commonwealth 
should  intrust  the  duty  of  revenging  the  death  of  Trebonius,  and 
prosecuting  the  war  against  Dolabella.  L.  Csesar,"^  who  had 
been  consul  twenty-one  years  before,  in  the  year  preceding  the 
conspiracy  of  Catiline,  the  uncle  of  M.  Antonius,  but  who  had 
always  firmly  and  honestly  opposed  his  ambitious  and  violent 
measures,  proposed  that  P.  Servilius  Isauricus  should  be  the  person 
selected.  Servilius  had  been  Caesar's  colleague  in  the  consulship 
in  the  year  705  :  but  even  then  he  had  supported  the  aristocratical 
interests  with  vigour  against  the  mischievous  laws  of  M.  Cgelius. 
He  had  since  been  himself  proconsul  of  Asia,  and  had  borne  the 
character  of  a  moderate  and  humane  magistrate,'*^  so  that  his 
appointment  seems  to  have  been  most  unexceptionable,  and  was 
likely  to  have  answered  Cicero's  purposes  sufficiently  in  putting 

I'lo  Cicero,  Philippic.  X.  passim.  '^2  Cicero,  Philippic.  XI.  8  ;  Epist.  ad 

^*i  Cicero,  Philippic.  XI.  6.  Familiares,  XII.  epist.  V. 

'^3  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,   XIII.  epist. 
LXVI.  LXVIII. 


CICERO'S  PRECIPITANCY  IN  BEHALF  OF  THE  CONSPIRATORS.   391 

down  Dolabella,  without  giving  offence  to  the  partisans  of  Caesar. 
Another  proposal  advised  that  the  war  should  be  committed  to 
the  two  consuls,  Hirtius  and  Pansa,  who  were  to  be  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  two  provinces  of  Asia  and  Syria.  By  this 
method  it  was  artfully  intended  to  allure  the  two  consuls  from 
Italy  by  the  prospect  of  an  honourable  command  in  the  most 
lucrative  stations  in  the  empire ;  to  leave  Octavius  by  their  depar- 
ture at  the  head  of  the  troops  opposed  to  Antonius,  and  above  all 
to  stop  the  progress  of  Cassius,  who  was  suspected  of  seizing 
Syria  by  his  own  authority.  Nothing  seemed  so  likely  to  disap- 
point this  scheme  as  the  proposal  of  L.  Csesar,  which,  if  supported 
by  the  aristocratical  party,  would  probably  have  been  carried. 
But  Cicero  most  injudiciously  opposed  the  nomination  of  Servilius, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  consuls,  and  moved  "  that  the  war  with 
Dolabella,  together  with  the  province  of  Syria,  and  all  the  troops 
in  that  part  of  the  empire,  should  be  intrusted  to  C.  Cassius  ;  that 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  war  he  should  be  invested  with  an  ab- 
solute control  over  the  fleets  and  revenues  of  the  east ;  that  his 
command  should  extend  to  the  provinces  of  Asia,  Pontus,  and 
Bithynia,  as  well  as  to  Syria  ;  and  that  into  whatsoever  province 
he  should  enter  in  the  course  of  his  hostihties  against  Dolabella, 
his  authority  in  that  province  should  immediately  supersede  that 
of  the  regular  officers  of  the  commonwealth."  Even  the  very 
mother  and  brother  of  Cassius,"*  who  were  at  that  time  in  Rome, 
remonstrated  with  Cicero  upon  the  gross  impolicy  of  such  a  pro- 
posal. When  Brutus  had  so  lately  been  confirmed  in  the  com- 
mand of  three  provinces,  and  an  army  of  seven  legions,  how  was 
it  to  be  expected  that  even  moderate  men,  and  much  less  that  the 
partisans  of  Caesar,  should  consent  to  invest  another  of  the  con- 
spirators with  powers  and  resources  still  more  ample  1  The  only 
effect  of  Cicero's  motion  was  to  render  him  an  object  of  increased 
suspicion  to  all  the  friends  of  Caesar's  government,  and  to  procure 
the  triumph  of  that  party  who  wished  to  give  the  command  of  the 
war  with  Dolabella  to  the  consuls  Hirtius  and  Pansa.  The  war  against  do 
It  is  true  that  they  did  not  live  long  enough  to  avail  tL'^two'^onsut^  '" 
themselves  of  the  vote  of  the  senate  in  their  favour  ;  and  Cassius, 
as  we  have  seen,  soon  afterwards  destroyed  Dolabella  by  his  own 
authority.  But  Cicero,  by  thus  showing  himself  so  intemi>erate  a 
partisan  of  the  assassins  of  Caesar,  and  of  those  two  in  particular 
who  had  even  during  the  civil  war  been  among  the  adherents  of 
Pompey,  gave  a  general  disgust  to  that  numerous  portion  of  the 
commonwealth  who  wished  to  see  Caesar's  system  and  measures 
preserved  under  certain  limitations,  and  who  dreaded  and  abhorred 
the  exclusive  dominion  of  the  high  aristocratical  party. 

The  proceedings  of  Antonius,  however,  during  his  consulship 

'**  Cicero,  ad   Familiares,   XII.    epist.  VII. 

26 


392  .VOTE  OF  THE  SENATE  AGAINST  ANTONIUS. 

Vote  of  the  senate  ^^^  ^6611  SO  violcnt,  that  the  majority  of  the  sen- 
against  Atitonius.  g^^g  werc  disposcd  to  pass  the  strongest  decrees 
against  him  individually,  however  unwilling  they  might  be  to 
concur  in  the  excessive  powers  and  honours  proposed  by  Cicero 
for  the  assassins  of  Csesar.  It  was  resolved  that  the  laws  passed 
by  Antonius  were  not  binding  ]'*^  that  he  had  forged  decrees  of 
the  senate ;  and  that  he  had  corruptly  appropriated  to  himself 
above  five  millions  sterling  of  the  public  money.  By  these  reso- 
lutions the  senate  seemed  to  declare  that  their  quarrel  with  him 
was  perpetual ;  and  although  they  were  so  far  moved  by  L.  Piso 
and  Q,.  Calenus  as  to  vote  that  another  deputation  should  be  sent 
to  him,  in  the  expectation  that  he  would  submit  implicitly  to  their 
orders,  yet  when  they  found  that  this  expectation  was  not  likely 
to  be  realized,  the  measure  was  dropped  altogether.  Nay,  when 
letters  were  received  from  M.  Lepidus,"^  tuging  them  to  put  an 
end  to  the  civil  war,  they  voted  according  to  the  sentiments  of  P. 
Servilius,  who  moved,  that  peace  with.  Antonius  was  prejudicial 
to  the  commonwealth.  It  was  about  this  time  also,  that  is,  the 
beginning  of  April,  that  M.  Varisidius  arrived  at  Rome,'*''  being 
the  bearer  of  a  letter  addressed  by  L.  Plancus  to  the  senate.  In 
this  letter  Plancus  asserted  that  he  had  an  army  of  five  legions 
under  his  command  ;  and  that  both  himself,  his  soldiers,  and  the 
people  of  his  province  of  Gaul,  were  entirely  devoted  to  the  in- 
terests of  his  country,  and  ready  to  undertake  any  service  to 
which  the  commonwealth  might  think  proper  to  call  them. 
There  was  an  ambiguity  in  the  terms  "  country"  and  "  common- 
wealth," of  which  Plancus  possibly  designed  hereafter  to  avail 
himself;  yet  the  tone  of  his  letter  was  so  promising,  and  his  lan- 
guage in  a  private  letter  to  Cicero  was  so  strongly  in  favour  of 
his  attachment  to  the  course  now  pursued  by  the  senate,  that  Ci- 
cero thought  proper  to  move  for  a  grant  of  extraordinary  honours 
to  him,  in  recompense  of  his  fidelity.  This  motion  was  opposed 
by  P.  Servilius  ;  and  when  the  majority  of  the  senate  agreed  to  it, 
P.  Titius,  one  of  the  tribunes,  interposed  his  negative  at  the  request 
of  Servilius,  and  thus  stopped  the  decree.  The  debate  was  ad- 
journed to  the  following  day,  the  ninth  of  April,  when  Cicero  spoke 
with  great  vehemence  against  Servilius  and  Titius  ;  and  at  last, 
partly  from  the  efiect  of  his  own  eloquence,  and  partly  owing  to  the 
impression  produced  by  the  arrival  of  despatches  from  P.  Lentu- 
lus  in  Asia,^*^  containing  an  account  of  the  progress  of  Cassius 

145  Cicero,  Philippic.  XII.  5.  often  questioned  ;  and  Schtltz  has  classed 

-i6  Cicero,  Philippic.  XIII.  4,  et  seq.  them,  together  with  five  orations  common - 

147  Cicero,adFamiliares,  X.  epist.  VIII.  ly  ascribed   to  Cicero,  among  the  works 

XII.  which  he  believes  to  be  forgeries  ;  and  has 

1^8  Cicero,  ad  Brutum,  II.  epist.  II.  We  published  them  in  a  separate   volume. — 

are  aware  that  the  genuineness  of  the  two  But  judging  from  the  arguments  which  he 

books  of  "  Epistles  to   Brutus"  has  been  brings  to  prove  their  spuriousness,  the  gen- 


VOTE  OF  HONOURS  TO  L.  PLANCUS. 


393 


in  Syria,;  the  opinion  of  Cicero  triumphed,  the  tribune  withdrew 
his  negative,  and  the  vote  of  honours  to  L.  Plancus  was  carried. 
But  the  subsequent  conduct  of  Plancus  seems  to  indicate  that 
with  regard  to  him,  as  well  as  to  Octavius,  Cicero  either  believed 
or  pretended  to  believe  their  professions  much  too  readily ;  and 
by  his  lavish  votes  in  their  favour  injured,  in  fact,  the  dignity  of 
the  commonwealth,  and  gave  to  the  contest  the  appearance  of  a 
personal  quarrel  with  Antonius,  rather  than  of  a  general  opposi- 
tion to  the  principle  of  usurped  and  illegal  power  and  militaiy 
tyranny. 


uineness  of  a  work  was  never  more  unrea- 
sonably suspected.  He  says,  that  the  letter 
which  we  have  just  quoted  (II.  epist.  II.) 
must  be  a  forgery,  because  it  speaks  of  the 
arrival  of  tidings  concerning  Cassius  on 
the  9th  of  April  ;  whereas  in  another 
letter  to  Brutus,  dated  on  the  5th  of  May, 
the  writer  says  that  nothing  was  known  of 
the  forces  of  Cassius.  But  on  attending 
to  the  whole  passages  in  both  letters,  the 
inconsistency  vanishes.  Despatches  had 
reached  Rome,  on  the  9th  of  April,  from 
P.  Lentulus,  who  had  been  quaestor  to 
Trebonius,  and  who  appears  to  have  writ- 
ten them  from  the  province  of  Asia.  They 
contained  a  report  of  the  information  which 
he  had  received  from  Syria,  of  the  occu- 
pation of  that  province  by  Cassius,  and  of 
the  surrender  of  the  legions  under  L.  Mur- 
cus  and  Q.  Crispus.  It  is  not  said  that 
the  despatches  of  Lentulus  entered  into 
any  particulars  ;  but  ihey  probably  stated 
in  general  terms,  as  was  natural,  what  he 
had  heard  of  events  which  had  occurred 
in  a  distant  province.  Nearly  a  month  af- 
terwa^s,  Cicero  informs  Brutus  that  the 
senate  had  given  him  a  discretionary  pow- 
er to  act  against  Dolabella  or  not,  as  he 
should  judge  most  expedient  ;  and  adds, 
as  the  reason  why  so  much  was  thus  left 
to  his  own  judgment,  that  nothing  was 
known  about  the  army  of  Cassius ;  nothing, 
that  is,  as  to  its  position,  its  operations,  or 
even  its  means  of  taking  the  field.  It 
was  known  that  Cassius  had  an  army  and 
a  province  ;  but  this  knowledge  was  of  no 
use  towards  deciding  the  question,  whether 
he  might  require  the  aid  of  Brutus  in  de- 
stroying Dolabella  or  no  ;  and  therefore, 
as  far  as  that  point  was  concerned,  it  was 
equivalent  to  a  "  total  ignorance  about  the 
army  of  Cassius." 

V^e  have  quoted  the  "  Epistles  to  Bru- 
tus" without  hesitation ;  for  we  think  that 
all  the  positive  arguments  of  inconsisten- 
cy with  themselves  or  with  other  authori- 
liee,  which  SchUtz  has  repeated  from  Tun- 


stall,  are  founded  on  mistakes  and  misin- 
terpretations of  the  passages  attacked. — 
Another  class  of  arguments,  if  they  deserve 
to  be  called  so,  is  built  on  the  pretended 
occurrence  of  unclassical  or  inelegant  ex- 
pressions in  these  letters  ;  and  sometimes 
a  letter  is  condemned  because  "  tota  ejus 
compositio  prorsus  a  Ciceronis  elegantia 
abhorret."  SchQtz,  Praefat.  in  tom.  VIII. 
p.  3.  Ciceron.  Oper.  It  must  be  a  very 
strong  case  indeed  that  could  warrant  us 
in  pronouncing  a  work  to  be  a  forgery,  on 
account  of  fancied  inelegancies  in  its  style, 
or  even  of  dissimilarity  from  the  usual 
language  of  the  writer.  But  in  the  pres- 
ent instance  we  see  no  such  dissimilarity; 
and  as  for  the  inelegance  of  particular  ex- 
pressions, we  do  think  that  it  is  quite  ab- 
surd to  pretend  to  decide,  in  a  dead  lan- 
guage, what  expressions  might  or  might 
not  have  been  used  in  the  familiarity  of  a 
private  letter. 

The  evidence  in  favour  of  the  "  Epistles 
to  Brutus"  is  the  same  on  which  we  be- 
lieve the  genuineness  of  any  ancient  wri- 
ting ;  namely,  that  they  have  been  trans- 
mitted down  to  us  amongst  the  other 
works  of  Cicero,  and  profess  to  be  his 
composition.  If  the  arguments  brought 
against  them  be  of  n<#weight,  if  there  be, 
as  we  think  there  is  not,  no  evidence  to 
render  them  suspected,  we  may  receive 
them  as  genuine  on  the  external  evidence 
of  their  having  been  always  ascribed  to 
Cicero,  without  inquiring  whether  they 
afford  any  positive  internal  evidence  in 
their  own  favour.  But  we  think  that  they 
possess  also  this  mark  of  genuineness,  and 
that  they  are  such  letters  as  no  man  was 
likely  to  have  forged,  from  the  brevity  and 
uninteresting  nature  of  many  of  the  num- 
bers ;  and  from  their  real,  but  neither  ap- 
parent nor  designed, agreement  with  what 
we  know  from  other  really  respectable  au- 
thorities concerning  the  facts  to  which  they 
allude. 


394         LETTER  OF  ANTONIUS  TO  HIRTIUS  AND  OCTAVIUS 

While  the  aristocratical  party  was  thus  trmmphir|g  in  the 
Letterof  Antoniusto  feiicied  siippoit  of  Plaiicus,  Antoiiius  was  eiideav- 
Hirtius  and  octavius.  Quring  to  scducc  the  omcers  who  were  employed 
against  him,  A.  Hirtius  and  C.  Octavius.  He  addressed  to  them 
a  letter/^ ^  in  which  he  represented  the  impolicy  of  their  conduct 
in  serving  the  purposes  of  the  Pompeian  party,  and  fighting  against 
their  old  comrades  and  natural  associates,  in  behalf  of  men  by 
whom  they  were  hated  in  reality  as  bitterly  as  he  himself.  And 
he  spoke  of  Lepidus  and  Plancus  as  being  united  with  him  in  all 
his  designs,  and  approving  his  proceedings.  This  letter  was 
transmitted  by  Hirtius  to  Cicero,  and  was  by  him  read  aloud  in 
the  senate.  To  Octavius,  doubtless,  it  suggested  nothing  which 
he  had  not  himself  clearly  perceived  before.  It  was  not,  and 
could  not  be  his  real  intention  to  exalt  the  cause  of  Pompey,  or 
to  see  the  assassins  of  his  uncle  in  possession  of  the  greatest  power 
and  dignity  in  the  commonwealth.  Nor^  ought  the  enemies  of 
Antonius  to  have  neglected  that  part  of  his  letter  in  which  he 
boasted  of  the  entire  co-operation  of  Lepidus  and  Plancus.  With 
regard  to  Lepidus,  the  whole  course  of  his  former  life,  as  well  as 
his  recent  interference  to  procure  peace  for  Antonius,  rendered 
the  assertion  extremely  probable  ;  and  if  Lepidus  deserted  the 
cause  of  the  commonwealth,  the  fidelity  of  Plancus  would  be 
exposed  to  a  very  severe  temptation.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
consuls  Hirtius  and  Pansa,  the  latter  of  whom  had  now  taken 
the  field  with  the  army  which  he  had  been  levying  and  organiz- 
ing at  Rome,  possessed  and  deserved  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
senate ;  and  whilst  the  greatest  part  of  the  forces  employed 
against  Antonius  was  in  their  hands,  Octavius  must  of  necessity 
remain  faithful,  and  the  contest  might  be  decided  before  Lepidus 
or  Plancus  should  venture  to  throw  aside  the  mask  which  they 
now  thought  it  prudent  to  wear.  •• 

Meantime  the  events  of  the  campaign  were  becoming  of  the 
Battle  of  Mutina.  highest  importance.  In  the  month  of  February, 
u.c.  711.  i\.ntonius,  while  closely  besieging  Decimus  Brutus 

in  Mutina,  was  in  possession  of  the  important  places  of  Parma, 
Regium  Lepidi  or  Reggio,  and  Bononia  or  Bologna.  These  three 
towns  were  all  situated  on  the  iEmilian  way,  at  that  time  proba- 
bly the  only  good  line  of  communication  by  which  it  was  possi- 
ble to  reach  Mutina  ;  and  lying  two  to  the  westward  and  one  to 
the  eastward  of  the  place  that  was  besieged,  the  occupation 
of  them  by  the  besieging  army  rendered  it  difiicult  for  Hirtius 
and  Octavius  to  advance  to  its  relief.  The  season,  besides, 
was  unfavourable,  and  C.  Pansa  was  still  busied  in  levy- 
ing troops  at  Rome ;  so  that  Hirtius  and  Octavius  remained 
quiet  for  some  time ;  the  former  at  Claterna,'5o  and  the  latter 
at  Forum  Cornelii,  or  Imola ;  both  of  which  towns  were  situated 

i«  Cicero,  Philippic.  XIII.  10,  et  seq.  'so  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XII.  epist.  V. 


ANTONIUS  IS  DEFEATED.  395 

on  the  iEmiliaii  way,  between  Bononia  and  Ariminum.     But  as 
the  spring  came  on,  and  Decimus  Brutus  began  to  suffer  severely 
from  the  strictness  of  the  blockade,  Hirtius  and  Octavius  deemed 
it  necessary  to  act  more  vigorously.     They  advanced  towards 
Mutina,  and  Antonius  thought  proper  to  abandon   Bononia   to 
them,  so  that  they  were  enabled  to  approach  very  near  to  the 
lines  of  the  besiegers  ;  and  in  this  situation  they  were  endeavour- 
ing to  open  a  communication  with  Decimus  Brutus,  and  were 
waiting  at  the  same  time  for  the  arrival  of  Pansa  with  his  newly 
raised  legions  from  Rome.     It  was  about  the  middle  of  April, '^^ 
when   Hirtius   was   informed  that  Pansa   was  approaching  at 
the  head  of  four  legions  of  newly-raised  troops ;  and  in  order  to 
favour  his  safe  arrival,  which  Antonius  would  naturally  endea- 
vour to  prevent,  he  despatched  the  prastorian  cohorts  of  himself 
and  Octavius,  together  with  one  of  his  legions,  by  night  to  join 
him,  and  strengthen  him  on  his  march.     It  happened  that  this 
was  the  Martian  legion,  which  had  first  set  the  example  of  de- 
sertion from  Antonius,  and  which  was  animated  by  the  fiercest 
animosity  against  him.     Antonius,  not  aware  of  the  reinforce- 
ment which  Pansa  had  thus  received,  marched  with  two  of  his 
veteran  legions,  and  some  of  Caesar's  disbanded  soldiers,  whom 
he  had  assembled  under  his  standard  at  the  beginning  of  the  cam- 
paign, to  intercept  him  on  his  way.     But  on  the  first  appearance 
of  his  light  troops  and  cavalry,  the  Martian  legion,  unable  to  re- 
strain its  impetuosity,  advanced  hastily  forward,  and  followed  by 
the  two  praetorian  cohorts,  engaged  with  the  enemy  before  it  could 
be  supported  by  the  newly-raised   legions,  which  were  at  some 
distance  in  the  rear.     It  was  in  consequence  overpowered  and  de- 
feated with  severe  loss  ;'^^  Pansa,  who  had  taken  the  command 
of  it  in  person,  after  having  vainly  endeavoured  to  check  its  im- 
prudent advance,  was  dangerously  wounded,  and  carried  off  to 
Bononia  ;  and  Antonius  following  up  his  advantage,  attempted  to 
take  the  camp  of  the  enemy.     Here,  however,  he  was  repulsed 
by  two  of  Pansa's  newly-raised  legions,  and  finding  that  he  could 
do  nothing  further  on  that  side,  he  commenced  his  retreat  towards 
his  own  camp  before  Mutina.     But  Hirtius,«vvho  had  received  in- 
telligence of  Pansa's  danger,  had  set  out  with  two  legions  to  his 
rescue,  leaving  Octavius  to  defend  their  camp  ;  and  although  he 
could  not  arrive  in  time  to  prevent  the  defeat  of  the  Martian  le- 
gion, yet  he  fell  in  with  Antonius  when  retreating  towards  Mutina 
after  his  victory,  and  assaulting  his  soldiers,  fatigued  as  they 
were  by  their  preceding  exertions,  he  totally  routed  and  dispersed 
them.     Antonius  reached  his  lines  in  safety  at  the  head  of  his 
cavalry,  a  kind  of  force  with  which  Hirtius  was  unprovided,  and 

'   151  Cicero,    ad    Familiares,    X.    epist.         '52  Cicero,    ad     Familiares,  X.    epist. 
XXX.  XXX. ;  Philippic.  XIV.  9,  10.  14. 


396  ANTONIUS  RETREATS  TOWARDS  GAUL. 

found  that  the  troops  whom  he  had  left  there  in  the  morning,  had 
made  an  attack  upon  the  enemy's  camp  during  the  absence  of 
Hirtiusjbuthad  been  repulsed  with  loss  by  the  forces  left  with  Oc- 
tavius  to  guard  it. 

By  this  action  the  army  of  Antonius  was  greatly  weakened. 
Defeat  of  Antonius.  but  as  it  yct  rctaiucd  its  lines  around  Mutina,  the 
Sis°^  '^^  ''"'  relief  of  Decimus  Brutus  had  not  been  effected  by 
the  success  of  his  associates.  Hirtius  and  Octavius,  therefore, 
were  anxious  to  bring  Antonius  to  a  second  action  ;  and  this  they 
accomplished  by  threatening  to  force  their  way  into  Mutina  at  a 
distant  and  ill-guarded  quarter  of  his  lines.  Antonius  was  forced 
to  fight  in  order  to  oppose  this  attempt ;  but  he  was  again  de- 
feated with  great  loss ;  and  Decimus  Brutus  making  a  sally  at 
the  same  time  with  the  garrison  of  Mutina,  he  had  no  other  re- 
source but  to  abandon  all  his  positions,  and  fly  with  the  wreck 
of  his  infantry,  covered  by  his  still  unbroken  cavalry,  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  Alps.'^^  Unfortunately  for  the  cause  of  the  aris- 
tocracy, Hirtius,  while  pursuing  the  enemy  into  their  lines,  had 
fallen,  and  the  command  of  his  army  devoh-ed  thus  suddenly 
upon  Octavius.  This  circumstance  deprived  Decimus  Brutus 
for  the  moment  of  any  co-operation.  Octavius  drew  back  his 
troops  into  his  own  camp,  and  Brutus,  not  aware  of  the  death 
of  Hirtius,'^^  waited  in  expectation  of  receiving  some  communi- 
cation from  him.  When  he  learned  that  Octavius  was  now 
the  sole  general  of  the  army  of  the  commonwealth,  he  wished 
to  ascertain  his  sentiments  before  he  ventured  freely  to  act 
with  him  ;  and  having  requested  and  obtained  an  interview 
with  him,  although  Octavius  removed  all  suspicion  by  the  lan- 
guage which  he  held,  yet  it  was  too  late  in  the  day,  after  this 
meeting,  to  take  any  active  steps  in  pursuing  Antonius.  On  the 
following  morning  Decimus  Brutus  was  summoned  to  Bononia 
to  see  Pansa,  who  was  lying  there  ill  of  his  wounds  ;  but  on  his 
way  thither  he  received  intelligence  of  the  consul's  death,  and  re- 
turned immediately  to  Mutina,  having  lost  irreparably  another 
day.  Meantime  Antonius  was  retreating  with  the  utmost  rapidi- 
ty, marching  in  no  re^nlar  order,  and  swelling  his  numbers  by 
opening  all  the  workhouses,  and  enlisting  the  slaves  who  were  kept 
there  under  their  taskmasters.*"  His  object  was  to  enter  Gaul 
as  soon  as  possible  by  way  of  the  Maritime  Alps ;  and  accord- 
Antonius  retreats  to-  ingly  he  allowcd  liimsclf  no  respite  till  he  had 
j^fnedbyTentWius!^  crosscd  tlic  Apenuiucs  and  arrived  at  Vada,'^^  a 
spot  which  still  retains  the  name  of  Vado,  and  is  situated  on  the 
road  from  Genoa  to  Nice,  a  little  to  the  westward  ot  Savona» 
Here  he  received  a  most  seasonable  support  in  the  junction  of  P. 

153  Cicero,  ad  Brutum,  I.  epist.  IV.  ^^^  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  X. 

154  Cicero,    ad   Familiares,  XI.  epist.     XIII. 

XlII.  '^«  Strabo,  IV.  221,  edit.  Xyland. 


MOVEMENTS  OP  PLANCUS  AND  D.  BRUTUS  397 

Ventidhis  with  three  legions.  This  officer  was  a  native  of  Ascii- 
lum,  and  when  that  town  had  been  taken  by  Cn.  Pompeius  Strabo 
in  the  ItaUan  war,  Ventidius,  then  quite  a  boy,  had  walked  amongst 
the  other  prisoners  in  the  triumphal  procession  of  the  conqueror. 
Since  that  time  he  had  risen  to  considerable  eminence,  and  had 
probably  become  acquainted  with  Antonius  while  they  both 
served  under  Cassar.  When  the  civil  w^ar  was  again  begun  by 
the  siege  of  Mutina,  and  Italy  seemed  likely  to  be  the  scene  of  a 
bloody  contest,  as  in  the  times  of  Marius  and  Sylla,  Ventidius  re- 
paired to  his  native  country,  Picenum,  and  there  began  to  raise 
soldiers,  partly  from  among  Caesar's  veterans,  and  partly  from  the 
inhabitants.  He  had  collected  a  force  of  three  legions,  and  was 
apparently  still  in  Picenum,  or  its  neighbourhood,'"  when  he  re- 
ceived intelligence  of  the  defeat  of  Antonius.  Without  loss  of  time 
he  set  out  to  join  him,  and  as  Octavius  took  no  pains  to  intercept 
him,  he  crossed  the  Apennines  by  roads  scarcely  practicable,  and 
succeeded  in  his  attempt.  Their  cavalry  was  exceedingly  for- 
midable,'^s  g^j^(j  L_  Antonius  was  sent  forwards  with  it  to  occupy 
the  passes  of  the  Alps,  on  the  coast  road  from  Vada  to  Forum 
Julii,  or  Frejus.  Antonius  himself  arrived  at  Forum  Julii  on  the 
fifteenth  of  May,'^^  with  the  first  divisions  of  his  infantry  ;  Ventid- 
ius following  at  the  distance  of  two  days'  march  in  the  rear.  They 
found  that  M.  Lepidus  had  arrived  with  his  army  at  Forum  Vo- 
contii,  a  place  distant  little  more  than  twenty  miles  Lepidus  pretends  to 
from  them ;  and  whatever  private  reasons  Antonius  °pp°^''  his  passage. 
might  have  had  for  depending  on  his  assistance,  yet  his  avowed 
object  was  to  prevent  the  fugitive  army  from  entering  his  province, 
and  he  had  called  upon  L.  Plancus  to  co-operate  with  him  for  that 
end.  Plancus,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  rewarded  with  thanks 
and  honours  by  the  senate,  on  the  motion  of  Cicero,  in  return  for  the 
assurances  of  patriotism  which  he  had  sent  to  Rome  from  his 
province  in  the  month  of  March.  He  crossed  the  Rhone,  near 
Lyons  and  Vienne,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  April, '«°  with  the  inten- 
tion, as  he  declared,  of  marching  into  Italy  to  the  relief  of  Deci- 
mus  Brutus  ;  but  receiving  intelligence  of  the  battles  of  Mutina  a 
few  days  afterwards,  he  halted  between  the  Rhone  and  the  Isere. 
and  began  to  communicate  with  Lepidus  on  the  I  est  means  of 
serving  the  commonwealth. 

The  chief  agent  in  this  correspondence  was  M.  Juventius  La- 
terensis,  who  was  at  this  time  one  of  the  lieutenants    Movements  of  pian- 
of  Lepidus ;    but,   unlike   his  general,    had   been    Emtus'"' 
through  life,  and  still  continued  to  be,  a  fearless  and  sincere  sup- 
porter of  the  old  constitution.'^'     Laterensis,  believing  what  he 

157  Cicero,  Philippic.  XII.  9.  I60  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  X.  epist.  IX. 

153  Cicero,    ad    Familiares,    X.  epist.         i^i  Laterensis  had   abandoned   his  can- 

XV.  XXXIII.  XXXIV.  vass  for  the  tribuneship   in  the  year  694, 

'53  Cicero,    ad    Familiares,     X.  epist.     because  all  candidates  for  any  magistracy 

XVII.  were  required  to  take  an  oath  that  they 


398  DELAY  OF  DECIMUS  BRUTUS. 

wished,  assured  Planciis  of  the  good  intentions  of  Lepidus,  and 
earnestly  entreated  him  to  move  to  his  assistance  against  Anto- 
niiis.  It  Avas  on  the  twelfth  of  May  that  Planciis  had  thrown  a 
bridge  over  the  Isere,  and  had  crossed  the  river ;  but  he  had  re- 
mained on  the  left  bank  for  nine  days,  being  inclined,  he  said,  to 
wait  there  for  the  arrival  of  Decimus  Brutus,  on  whose  co-opera- 
tion he  could  more  safely  rely  than  on  that  of  Lepidus.  But  being 
urged  by  the  repeated  entreaties  and  assurances  of  Lepidus  and 
Laterensis,  he  moved  forward  from  the  Isere  with  four  legions 
on  the  twenty-first  of  May,'^^  having  built  and  garrisoned  two 
towers  at  the  two  extremities  of  his  bridge,  in  order  to  secure  the 
passage  for  Decimus  Brutus,  if  he  should  arrive  from  Italy  to  join 
him.  Three  days  only  after  he  left  the  Isere  Decimus  Brutus  was 
at  Eporedia,  or  Ivrea,^®^  in  the  direct  road  from  the  plains  of  the  Po 
to  the  passage  over  the  Alps  by  the  Little  St.  Bernard,  by  which, 
retracing  Hannibal's  footsteps,  he  would  have  descended  into  the 
plains  of  Dauphin  e  by  Montmeillan,  and  the  road  to  Vienne. 
Brutus  had  under  his  command  an  army  of  seven  legions, '«*  con- 
sisting of  the  legions  raised  by  Pansa,  those  which  he  had  levied 
himself,  and  one  legion  of  veterans ;  but  having  been  delayed  at 
first  in  pursuing  Antonius  after  the  battle  of  Mutina,  having  lost 
the  co-operation  of  Oclavius,  and  being  unprovided  with  the 
means  of  adequately  supplying  his  army,  he  was  probably  an 
unequal  match  for  the  united  forces  of  Antonius  and  Ventidius.  and 
therefore  was  obliged  to  rest  his  dependence  on  the  assistance  of 
Plancus.  But  when  he  had  reached  Eporedia,  he  was  induced 
to  suspend  his  march  by  the  alarming  reports  which  he  received 
of  the  dispositions  of  Octavius  and  his  veterans,'^^  reports  which 
made  him  unwilling  to  leave  Italy,  and  to  abandon  the  seat  of 
government  to  the  ambition  of  one  who  was  far  more  dangerous 
than  Antonius.  Meanwhile  Plancus  moved  forwards  from  the 
Isere  to  join  the  army  of  Lepidus  ;'®^  but  by  this  time  the  soldiers 
of  Antonius  were  in  communication  with  those  of  Lepidus,  and 
these  last  had  openly  told  their  general  that  they  were  determined 
to  have  peace,  and  would  fight  with  none  of  their  fellow-soldiers. 
M.  Laterensis,  perceiving  that  Lepidus  took  no  steps  to  check 
these  feelings  in  his  soldiers,  wrote  to  Plancus  to  warn  him  that 
he  should  advance  no  further  ;  and  Plancus  accordingly  halted 

would  never  propose  to  the  people  any  al-  '62  Cicero,    ad    Familiares,    X.    epist. 

teration  in  Caesar's  agrarian  law,  relative  XVIIl. 

to  a  division  of  lands  in  Campania.    Cice-  '^3  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  XX- 

ro, ad  Atticum,  II.  epist.  XVIII.     And  he  'si  Cicero,    ad    Familiares,     X.    epist. 

had  afterwards  loudly  taxed  Cicero  with  a  XXIV. :  XI.  epist.  X. 

disgraceful  tergiversation,  when  he  allowed  '^5  Cicero, ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  XX  . 

himself  to  court  the  friendship  of  Pompey  '^^  Cicero, ad  Familiares,X  epist.  XXI. 

and  Caesar  in  opposition  to  the  senate  after  XXIII. 

his  return  from  exile.  Cicero,  pro  Plancio, 

.38,  39. 


PROCEEDINGS  AT  ROME.  399 

within  forty  miles  of  Forum  Julii  to  Avait  the  event.  On  the 
twenty-ninth  of  May,  Lepidus  united  his  forces  union  between  An- 
with  those  o^Antonius,  and  the  two  generals  in-  tomus  and  Lepidus. 
stantly  began  to  march  in  pursuit  of  Plancus.  He  fell  back  upon 
the  Isere  as  they  advanced,  recrossed  the  river  without  suffering 
any  annoyance,  and  having  broken  down  his  bridge,  resolved 
again,  according  to  his  own  account,  to  look  forward  to  the  arrival 
of  Decimus  Brutus.  But  it  may  be  suspected  that  Antonius  and 
Lepidus  would  have  pursued  him  more  vigorously,  had  they  ap- 
prehended any  serious  effects  from  his  hostility ;  and  the  inde- 
cision of  Plancus  may  have  joined  with  the  treach- 

c  X         -1  •  ^  •  1      J.  -iiii         t    Suicide  of  Laterensis. 

ery  of  Lepidus  m  provokmg  Laterensis  to  that  act 

of  despair  by  which,  when  he  saw  the  junction  with  Antonius 

consummated,  he  fell  upon  his  own  word. 

It  is  now  time  to  return  to  Rome,  and  to  notice  the  effect 
produced  in  the  capital  by  the  tidings  of  the  battle  of  Mutina. 
When  it  was  known  that  the  siege  of  Mutina  was  raised,  and 
that  Antonius  was   flying   in   disorder  with   the 

■I        c  1   •  ii  •  1  11-1        Proceedings  at  Rome. 

wreck  of  his  army,  the  expressions,  and  probably 
the  feelings  of  public  joy,  were  great  and  general.'®''  The  peo- 
ple, as  if  all  danger  were  at  an  end,  laid  aside  the  military 
dress:  a  triumph  was  voted  to  Decimus  Brutus,'®^  an  ovation 
to  Octavius,  and  a  public  funeral  in  the  Campus  Martins  to  the 
two  consuls,  Hirtius  and  Pansa.  Antonius  and  all  his  follow- 
ers were  declared  public  enemies ;  and  as  the  death  of  the  con- 
suls left  vacant  the  charge  of  conducting  the  war  against  Dola- 
bella,  P.  Servilius  moved  that.it  should  be  now  conferred  on  Cas- 
sius  ;  and  it  was  added,  on  the  suggestion  of  Cicero,  that  M. 
Brutus  might  take  part  in  it  or  not,  as  he  should  judge  most  ex- 
pedient for  the  commonwealth.  The  first  check  which  his  exul- 
tation sustained  was  from  the  tidings  of  the  unmolested  retreat  of 
Antonius,  and  of  his  junction  with  P.  Ventidius  ;  and  the  public 
complained  loudly  of  the  neglect  of  Decimus  Brutus  and  Octavius 
in  suffering  their  defeated  enemy  to  escape.  Decimus  Brutus, 
however,  had  so  deep  an  interest  in  the  success  of  the  aristocracy, 
that  he  cannot  be  suspected  of  any  want  of  vigour  in  their  cause  ; 
and  his  own  justification,  which  he  sent  to  Cicero  in  one  of  his 
letters,  appears  entirely  satisfactory.'®^     We  have  already  men- 

I6T  Cicero,  ad  Brutum,  I.  epist.   III. —  might  be   allowed  to  furnish  every  thing 

There  is  a  story  told    by  Valerius  Maxi-  that  was  required,  even   to  the    labour  of 

mus,  V.   2,  which  seems   to  confirm   the  their  slaves,  without  receiving  any  sort  of 

statement  of  Cicero,    that   the    war  with  payment,  because  they  considered  the  two 

Antonius  was  regarded    by  the  people  in  consuls  to  have  fallen  in  the  service  of  their 

general  as  a  struggle  for  their  liberty. —  country. 

When  M.  Cornutus,  the  praetor,  was  pro-  '^^  Velleius    Paterculus,   II.    62,    edit, 

ceeding  to  contract  for  the  funeral  solemn i-  Oxon   1693.     Cicero,  ad  Brutum,  I.  epist. 

ties  of  Hirtius  and   Pansa,  the   principal  V.  XV. 

undertakers  in  Rome   begged   that   they  '69  Ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  XIII. 


400  CONDUCT  OF  OCTAVIUS. 

tioned  the  circumstances  which  detained  him  two  days  from  the 
pursuit  of  Antonius  immediately  after  the  battle  ;  and  it  became 
then  impossible  for  him  to  overtake  the  fugitive*,  who  were 
making  their  way  with  the  utmost  expedition  by  tracts  which 
were  probably  impracticable  for  a  regular  army,  whose  order  was 
unbroken.  But  Decimus  Brutus  requested  Octavius  to  cross  the 
Apennines  and  intercept  the  division  of  Ventidius  ;^^°  for  the  troops 
of  Antonius,  if  left  to  themselves,  would  naturally  dwindle  away 
by  desertion  ;  whereas,  if  they  were  reinforced  immediately  by  a 
fresh  army,  their  spirits  would  gradually  recover,  and  their  fidelity 
to  their  chief  would  be  confirmed. 

And  here  we  want  a  more  detailed  account  of  events,  and  a 

more  careful  specification  of  dates  than  it  is  now 

Conduct  of  Octavius.  pQgg^jjjg  jq  gain.    All  thc  veteran  legions,  which  had 

been  commanded  by  the  late  consuls,  were  now,  with  one  excep- 
tion, under  the  orders  of  Octavius  ;  but  it  seems  that  neither  they 
nor  their  general  were  inclined  to  obey  the  senate  any  longer. 
What  excuses  he  made  to  Decimus  Brutus  for  not  attempting  to 
intercept  Ventidius,  we  cannot  tell ;  but  no  such  attempt  was  made, 
and  it  was  impossible  for  him,  so  soon  after  the  battle,  to  have 
received  intelligence  of  those  decrees  of  the  senate  which  his  par- 
tisans represent  as  so  injurious  to  him.  The  fact  appears  to  be, 
that  the  death  of  both  the  consuls  instantly  opened  to  Octavius 
a  new  prospect ;  and  that  his  thoughts  were  henceforward  bent 
far  more  on  forwarding  his  own  schemes  of  ambition  at  Rome, 
than  on  lending  any  eftectual  assistance  to  Decimus  Brutus.  He 
conceived  the  design  of  procuring  his  own  election  to  the  consul- 
ship for  the  remaining  months  of  the  year ;  and  possibly  he  show- 
ed some  symptoms  of  his  intentions  immediately  after  the  battle 
of  Mutina ;  for  Decimus  Brutus  gives  some  intimations  of  this 
kind  in  a  letter  to  Cicero,  dated  on  the  fifth  of  May.'^'  If  this 
were  at  all  suspected,  it  was  just  and  reasonable  that  the  senate 
should  endeavour  lo  transfer  the  chief  command  of  the  armies  in 
Italy  to  an  officer  on  whom  more  reliance  could  be  placed  ;  and, 
accordingly,  it  was  proposed  by  L.  Livius  Drusus,^^*^  the  father  of 
the  future  wife  of  Octavius,  and  by  L.  ^milius  Paulus,  that  the 
fourth  legion  and  the  Martian  should  be  given  up  to  Decimus 
Brutus.  This  was  never  done,  for  the  soldiers  would  not  be  com- 
manded by  one  of  Caesar's  assassins,^^^  and  Octavius  wa  snot  at  all 
unwilling  to  avail  himself  of  their  inclinations,  and  to  plead  his 
inability  to  comply  with  the  senate's  order. 

Yet  although  his  conduct  in  this  matter,  combined  with  his 

170  Ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  X.  vacuitas,  non  te   fugit.     Satis  me    inulta 

iTi  Ad   Familiares,   XL  epist   X.     Pri-  scripsisse,  quae  Uteris  commendari  possint^ 

mum  omnium,   quantam   perturbatiotiem  arbitror.     Scio  enim,  cui  scribam. 

rerum  urbanarum  afferat  obitus  Consulum,         1^2  Ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  XIX. 

quantaraque  cupiditatem  hominibus  injiciat         i^^  Ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  XIV. 


THE  ARMY  IRRITATED  AGAINST  THE  SENATE.  49 1 

designs  upon  the  consulship,  and  his  negHgence  in  acting  against 
Antonius  and  Ventidius,  must  have  given  just  offence,  nothing 
was  decreed  by  the  senate  against  him  ;  but  a  deputation  of  sena- 
tors was  sent  to  the  legions  to  try  whether  they  could  not  be  pre- 
vailed upon  to  remain  firm  in  their  duty,  and  to  pacify  them  with 
regard  to  some  claims  for  pay  and  military  rewards  which  they 
had  been  lately  advancing.'''^  In  times  of  civil  war,  which  are 
necessarily  accompanied  by  great  public  and  private  distress,  the 
government  naturally  finds  it  difficult  to  pay  the  armies  by  which 
it  is  supported ;  and  this  inability  is  commonly  made  a  handle 
by  the  soldiers  and  their  generals  to  colour  their  own  usurpations. 
The  poverty  of  the  Roman  treasury  was  very  great,  and  it  seemed 
impossible  to  supply  it  without  having  recourse  to  direct  taxa- 
tion,'" from  which  the  Romans  had  been  exempted  ever  since 
the  conquest  of  Macedonia  by  L.  jEmilius  Paulus.  A  property 
tax  of  one  per  cent,  appears  accordingly  to  have  been  levied  ;'''^ 
but  the  money  thus  procured  was  no  more  than  sufficient  to  dis- 
charge the  promises  formerly  made  by  the  senate  to  the  fourth 
legion  and  the  Martian  for  their  early  desertion  of  the  cause  of 
Antonius.  A  vote  passed  besides,  that  lands  should  be  distributed 
among  the  soldiers  of  four  legions  ;^'''^  but  which  they  were,  is  not 
mentioned.  And  as  a  commission  of  ten  senators  had  lately  been 
appointed, '^^  ff>r  the  purpose  of  examining  the  acts  of  Antonius 
during  his  consulship,  and  amongst  the  rest  his  grants  of  lands  to 
Caesar's  veteran  soldiers,  it  appears  that  some  of  the  members  of 
this  commission  were  anxious  to  have  the  management  of  the 
grants  now  proposed  to  be  made  to  the  four  legions,  which  they 
would  have  connected  with  the  reversal  of  those  made  by  Anto- 
nius. All  the  commissioners  were  warm  partisans  of  the  aris- 
tocracy, and  Cicero  was  amongst  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
number  ;  but  on  account  of  the  jealousy  which  was  felt  towards 
every  military  man  who  might  possess  a  dangerous  influence 
over  the  soldiery,  neither  Decimus  Brutus  nor  Octavius  were  in- 
cluded amongst  them.  In  these  measures  there  The  army  is  imtated 
was  a  spirit  manifested  which  alarmed  and  irritated  against  the  senate. 
all  the  partisans  of  Cgesar,  and  which  made  the  army  fear  that 
they  should  soon  be  deprived  of  the  fruits  of  their  victories.  The 
veterans  expressed  their  indignation,  that  while  their  own  generals 
were  slighted,  all  the  acts  of  government  were  directed  by 
Cicero  ;'"  and  all  the  bounties  which  they  were  to  receive  were 

'"1  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  62.  Appian,  vocem  tributi ;  quod  ex  centissim^  colla- 

III.  86.  turn  impudenti  censu  locupletum  in  duarum 

'"3  Cicero,  ad    Familiares,   XII.   epist.  legionum  prsemis  omne  consumitur. 

XXX.     Pecunia    conquiritur   undique,  ut  i"  Ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  XX. 

optime  meritis  militibus  promissa  solvan-  •78  Ad  Familiares,  XI.  epist.  XX.  XXI. 

tur;  quod  quidem  fieri  sine  tribute   posse  Appian,  III.  82. 

non  arbitror.  179  Cicero,   ad    Familiares,    XI.  epist. 

176  Cicero,  ad  Brutum,  I.  epist.  XVIII.  XX. 
Obdurescunt  magia  quotidie  boni  viri  ad 


402   THE  SOLDIERS  REFUSE  THE  TERMS  OF  THE  SENATE. 

to  be  given  them  by  men  of  whom  they  had  no  knowledge,  and 
from  whose  gratitude  or  ambition  they  had  nothing  to  expect. 

Such  language  repeated  by  every  person  around  him  served, 
perhaps,  to  excuse  to  Octavius  himself  the  guih  of  the  conduct 
which  he  meditated.  He  threw  himself  into  the  hands  of  his 
soldiers,  with  the  mutual  understanding  that  he  should  defend 
their  interests  while  they  served  the  ends  of  his  ambition.  His 
own  grounds  of  offence  against  the  senate  were  utterly  trifling. 
It  is  a  mere  mockery  of  all  government,  when  a  military  officer 
thinks  himself  justified  in  committing  treason,  because  his  ser- 
vices have  not  been  rewarded  according  to  his  estimate  of  their 
merits  ;  and  Decimus  Brutus  had  as  much  right  as  Octavius  to 
complain  of  the  omission  of  his  name  among  the  ten  commission- 
ers. But  Decimus  Brutus,  instead  of  turning  the  irritation  of  the 
soldiers  to  his  own  purposes,  wrote  to  Cicero  to  acquaint  him  with 
it,  and  to  advise  him  to  take  some  steps  to  pacify  it.  He  recom- 
mended that  no  one  legion  should  be  favoured  above  the  rest ; 
that  the  lands  which  had  belonged  to  the  soldiers  of  Antonius, 
should  be  divided  amongst  the  veterans  who  had  fought  under 
the  late  consuls  and  Octavius ;  and  that  Octavius  and  himself 
should  be  intrusted  with  the  distribution  of  them.  Cicero,  in  an- 
swer, expressed  his  entire  approbation  of  these  proposals  ;i^"  as- 
sured Decimus  Brutus  that  he  had  already  prevented  his  col- 
leagues in  the  commission  from  having  the  management  of  the 
division  of  lands,  and  that  it  was  not  his  fault  that  neither  Deci- 
mus nor  Octavius  had  been  included  amongst  the  commissioners. 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  the  army,  and  not  Octavius 
personally,  whom  it  seemed  expedient  to  the  senate  to  conciliate. 
Their  demands  of  pay  and  of  rewards  in  land,  were  to  be  satis- 
fied or  moderated  ;  their  jealousy  of  the  senate  and  of  the  civil 
authorities,  was  to  be  lessened  ;  and  they  were  to  be  persuaded 
to  show  their  obedience  and  their  respect  to  the  usual  practice  of 
the  commonwealth,  by  submitting  to  the  command  of  Decimus 
Brutus,  who  was  consul  elect,  rather  than  to  that  of  a  youth  of 
nineteen,  who  had  been  only  qualified  to  exercise  any  military 
authority  at  all,  by  the  extraordinary  favour  of  the  senate  in  dis- 
pensing with  the  strict  observance  of  the  laws  in  his  behalf.  But 
They  refuse  to  listen  wlieu  tlio  deputation  of  tlio  scuatc   rcaclied   the 

to  a  deputation  sent  to  r     r^    .        •  i  ii-  r  i   ^      i        • 

them  by  the  senate,  camp  01  Octavms,  the  soldiers  proiessed  to  be  Ui- 
dignant  that  they  were  addressed  distinctly  from  their  general  ;'*' 
and  Octavius,  who  had  probably  determined  already  on  the  part 
which  he  was  to  act,  affected  to  be  deeply  injured,  and  while  he 
professed  his  readiness  to  obey  the  senate,  only  inflamed  the 
veterans  still  more  by  his  pretended  meekness,  and  determined 

180  Cicero,   ad   Familiares,   XI.    epist.        '^^  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  62. 
XXI. 


THE  SENATE  DECLARES  LEPIDUS  AN  ENEMY.  493 

them  to  persist  in  their  refusal  to  Hsten  to  any  communication 
which  they  did  not  receive  through  him. 

The  defection  of  Lepidus,  which  took  place,  as  we  have  seen, 
on  the  twenty-ninth  of  May,  made  Octavius  more  anxious  than 
ever  to  terminate  his  opposition  to  Antonius.  It  seems  that  in 
the  beginning  of  June,  Plancus  had  carried  his  forces  across  the 
Alps,  and  had  formed  a  junction  with  those  of  Decimus  Brutus, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Eporedia  or  Ivrea.  Their  united  army 
consisted  of  four  veteran  legions,  of  one  of  two  years'  standing, 
and  of  nine  newly  levied  ;'^2  go  that  although  some  of  these  were 
probably  incomplete,  yet  the  numerical  strength  of  the  whole 
must  have  been  very  considerable.  But  hardly  any  superiority 
of  numbers  could  enable  the  newly-raised  troops  to  meet  veterans 
in  the  field  ;  so  that  in  opposing  the  united  armies  of  Lepidus, 
Antonius,  and  Ventidius,  the  four  veteran  legions  were  the  only 
part  of  their  force  on  which  Plancus  and  Brutus  could  safely  cal- 
culate. Plancus,  therefore,  sent  repeated  letters  to  Octavius,  re- 
questing him  to  march  to  their  assistance  ;  and  Octavius  answered 
them  by  assurances  that  he  was  coming  without  delay,  although, 
in  fact,  he  was  bent  on  moving  in  the  very  opposite  direction, 
and  on  employing  his  troops,  not  against  Antonius,  but  against 
the  senate  and  people  of  Rome.  Meantime,  the  senate,  on  the 
thirtieth  of  June,  declared  M.  Lepidus  a  public  The  senate  declares 
enemy,  together  with  all  his  adherents  i^'*^  and  it  memyf  ^  ^"'''"^ 
seems  to  have  been  a  question  whether  or  no  the  veteran  legions 
in  the  province  of  Africa,  and  M.  Brutus,  with  his  victorious 
army  in  Greece,  should  be  recalled  for  the  defence  of  Italy.  It 
seems  probable  that  Cassar's  friends,  as  long  as  the  intentions  of 
Octavius  were  any  way  doubtful,  represented  that  it  could  not 
fail  to  disgust  and  alienate  him  entirely,  if  the  senate  appeared  to 
mistrust  his  fidelity ;  and,  above  all,  if  M.  Brutus  were  called  in 
to  overawe  him  in  the  centre  of  Italy,  whilst  the  command  of  the 
war  in  the  north  had  been  just  transferred  from  him  to  Decimus, 
Accordingly,  the  fear  of  ofiending  Octavius  seems  to  have  had 
such  influence,  that  M.  Brutus,  although  privately  urged  by 
Cicero  to  cross  over  into  Italy,  was  never  officially  summoned 
home  by  the  senate  ;  but  two  legions  from  the  army  in  Africa 
were  sent  for,  and  were  despatched  accordingly  by  Q,.  Cornificius, 
the  commander  of  the  province  ;  they  did  not,  however,  arrive  in 
Rome  till  the  month  of  August,  and  their  arrival,  after  all,  as  we 
shall  see,  produced  no  benefit.  It  was  in  the  month  of  July  that 
Octavius  sent  to  the  capital  a  deputation  from  his  army,  headed 
by  one  of  his  centurions,  to  request,  or  rather  to  demand,  that  he 
should  be  elected  consul. '^^     Wishing,  as  we  may  suppose,  to 

132  Cicero,    ad     Familiares,   X.    epist.         i^*  Cicero,    ad    Familiares,    X.    epist. 
XXIV.  XXIV.     Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  26 

183  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  XII.  epist.  X. 


404  CiESAR'S  ASSASSINS  ARE  CONDEMNED. 

avoid  the  infamy  of  such  an  outrage,  he  had  before  endeavoured 
to  find  some  friend  amongst  the  magistrates  or  members  of  the 
senate,  who  would  propose  his  request  in  a  less  obnoxious  man- 
ner ;  but  Cicero  affirms, '^^  as  a  splendid  proof  of  the  unanimous 
good  spirit  by  which  the  people  were  actuated,  that  not  a  single 
individual  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  countenance  his  ambition. 
Military  de.mation  Hls  soldlers,  howcvcr,  were  less  scrupulous ;  and 
Romef  uf' d^m'and  ^^  ^^  mentioucd,  that  when  the  deputation  was  ad- 
the  consulship.  mitted  into  the  senate,  and  had  declared  the  wishes 
of  the  army,  the  centurion  who  headed  it,  finding  that  the  senators 
hesitated  in  complying,  threw  back  his  military  cloak,  and  point- 
ing to  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  exclaimed,  "  If  you  refuse  our  request, 
this  shall  grant  it."  When  such  treasonable  language  could  be 
uttered  with  impunity,  a  military  despotism  was,  in  fact,  already 
established.  The  senate  could  not,  at  once,  be  induced  to  sur- 
render up  that  liberty  which  so  lately  seemed  to  have  been  secure- 
ly recovered  ;  but  Octavius  determined  now  to  throw  off  the  mask 
octaviua  marches  to  altogether,  put  his  army  in  motion  from  Cisalpine 
c^oru1;t"o'ielhetwuh  ^aul,  entered  Italy,  as  we  are  told,  by  the  very 
Q.  pedius.  j.Qa(j  which  his  uncle  had  taken  at  the  beginning  of 

his  rebellion,'^®  advanced  without  opposition  to  the  very  gates  of 
the  capital,  occupied  the  Campus  Martins  with  his  troops,  and 
thus,  under  the  imminent  terror  of  a  military  usurpation,  he  was 
aduiitted  into  the  city,  and  was  elected  consul,  together  with  Q,. 
Pedius,  an  old  officer  of  his  uncle,  in  the  month  of  August,  710.'" 
From  this  moment  the  liberty  of  the  commonwealth  was  lost  for 
ever  ;  the  senate,  now  the  helpless  instrument  of  military  violence, 
was  obliged  to  repeal  its  former  decrees,  by  which  Antonius  and 
Lepidus  had  been  declared  public  enemies ;  and  the  famous  Pedi- 
an  law  was  proposed  and  carried  by  Q,.  Pedius,  which  enacted 
The  assassins  of  cae-  that  all  thc  assasslus  of  CsBsar,  and  all  who  had 
ITawiroughtXwa^'d  approvcd  of  the  murder,  should  be  brought  to  trial 
by  Q.  Pedius.  fQj.  ^jj^t  crlmc,  and  on  condemnation  should  be  for- 

bidden the  use  of  fire  and  water,  according  to  the  usual  style  of 
attainder.  It  is  said  that  M.  Agrippa  came  forward  as  the  accu-. 
ser  of  C.  Cassius  under  this  law  ;'*^  and  as  neither  he  nor  any  of 
the  other  conspirators  were  in  Rome  to  answer  to  the  charge,  sen- 
tence of  condemnation  was  passed  against  them  all.  In  the  midst 
of  these  disturbances,  the  two  legions  from  Africa  arrived  in 
Italy  ]^^^  but  the  soldiers  were  soon  corrupted  by  the  general  ex- 
ample of  their  comrades,  and  put  themselves  under  the  command 
of  Octavius. 

We  have  now  reached  the  period  at  which  we  can  no  longer 
avail  ourselves  of  the  inestimable  guidance  of  Cicero  and  his  cor- 

"5  Ad  Brutnm,  I.  epist.  X.  '"  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  65.  69. 

186  Appian,  de  Bello  Civili,  III.  88,  et         '^s  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  69. 
^q.  '89  Appian,  III.  92. 


EXECUTION  OP  DECIMUS  BRUTUS.  405 

respondents ;  and  we  are  left  at  the  very  moment  when  our  curi- 
osity and  interest  are  most  intensely  excited,  without  any  means 
of  gratifying  them.  We  might,  indeed,  still  present  our  readers 
with  a  very  detailed  narrative  of  the  course  of  events,  if  we  could 
prevail  on  ourselves  to  rely  on  Dion  Cassius  and  Appian.  But 
as  we  have  found  how  little  they  are  to  be  trusted  when  we  have 
been  able  to  try  them  by  a  reference  to  good  authorities,  so  when 
we  have  no  opportunity  of  doing  so,  we  cannot  follow  them  with 
confidence,  nor  will  we  injure  the  truth  of  history  by  the  indis- 
criminate admission  of  evidence  so  worthless. 

It  seems  that  Octavius,  soon  after  his  usurpation  of  the  consul- 
ship, took  the  field  to  watch  the  movements  of  Antonius,  who, 
since  his  junction  with  Lepidus,  appears  to  have  remained  for 
some  time  quietly  in  Gaul,  and  not  to  have  made  any  attempts 
against  the  army  of  Plancus  and  Brutus.  But  it  is  likely  that  he 
was  prepared  for  the  change  in  the  conduct  of  Octavius,  and 
rightly  augured  that  he  should  draw  from  his  consulship  the  same 
advantages  which  he  must  otherwise  have  risked  a  battle  to  gain. 
Asinius  Pollio,''"  finding  that  Cassar's  officers  were  Asimus  Poiiio  and  l. 
all  uniting  in  one  common  cause,  and  that  his  heir  p'ancus join  Antonius. 
was  on  the  point  of  taking  his  natural  station  amongst  them,  sur- 
rendered his  legions  to  Antonius  ;  and  L.  Plancus  did  not  hesitate 
to  separate  his  troops  from  those  of  Decimus  Brutus,  and  to  follow 
the  example  of  Pollio.  Of  the  four  veteran  legions  which  Plan- 
cus and  Brutus  had' commanded,  three  had  belonged  to  Plancus  ;^^' 
and  when  these  submitted  to  Antonius,  it  is  likely  that  the  single 
one  which  had  been  commanded  by  Brutus,  was  easily  induced 
to  follow  the  example  of  its  comrades.  It  is  said,  also,  that  Plan- 
cus endeavoured  to  make  his  defection  still  more  acceptable  to 
Antonius,'^^  by  treacherously  getting  the  person  of  his  late  asso- 
ciate into  his  power.  In  this  he  failed,  but  Decimus  Brutus  soon 
found  that  he  could  not  depend  upon  the  newly-raised  legions, 
which  alone  continued  to  acknowledge  his  authori-  DecimusBrutusisde- 
ty.  They  gradually  dropped  away  from  him,  and  iX^deiVourB'tfJI- ' 
Brutus  saw  that  his  only  resource  was  to  escape,  if  cape  mto  Greece. 
possible,  from  Italy,  and  reach  the  camp  of  M.  Brutus  in  Greece. 
His  troops  at  last  deserting  him  altogether,  he  assumed  the  disguise 
of  a  Gaul,  and  hoped,  by  avoiding  all  the  ordinary  roads,  to  make 
his  way  to  Aquileia  and  Illyricum,  through  the  territories  of  the 
Gaulish  chiefs,  which  bordered  upon  the  A  Ips.  He  was  discovered, 
however,  by  one  of  the  chiefs,  who  instantly  detained  him,  and 
sent  word  to  Antonius  of  his  capture.  Antonius  He  is  taken  and  put 
sent  a  party  of  soldiers  to  put  him  to  death,  and  to  Antlfnill'a.''^ 

19"  Velleius  Paterculus,   II.  63.     Livy,         '92  Velleius  Paterculiis,  II.   64.     Livy, 

Epitome,  CXX.  Epitome,  CXX.     Appian,  III.  97,  98.— 

191  Cicero,    ad    Familiares.  X.    epist.     Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  13. 
XXIV. 


406         MEETING  OF  ANTONIUS,  LEPIDUS,  AND  AUGUSTUS. 

bring  his  head  away  with  them,  and  his  commands  were  speedily 
executed.  If,  as  it  is  reported,  the  Gaulish  chief  who  betrayed 
him  had  formerly  received  great  kindnesses  at  his  hands/"  Deci- 
mus  Brutus  met  with  a  treatment  more  exactly  corresponding  to 
the  peculiar  perfidy  and  ingratitude  which  he  had  himself  shown 
in  the  assassination  of  Caesar.  It  is  true  that  in  the  last  part  of 
his  life  he  had  well  and  honourably  supported  the  cause  of  the 
commonwealth  ;  but  if  Antonius  had  never  been  guilty  of  a  worse 
crime  than  the  putting  him  to  death,  his  conduct  would  have  had 
some  plea  of  retaliation  to  urge  ;  and  amidst  the  low  morality  of 
the  times,  the  illegality  of  the  action  might  seem  excused  by  the 
former  illegal  violence  of  him  who  was  now  the  victim. 

Octavius,  or  Augustus  as  we  shall  for  the  future  call  him,'^* 
now  invested  with  the  title  of  consul,  and  commanding  a  nume- 
rous army,  marched  back  again  towards  Cisalpine  Gaul,  and 
found  that  Antonius  and  Lepidus  had  by  this  time  recrossed  the 
Alps,  and  were  arrived  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mutina.  A 
friendly  correspondence  had  been  carried  on  between  the  chiefs 
of  the  two  armies  before  they  were  advanced  very  near  to  one 
another  ;  and  it  was  determined  that  all  differences  should  finally 
be  settled,  and  the  future  measures  which  they  were  to  take  in 
Meeting  between  commou,  sliould  bc  arranged  at  a  personal  inter- 
Md  Augus^tus!''"^  view.  Accordingly,  the  meeting  took  place  in  one 
of  the  islands,'^^  if  so  they  may  be  called,  which  were  formed  in 
the  low  fenny  district  between  the  Apennines  and  the  Po,  by  the 
numerous  streams  which  descended  from  the  mountains,  and 
which  for  want  of  a  proper  drainage  spread  themselves  to  a  vast 
extent  over  the  low  country,  encircling  various  tracts  of  marshy 
ground  in  their  irregular  courses.  On  one  of  these  spots,  which 
the  subsequent  alterations  in  the  nature  of  the  country  would 
soon  make  it  almost  impossible  to  identify,  amidst  a  scenery,  the 
dull  and  loathsome  character  of  which  well  befitted  the  actors 
and  the  acts  which  they  meditated,  Antonius,  Lepidus,  and  Au- 
gustus, held  their  conference.     It  was  pretended  afterwards  by  the 

193  Appian,  III.  98.  nio,  19.     Such  a  spot  as  that  described  in 

194  We  have  resolved  to  call  Octavius  the  text,  was  the  isle  of  Athelney,  in  Som- 
henceforward  by  the  name  of  Augustus,  ersetshire,  to  which  Alfred  is  said  to  have 
in  order  that  the  cruelties  of  the  triumvi-  retired  when  the  Danes  had  overrun  his 
rate,  and  the  splendour  of  the  imperial  kingdom.  And  the  isle  of  Ely  still  retains 
government,  may  be  distinctly  associated  the  name  of  an  island,  which  it  obtained 
in  the  reader's  mind  with  one  and  the  same  originally  from  similarity  of  situation. — 
person  ;  for  otherwise  the  emperor  seems  The  progress  of  agricultural  improvement 
to  have  derived  a  real  benefit  from  his  so  alters  the  appearance  of  such  districts, 
change  of  name,  and  Octavius  with  all  his  that  Athelney  now  can  scarcely,  if  at  all, 
atrocities  is  forgotten,  while  we  think  on-  be  recognized;  and  the  country  between 
ly  of  Augustus,  the  peaceful  sovereign  of  the  Apennines  and  the  Po,  which  was  in 
the  civilized  world,  the  patron  of  litera-  the  days  of  the  triumvirate  little  better 
ture,  and  the  idol  of  the  favourite  writers  than  a  great  fen,  is  now  described  to  be 
of  our  youth.  one  of  the  richest  and  most  delightful  parts 

195  Appian,  IV.  2.     Plutarch,  in  Ante-  in  Italy. 


THE  GREAT  PROSCRIPTION.  4q7 

writers,  who  flourished  under  the  imperial  government,'"  that 
Augustus  for  a  long  time  remonstrated  against  the  bloody  execu- 
tions which  Antonius  and  Lepidus  were  eager  to  perpetrate  ;  but 
his  language  at  a  private  meeting  could  not  be  so  well  ascertained 
as  his  subsequent  conduct ;  and  this,  it  is  confessed,  was  more 
remorseless  than  that  of  either  of  his  associates  ;  for  whilst  Anto- 
nius and  Lepidus  listened  in  several  instances  to  the  influence  of 
entreaties  or  of  favour,  and  spared  those  whom  they  had  con- 
demned to  death,  it  is  mentioned  that  Augustus  did  not  pardon  a 
single  victim.'^''  But  whatever  discussions  may  have  taken  place 
between  the  three  leaders,  the  result  sufficiently  proved  that  all 
principles  and  all  feelings  of  good  were  overpowered  in  their 
minds  by  revenge  and  ambition.  They  constituted  themselves 
into  a  Triumvirate,  or  High  Commission  of  Three,'^^  for  settling 
the  affairs  of  the  commonwealth  during  five  years ;  they  divid- 
ed among  themselves  those  provinces  of  the  em-  The  second  triumvi- 
pire  which  were  subject  to  their  power  ;  and  nomi-  u'c.  711. 
nated  the  persons  who  were  to  hold  the  usual  annual  magistra- 
cies during  the  term  of  the  Triumvirate ;  they  made  such  liberal 
promises  to  their  armies,  that  it  is  said  that  eighteen  of  the  finest 
cities  in  Italy,  together  with  the  territories  adjacent  to  them,  were 
to  be  given  up  to  the  soldiers  as  military  colonies;  and  they 
agreed  to  draw  up  a  list  of  proscription,  including  the  names  of 
all  those  individuals  whom  they  proposed  to  murder.  To  cement 
the  personal  union  of  the  Triumvirs,  it  was  resolved  that  Clo- 
dia,'^*  the  daughter-in-law  of  Antonius,  being  the  daughter  of  his 
wife  Fulvia  by  her  first  husband  P.  Clodius,  should  be  given  in 
marriage  to  Augustus  ;  but  she  was  as  yet  too  young  to  become  a 
wife,  and  in  a  short  time  afterwards,  the  nominal  connexion 
which  policy  had  formed,  was,  by  a  change  of  political  circum- 
stances, as  readily  dissolved. 

Immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  this  agreement,  and  while 
its  purport  was  unknown  at  Rome,  orders  were  de-  The  great  proscrip- 
spatched  to  the  capital  for  the  murder  of  twelve  or  ''°"- 
sixteen  individuals  whom  the  Triumvirs  wished  to  destroy  before 
any  general  alarm  was  given.'^'"'  Some  of  these  victims  were 
suddenly  assassinated  in  the  streets,  or  at  social  entertainments  ; 
and  although  the  armies  of  the  Triumvirs  were  yet  at  a  distance, 
the  consul  d.  Pedius,  who  had  been  left  by  Octavius  at  Rome, 
sanctioned  these  crimes  by  his  authority,  and  at  once  showed  to 
the  people  the  hopelessness  of  the  evil  under  which  they  had 
fallen.  He  attempted,  indeed,  to  allay  the  panic  which  these 
first  murders  occasioned,  by  publishing  the  names  of  the  indi- 
viduals whom  he  had  been  ordered  to  destroy,  and  by  assurances 

196  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  66.  199  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  62.. 

'5'  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  27.  200  Appian,  IV.  6,  et  seq. 

'93  Livy,  Epitome,  CXX.  Appian»IV.  3. 

27 


410  FLIGHT  AND  ADVENTURES  OF  CICERO. 

somewhat  too  credulous  in  trusting  to  the  fair  professions  which 
Augustus  constantly  made  to  him ;  he  believed,  besides,  that  in 
spite  of  the  pernicious  counsels  of  his  military  friends,  so  young  a 
man  could  not  yet  be  thoroughly  corrupted,  and  might  still  be  led 
to  choose  the  better  part,  if  his  suspicions  of  the  aristocracy  could 
be  lessened.  With  this  view  he  thought  it  pohtic  to  praise  him, 
and  to  move  that  extraordinary  honours  should  be  granted  him ; 
he  may  also  have  felt  that  if  Augustus  could  be  taught  to  respect 
the  constitution  of  his  country,  much  might  be  indulged  to  his 
natural  resentment  towards  the  assassins  of  his  uncle  ;  and  that 
in  speaking  to  him  of  them  and  of  their  conduct,  the  language  of 
deprecation  and  censure  was  more  fitting  than  any  higher  tone. 
It  is  true  that  Cicero's  personal  enmity  against  Antonius  made 
him  over-estimate  the  services  which  Augustus  had  rendered  in 
first  taking  up  arms  against  him  ;  nor  did  he  rightly  appreciate 
the  real  danger  which  threatened  the  commonwealth,  and  which 
arose  not  from  the  ambition  of  any  one  man,  however  unprin- 
cipled, but  from  the  power  and  insolence  of  the  army  at  large, 
who  were  now  conscious  of  their  strength,  and  were  determined 
to  exert  it.  We  are  told  that  Cicero  at  one  time  was  desirous  of 
becoming  the  colleague  of  Augustus  in  the  consulship  j^os  and  if 
he  could  have  effected  this,  the  evil  designs  of  his  colleague  would 
have  been  in  a  great  measure  neutralized  ;  the  declarations  of  the 
senate  against  Antonius  and  Lepidus  would  not  have  been  so 
easily  repealed  ;  the  law  condemning  the  assassins  of  Caesar  might 
not  have  passed,  nor  the  nominal  authority  of  government  have 
been  so  speedily  transferred  to  that  party  which  had  hitherto 
been  considered  as  in  a  state  of  rebellion.  But  Augustus  having 
the  power  of  the  sword  in  his  hands,  determined  to  avail  himself 
of  it  to  the  utmost ;  he  chose,  therefore,  for  his  colleague,  not 
Cicero,  but  Q,.  Pedius  ;  and  the  first  measures  of  his  consulship 
must  have  almost  prepared  Cicero  for  that  consummation  of 
treachery  which  was  soon  afterwards  displayed  in  establishing 
the  Triumvirate. 

It  is  said  that  the  name  of  Cicero  was  included  in  that  ftrst 
list  of  victims  whom  Q,.  Pedius  received  orders  to  destroy  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Triumvirs  at  Rome.  But  be  this  as  it  may, 
Cicero  could  not  doubt  of  his  own  danger,  from  the  moment  that 
he  heard  of  the  conferences  and  engagements  between  the  three 
generals.  He  instantly,  therefore,  quitted  the  capital,*^"^  and  re- 
tired to  his  villa  near  Tusculum,  whence,  by  cross  roads,  he 
escaped  to  another  of  his  villas  near  Formiae,  intending  to  em- 
bark on  board  of  a  vessel  at  Caieta,  and  make  the  best  of  his  way 
by  sea  to  Macedonia.    A  vessel  was  provided  for  him,  and  he 

SOS  Plutarch,  in  Cicerone,  45,  46.  209  Livy,  Fragm.  apud  Senacam,  inter 

Fragmenta  T.  Livii  editura. 


THE  GREAT  PROSCRIPTION. 


407 


writers,  who  flourished  under  the  imperial  government,'*'  that 
Augustus  for  a  long  time  remonstrated  against  the  bloody  execu- 
tions which  Antonius  and  Lepidus  were  eager  to  perpetrate  ;  but 
his  language  at  a  private  meeting  could  not  be  so  well  ascertained 
as  his  subsequent  conduct ;  and  this,  it  is  confessed,  was  more 
remorseless  than  that  of  either  of  his  associates  ;  for  whilst  Anto- 
nius and  Lepidus  listened  in  several  instances  to  the  influence  of 
entreaties  or  of  favour,  and  spared  those  whom  they  had  con- 
demned to  death,  it  is  mentioned  that  Augustus  did  not  pardon  a 
single  victim. >*''  But  whatever  discussions  may  have  taken  place 
between  the  three  leaders,  the  result  sufficiently  proved  that  all 
principles  and  all  feelings  of  good  were  overpowered  in  their 
minds  by  revenge  and  ambition.  They  constituted  themselves 
into  a  Triumvirate,  or  High  Commission  of  Three,'^^  for  settling 
the  affairs  of  the  commonwealth  during  five  years ;  they  divid- 
ed among  themselves  those  provinces  of  the  em-  The  second  tnumvi- 
pire  which  were  subject  to  their  power  ;  and  nomi-  u.'c.  711. 
nated  the  persons  who  were  to  hold  the  usual  animal  magistra- 
cies during  the  term  of  the  Triumvirate ;  they  made  such  liberal 
promises  to  their  armies,  that  it  is  said  that  eighteen  of  the  finest 
cities  in  Italy,  together  with  the  territories  adjacent  to  them,  were 
to  be  given  up  to  the  soldiers  as  military  colonies ;  and  they 
agreed  to  draw  up  a  list  of  proscription,  including  the  names  of 
all  those  individuals  whom  they  proposed  to  murder.  To  cement 
the  personal  union  of  the  Triumvirs,  it  was  resolved  that  Clo- 
dia,'^^  the  daughter-in-law  of  Antonius,  being  the  daughter  of  his 
wife  Fulvia  by  her  first  husband  P.  Clodius,  should  be  given  in 
marriage  to  Augustus  ;  but  she  was  as  yet  too  young  to  become  a 
wife,  and  in  a  short  time  afterwards,  the  nominal  connexion 
which  policy  had  formed,  was,  by  a  change  of  political  circum- 
stances, as  readily  dissolved. 

Immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  this  agreement,  and  while 
its  purport  was  unknown  at  Rome,  orders  were  de-  The  great  proscrip- 
spatched  to  the  capital  for  the  murder  of  twelve  or  *'°"- 
sixteen  individuals  whom  the  Triumvirs  wished  to  destroy  before 
any  general  alarm  was  given.'^""  Some  of  these  victims  were 
suddenly  assassinated  in  the  streets,  or  at  social  entertainments ; 
and  although  the  armies  of  the  Triumvirs  were  yet  at  a  distance, 
the  consul  Q,.  Pedius,  who  had  been  left  by  Octavius  at  Rome, 
sanctioned  these  crimes  by  his  authority,  and  at  once  showed  to 
the  people  the  hopelessness  of  the  evil  under  which  they  had 
fallen.  He  attempted,  indeed,  to  allay  the  panic  which  these 
first  murders  occasioned,  by  publishing  the  names  of  the  indi- 
viduals whom  he  had  been  ordered  to  destroy,  and  by  assurances 

186  Velleius  Faterculus,  II.  66.  iss  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  62. 

'S7  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  27.  *  w  Appian,  IV.  6,  et  seq. 

^^  Livy,  Epitome,  CXX.  Appian,  IV.  3. 

27 


410  FLIGHT  AND  ADVENTURES  OF  CICERO. 

somewhat  too  credulous  in  trusting  to  the  fair  professions  which 
Augustus  constantly  made  to  him ;  he  believed,  besides,  that  in 
spite  of  the  pernicious  counsels  of  his  military  friends,  so  young  a 
man  could  not  yet  be  thoroughly  corrupted,  and  might  still  be  led 
to  choose  the  better  part,  if  his  suspicions  of  the  aristocracy  could 
be  lessened.  With  this  view  he  thought  it  politic  to  praise  him, 
and  to  move  that  extraordinary  honours  should  be  granted  him  ; 
he  may  also  have  felt  that  if  Augustus  could  be  taught  to  respect 
the  constitution  of  his  country,  much  might  be  indulged  to  his 
natural  resentment  towards  the  assassins  of  his  uncle  ;  and  that 
in  speaking  to  him  of  them  and  of  their  conduct,  the  language  of 
deprecation  and  censure  was  more  fitting  than  any  higher  tone. 
It  is  true  that  Cicero's  personal  enmity  against  Antonius  made 
him  over-estimate  the  services  which  Augustus  had  rendered  in 
first  taking  up  arms  against  him  ;  nor  did  he  rightly  appreciate 
the  real  danger  which  threatened  the  commonwealth,  and  which 
arose  not  from  the  ambition  of  any  one  man,  however  unprin- 
cipled, but  from  the  power  and  insolence  of  the  army  at  large, 
who  were  now  conscious  of  their  strength,  and  were  determined 
to  exert  it.  We  are  told  that  Cicero  at  one  time  was  desirous  of 
becoming  the  colleague  of  Augustus  in  the  consulship  -j^"^  and  if 
he  could  have  effected  this,  the  evil  designs  of  his  colleague  would 
have  been  in  a  great  measure  neutralized  ;  the  declarations  of  the 
senate  against  Antonius  and  Lepidus  w^ould  not  have  been  so 
easily  repealed  ;  the  law  condemning  the  assassins  of  Caesar  might 
not  have  passed,  nor  the  nominal  authority  of  government  have 
been  so  speedily  transferred  to  that  party  which  had  hitherto 
been  considered  as  in  a  state  of  rebellion.  But  Augustus  having 
the  power  of  the  sword  in  his  hands,  determined  to  avail  himself 
of  it  to  the  utmost  ;  he  chose,  therefore,  for  his  colleague,  not 
Cicero,  but  Q,.  Pedius  ;  and  the  first  measures  of  his  consulship 
must  have  almost  prepared  Cicero  for  that  consummation  of 
treachery  which  was  soon  afterwards  displayed  in  establishing 
the  Triumvirate. 

It  is  said  that  the  name  of  Cicero  was  included  in  that  first 
list  of  victims  whom  Q,.  Pedius  received  orders  to  destroy  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Triumvirs  at  Rome.  But  be  this  as  it  may, 
Cicero  could  not  doubt  of  his  own  danger,  from  the  moment  that 
he  heard  of  the  conferences  and  engagements  between  the  three 
generals.  He  instantly,  therefore,  quitted  the  capital,^"^  and  re- 
tired to  his  villa  near  Tusculum,  whence,  by  cross  roads,  he 
escaped  to  another  of  his  villas  near  Formias,  intending  to  em- 
bark on  board  of  a  vessel  at  Caieta,  and  make  the  best  of  his  way 
by  sea  to  Macedonia.    A  vessel  was  provided  for  him,  and  he 

^  Plutarch,  in  Cicerone,  45,  46.  209  Livy,  Fragm.  apud  Senecam,  inter 

Fragmenta  T.  Livii  editum. 


HE  IS  MURDERED.  411 

commenced  his  voyage;  but  the  wind  was  contrary,  and  the 
delay  thus  occasioned,  together  with  the  sickness  which  he  al- 
ways felt  severely  at  sea,  induced  him  to  return  and  to  take  no 
further  steps  to  avoid  the  fate  which  awaited  him.  "  I  will  die," 
he  said,  "  in  that  country  which  I  have  so  often  saved."  He  was 
now  sixty-three  years  of  age,  so  that  death  seemed  to  him  prefer- 
able to  the  miseries  and  anxieties  of  a  doubtful  flight.  He  landed, 
therefore,  once  more,  and  returned  to  his  Formian  villa  near  Caieta. 
Here  he  was  disposed  to  remain  and  to  meet  his  death,  but  his 
slaves, '*"'  who  were  warmly  attached  to  him,  could  not  bear  to  see 
him  thus  sacrificed ;  and  when  the  party  of  soldiers  sent  to  mur- 
der him  was  advancing  towards  the  villa,  they  almost  forced 
him  to  put  himself  into  his  litter,  and  to  allow  them  to  carry  him 
once  more  on  board  of  the  vessel  which  was  still  lying  at  Caieta. 
But  as  they  were  bearing  the  litter  towards  the  sea,€hey  were 
overtaken  in  the  walks  of  his  own  grounds  by  the  soldiers  who 
were  in  search  of  him,  and  who  were  headed  by  one  Heren- 
nius,  a  centurion,  and  by  C.  Popilius  Laenas.  Popilius  was  a 
native  of  Picenum,*^"  and  had,  on  a  former  occasion,  been  suc- 
cessfully defended  by  Cicero,  when  brought  to  trial  for  some  of- 
fence before  the  courts  at  Rome.  As  the  assistance  of  advocates 
was  given  gratuitously,  the  connexion  between  them  and  -their 
clients  was  esteemed  very  differently  from  what  it  is  amongst  us  ; 
and  it  was,  therefore,  an  instance  of  peculiar  atrocity  that  Popi- 
lius offered  his  services  to  Antonius  to  murder  his  patron,  from 
no  other  motive  than  the  hope  of  gaining  his  favour  by  showing 
such  readiness  to  destroy  his  greatest  enemy.  The  slaves  of  Ci- 
cero,'^'^  undismayed  at  the  appearance  of  the  soldiers,  prepared  to 
defend  their  master  ;  but  he  refused  to  allow  any  blood  to  be  shed 
on  his  account,  and  commanded  them  to  set  down  the  litter,  and 
to  await  the  issue  in  silence.  He  was  obeyed,  and  when  the  sol- 
diers came  up,  he  stretched  out  his  head  with  perfect  calmness, 
and  submitted  his  neck  to  the  sword  of  Popilius. 
When  the  murder  was  accomplished,  the  soldiers  u.c.  711, 

cut  off  his  two  hands  also,  as  the  instruments  with  which  he  had 
written  his  Philippic  orations  ;  and  the  head  and  hands  were  both 
carried  to  Rome  and  exposed  together  at  the  rostra,  at  the  very 
place  where  he  had  been  so  lately  heard  with  an  universal  feel- 
ing of  admiration,  "  such,"  says  Livy,  "  as  no  human  tongue  had 
ever  excited  before."  Men  crowded  to  see  his  mangled  remains, 
and  testified  by  their  tears,  the  compassion  and  affection  which 
his  unworthy  death  and  his  pure  and  amiable  character  had  so 
justly  deserved. 

In  reviewing  the  political  life  of  Cicero,  it  cannot,  we  think, 

210  Plutarch,  in  Cicerone,  47,  48.  212  Fragment.  Livii.ubi  scpra. 

2!i  Valeriug  Maximus,  V.  3. 


414       ACCOUNT  OF  OTHER  PROSCRIBED  PERSONS. 

looked  upon  these  men  as  their  security  against  the  excesses  of  a 
complete  reaction,  and  would  have  willingly  supported  the  com- 
monwealth so  long  as  they  conducted  the  administration  of  it. 
And  with  them  Cicero  might  safely  have  taken  his  place  as  their 
associate,  or  even  as  their  leader  ;  for  his  eloquence  and  his  integ- 
rity had  made  him  long  and  generally  popular:  and  the  only 
ground  of  the  offence  which  Caesar's  veterans  entertained  against 
him,  was  his  so  closely  connecting  himself  with  the  assassins  of 
their  general.  Even  Augustus  himself  might  not  so  soon  have 
proved  a  traitor,  had  he  not  seen  that  while  Cicero  was  on  the 
one  hand  courting  his  support,  he  was  on  the  other  conferring 
exorbitant  powers  on  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  investing  them 
with  the  whole  military  command  of  the  east.  The  restoration 
of  the  commonwealth  might  have  been  practicable ;  but  to  rein- 
state thelpld  aristocracy,  or  the  friends  of  Pompey,  in  their  former 
supremacy,  vvas  clearly  not  so.  But  perhaps  after  all,  the  preser- 
vation of  any  form  of  civil  government  was  become  impossible, 
since  the  army  was  grown  so  formidable  as  to  form  a  distinct 
interest  of  its  own,  and  since  its  favour  or  displeasure  were  held 
up  even  in  the  debates  of  the  senate  as  objects  of  hope  or  fear. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  Cicero  died  as  he  had  lived,  with  a  reputation 
of  patriotism  and  integrity ;  nor  is  his  hfe,  as  a  citizen,  stained 
with  any  thing  worse  than  some  mixture  of  vanity  and  erroneous 
judgment  amid  many  splendid  instances  of  liberality  and  modera- 
tion, and  wisdom  and  vigour. 

Amongst  the  other  distinguished  persons  who  were  murdered 
someaccountofother  in  tlic  samo  proscriptiou,  may  be  noticed  Q,.  Cicero 

persons    included    in  i    i   •  r^     m  •  r  i       •  j  • 

the  proscription.  aud  his  SOU,  C  1  orauuis,  a  man  or  prsetonan  dig- 
nity,^" and  who  had  been  guardian  to  Augustus ;  L.  Villius 
Annalis,^''  one  of  the  praetors  for  the  present  year;  C.  Piotius 
Plancus,  the  brother  of  L.  Plancus ;  and,  according  to  Appian, 
Salvius,^'^  one  of  the  tribunes,  and  Minucius,  also  one  of  the  prae- 
tors. L.  Caesar,^*''  the  uncle  of  Antonius,  was  saved  by  the  in- 
fluence of  his  sister ;  and  L.  Paulus,  the  brother  of  Lepidus,  was 
allowed  to  escape  by  the  soldiers  sent  to  murder  him,  who  res- 
pected, it  is  said,  the  brother  of  their  general,  or  perhaps  were 
shocked  at  the  unnatural  wickedness  of  that  general,  in  command- 
ing the  murder  of  so  near  a  relation.  M.  Varro,^'^  formerly  one  of 
Pompey's  lieutenants  in  Spain,  but  much  more  known  as  a  man 
of  letters,  was  saved  by  the  intercession  of  d.  Calenus.  Apulius,^" 
perhaps  the  same  person  who  was  tribune  in  this  very  year,  and 
who  was  warmly  attached  to  Cicero,  escaped  to  the  army  of  M. 

214  Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  11.  Sueto-         2i6  Appian,  IV.  17. 
nius,  in  Augusto,  27.  21t  Appian,  IV.  37. 

215  Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  11.  Appi-         2is  Appian, IV.  47. 
an,  IV.  18.  219  Appian,  IV.  46. 


HE  IS  MURDERED.  411 

commenced  his  voyage;  but  the  wind  was  contrary,  and  the 
delay  thus  occasioned,  together  with  the  sickness  which  he  al- 
ways felt  severely  at  sea,  induced  him  to  return  and  to  take  no 
further  steps  to  avoid  the  fate  which  awaited  him.  "  I  will  die," 
he  said,  "  in  that  country  which  I  have  so  often  saved."  He  was 
now  sixty-three  years  of  age,  so  that  death  seemed  to  him  prefer- 
able to  the  miseries  and  anxieties  of  a  doubtful  flight.  He  landed, 
therefore,  once  more,  and  returned  to  his  Formian  villa  near  Caieta. 
Here  he  was  disposed  to  remain  and  to  meet  his  death,  but  his 
slaves,^'"  who  were  warmly  attached  to  him,  could  not  bear  to  see 
him  thus  sacrificed ;  and  when  the  party  of  soldiers  sent  to  mur- 
der him  was  advancing  towards  the  villa,  they  almost  forced 
him  to  put  himself  into  his  litter,  and  to  allow  them  to  carry  him 
once  more  on  board  of  the  vessel  which  was  still  lying  at  Caieta. 
But  as  they  were  bearing  the  litter  towards  the  sea,  they  were 
overtaken  in  the  walks  of  his  own  grounds  by  the  soldiers  who 
were  in  search  of  him,  and  who  were  headed  by  one  Heren- 
nius,  a  centurion,  and  by  C.  Popilius  Lsenas.  Popilius  was  a 
native  of  Picenum,'"'  and  had,  on  a  former  occasion,  been  suc- 
cessfully defended  by  Cicero,  when  brought  to  trial  for  some  of- 
fence before  the  courts  at  Rome.  As  the  assistance  of  advocates 
was  given  gratuitously,  the  connexion  between  them  and  their 
clients  was  esteemed  very  differently  from  what  it  is  amongst  us  ; 
and  it  was,  therefore,  an  instance  of  peculiar  atrocity  that  Popi- 
lius oifered  his  services  to  Antonius  to  murder  his  patron,  from 
no  other  motive  than  the  hope  of  gaining  his  favour  by  showing 
such  readiness  to  destroy  his  greatest  enemy.  The  slaves  of  Ci- 
cero,^'^  undismayed  at  the  appearance  of  the  soldiers,  prepared  to 
defend  their  master  ;  but  he  refused  to  allow  any  blood  to  be  shed 
on  his  account,  and  commanded  them  to  set  down  the  litter,  and 
to  await  the  issue  in  silence.  He  was  obeyed,  and  when  the  sol- 
diers came  up,  he  stretched  out  his  head  with  perfect  calmness, 
and  submitted  his  neck  to  the  sword  of  Popilius. 
When  the  murder  was  accomplished,  the  soldiers  "'  °' '"" 

cut  off  his  two  hands  also,  as  the  instruments  with  which  he  had 
written  his  Philippic  orations  ;  and  the  head  and  hands  were  both 
carried  to  Rome  and  exposed  together  at  the  rostra,  at  the  very 
place  where  he  had  been  so  lately  heard  with  an  universal  feel- 
ing of  admiration,  "  such,"  says  Livy,  "  as  no  human  tongue  had 
ever  excited  before."  Men  crowded  to  see  his  mangled  remains, 
and  testified  by  their  tears,  the  compassion  and  affection  which 
his  unworthy  death  and  his  pure  and  amiable  character  had  so 
justly  deserved. 

In  reviewing  the  political  life  of  Cicero,  it  cannot,  we  think, 

«o  Plutarch,  in  Cicerone,  47,  48.  212  Fragment.  Livii,  ubi  BOpra, 

2"  Valerius  Maximus,  V.  3. 


414       ACCOUNT  OF  OTHER  PROSCRIBED  PERSONS. 

looked  upon  these  men  as  their  security  against  the  excesses  of  a 
complete  reaction,  and  would  have  wilhngly  supported  the  com- 
monweahh  so  long  as  they  conducted  the  administration  of  it. 
And  with  them  Cicero  might  safely  have  taken  his  place  as  their 
associate,  or  even  as  their  leader  ;  for  his  eloquence  and  his  integ- 
rity had  made  him  long  and  generally  popular:  and  the  only 
ground  of  the  offence  which  Caesar's  veterans  entertained  against 
him,  was  his  so  closely  connecting  himself  with  the  assassins  of 
their  general.  Even  Augustus  himself  might  not  so  soon  have 
proved  a  traitor,  had  he  not  seen  that  while  Cicero  was  on  the 
one  hand  courting  his  support,  he  was  on  the  other  conferring 
exorbitant  powers  on  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  investing  them 
with  the  whole  military  command  of  the  east.  The  restoration 
of  the  commonwealth  might  have  been  practicable ;  but  to  rein- 
state the  old  aristocracy,  or  the  friends  of  Pompey,  in  their  former 
supremacy,  was  clearly  not  so.  But  perhaps  after  all,  the  preser- 
vation of  any  form  of  civil  government  was  become  impossible, 
since  the  army  was  grown  so  formidable  as  to  form  a  distinct 
interest  of  its  own,  and  since  its  favour  or  displeasure  were  held 
up  even  in  the  debates  of  the  senate  as  objects  of  hope  or  fear. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  Cicero  died  as  he  had  lived,  with  a  reputation 
of  patriotism  and  integrity  ;  nor  is  his  life,  as  a  citizen,  stained 
with  any  thing  worse  than  some  mixture  of  vanity  and  erroneous 
judgment  amid  many  splendid  instances  of  liberality  and  modera- 
tion, and  wisdom  and  vigour. 

Amongst  the  other  distinguished  persons  who  were  murdered 
Some  account  of  other  ill  the  samc  proscription,  may  be  noticed  Q,.  Cicero 
fhe'proscrip'ti^n!''  '"  aud  his  SOU,  C.  Toranius,  a  man  of  praetorian  dig- 
nity,'^" and  who  had  been  guardian  to  Augustus  ;  L.  Villius 
Annalis,^'^  one  of  the  praetors  for  the  present  year;  C.  Plotius 
Plancus,  the  brother  of  L.  Plancus ;  and,  according  to  Appian, 
Salvius,-^^  one  of  the  tribunes,  and  Minucius,  also  one  of  the  prae- 
tors. L.  Caesar,^^^  the  uncle  of  Antonius,  was  saved  by  the  in- 
fluence of  his  sister ;  and  L.  Paulus,  the  brother  of  Lepidus,  was 
allowed  to  escape  by  the  soldiers  sent  to  murder  him,  who  res- 
pected, it  is  said,  the  brother  of  their  general,  or  perhaps  were 
shocked  at  the  unnatural  wickedness  of  that  general,  in  command- 
ing the  murder  of  so  near  a  relation.  M.  Varro,'^'^  formerly  one  of 
Pompey's  lieutenants  in  Spain,  but  much  more  known  as  a  man 
of  letters,  was  saved  by  the  intercession  of  Q,.  Calenus.  Apulius,^'* 
perhaps  the  same  person  who  was  tribune  in  this  very  year,  and 
who  was  warmly  attached  to  Cicero,  escaped  to  the  army  of  M. 

2U  Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  11.  Sueto-         216  Appian,  IV.  17. 

nius,  in  Augusto,  27.  217  Appian,  IV.  37. 

215  Valerius  Maximus,  IX.  11.  Appi-         213  Appian, IV.  47. 

an,  IV.  18.  2'^  Appian,  IV.  46. 


ANECDOTES  RELATING  TO  THE  PROSCRIPTION.  415 

Brutus  in  Macedonia.  Some  of  the  expedients  by  Anecdotes  relating  to 
which  individuals  who  had  been  proscribed  pre-  the  proscription. 
served  then*  Uves,  are  worthy  of  mention,  as  serving  to  illustrate 
the  circumstances  of  the  times.  Sentius  Saturninus  Vetulio^^" 
assumed  the  dress  and  ensigns  of  a  prastor,  disguised  his  slaves 
as  lictors,  and  proceeded  from  Rome  towards  Naples,  with  all  the 
state  of  a  public  officer  ;  impressing  carriages  for  his  use,  taking 
possession  of  the  inns  on  the  road,  and  obliging  all  travellers  whom 
he  met  to  move  out  of  the  way  till  he  had  passed.*  Having  thus 
reached  Puteoli  in  safety,  he  there  pretended  to  be  employed  on  the 
service  of  the  state,  and  demanded  some  vessels  for  the  conveyance 
of  himself  and  his  attendants,  which  being  granted,  he  effected 
his  passage  in  safety  to  Sicily,  where  Sex.  Pompeius  was  holding 
the  chief  command.  Antius  Restio  had  been  proscribed,'^^'  and 
escaped  from  his  house  secretly  by  night,  while  his  slaves,  having 
heard  of  their  master's  sentence,  were  busily  engaged  in  plundering 
his  property.  One  slave  alone  had  watched  him,  and  followed 
him  in  his  flight ;  a  man  who  had  been  branded  in  the  face  by 
his  master  for  some  offence,  and  had  been  confined  in  chains  in 
his  workhouse,  from  whence  he  had  only  been  released  by  some  of 
his  fellow-servants  at  the  time  of  the  general  ruin  of  their  master's 
fortunes.  This  man  overtook  Antius,  assured  him  that  he  enter- 
tained no  resentment  against  him  for  the  punishment  which  he 
had  received,  but  rather  felt  grateful  to  him  for  many  former 
kindnesses ;  and  having  concealed  him  out  of  the  way  of  the 
soldiers  who  were  in  search  of  liim,  he  began  to  construct  a 
funeral  pile,  and  then  having,  without  any  scruple,  murdered  an 
old  man  who  happened  to  be  passing  by  on  the  road,  he  placed 
his  body  upon  it.  The  soldiers  coming  up  while  he  was  thus 
employed,  he  hastened  to  tell  them  that  he  had  himself  killed  the 
object  of  their  search,  in  revenge  for  the  former  ill-treatment  which 
he  had  received  from  him  ;  and  as  his  story  seemed  probable,  they 
contented  themselves  with  taking  the  head  of  the  murdered  man 
as  that  of  Antius,  in  order  to  obtain  the  usual  reward  from  the 
Triumvirs  on  producing  it ;  and  suspicion  being  thus  laid  asleep, 
Antius  himself  was  conducted  from  his  hiding  place  by  his  slave, 
and  escaped  with  him  into  Sicily.  M.  Volusius,'^"  one  of  the 
aediles,  procured  from  a  friend  the  dress  of  one  of  the  ministers  of 
Isis,  and  disguising  himself  in  the  long  linen  gown,  and  wearing  the 
mask  made  like  a  dog's  face,  which  were  the  distinguishing  marks 
of  that  order  of  persons,  he  went  about  through  the  streets  dancing 
and  begging  money  of  the  passengers  ;  and  in  this  manner  he 
made  his  way  through  a  considerable  part  of  the  country,  till  he 

220  Valerius  Maximus,  VII.  3.  Appian,        22s  Valerius  Maximus,  VII.  3.     Appian> 
IV.  45.  IV.  47. 

221  Valerius  Maximus,  VI.  8.  Macrobi- 
us,  Saturnalia,  I.  11.     Appian,  IV.  43. 


418  REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  PROSCRIPTION, 

est  part  of  the  tax  which  it  had  been  intended  to  raise.  But  as 
the  men  could  not  utter  their  complaints  with  equal  safety,  they 
were  condemned  to  make  up  for  this  deficiency.  Every  person,  of 
what  rank  or  condition  soever,  who  was  possessed  of  property  to 
the  amount  of  more  than  400,000  h.  s.,  or  about  3200^.,'^^^  was 
required  to  furnish  a  loan  of  two  per  cent,  upon  all  that  he  was 
worth,  and  at  the  same  time  to  pay  the  value  of  a  year's  income 
as  a  tax  for  the  immediate  expenses  of  the  war. 

But  the  cruelty  and  rapacity  of  the  Triumvirs  themselves. 
Crimes  of  the  soldiers  g^at  as  they  wcrc,  might  yet  have  been  satisfied 
and  others.  ]jy  gQ  mauy  murders  and  confiscations  as  we  have 

already  recorded.  A  wider  and  almost  boundless  scene  of  misery 
was  opened  by  the  infinite  vexations,  robberies,  and  violences  of 
every  kind  which  were  committed  by  the  army  at  large  f^*  when 
every  soldier  gratified  his  passions  without  scruple,  and  the  Tri- 
umvirs dared  not  refuse  to  their  instruments  that  same  license  of 
wickedness  which  they  were  themselves  so  largely  enjoying. 
The  example  of  the  soldiers  was  followed  by  numerous  bands  of 
slaves  and  other  low  persons,  who  took  advantage  of  the  general 
confusion  to  plunder  and  to  murder  in  their  turn,  and  often  as- 
sumed the  disguise  of  soldiers  to  insure  to  themselves  impunity. 
But  as  their  resentment  was  not  dreaded,  their  disorders  were 
more  speedily  repressed  ;  orders  were  given  by  the  Triumvirs  to 
punish  those  who  committed  unauthorized  acts  of  violence  ;  and 
as  the  soldiers  were  too  formidable  to  be  restrained,  the  inferior 
malefactors  were  the  only  sufferers ;  and  of  these  last,  several 
were  seized  and  crucified. 

Although  no  previous  provocation,  nor  any  prospect  of  future 
Reflections  on  the  bcucfits  to  the  commouwealth,  could  justify  iu  any 
proscription.  dcgrcc  SO  atrocious  a  massacre,  yet  its  wickedness 

becomes  still  more  heightened  when  we  consider  the  only  pleas 
which  its  perpetrators  could  urge  in  their  defence,  and  the  utter  self- 
ishness of  the  motives  by  which  they  were  actuated.  Their  great 
pretence  was  to  revenge  the  murder  of  Caesar ;  an  act  the  guilt  of 
which  was  confined  to  about  sixty  individuals,  scarcely  any  of 
whom  were  among  the  victims  of  the  present  proscription.  Thou-, 
sands  who  had  no  share  in  his  death,  might  very  justly  have  re- 
joiced in  the  effects  of  it,  in  the  dissolution  of  a  tyrannical  power, 
and  the  restoration  of  the  lawful  constitution  ;  and  after  the  mur- 
der had  been  perpetrated,  the  best  course  which  could  be  follow- 
ed was  that  which  the  senate  actually  adopted  on  the  motion  of 
Cicero,  to  decree  a  general  amnesty  for  the  past,  and  to  resume 
the  usual  form  of  the  government,  as  if  Caesar's  usurpation  had 
never  interrupted  it.  And  on  this  principle  the  more  respectable 
of  Caesar's  friends,  such  as  Hirtius  and  Pansa,  acted  ;  who,  while 

233  Appian,  34.  23*  Appian,  35. 


ANECDOTES  RELATING  TO  THE  PROSCRIPTION.  415 

Brutus  in  Macedonia.  Some  of  the  expedients  by  Anecdotes  relating  to 
which  individuals  who  had  been  proscribed  pre-  the  proscription. 
served  then-  lives,  are  worthy  of  mention,  as  serving  to  illustrate 
the  circumstances  of  the  times.  Sentius  Saturninus  Vetulio'*'"' 
assumed  the  dress  and  ensigns  of  a  praetor,  disguised  his  slaves 
as  lictors,  and  proceeded  from  Rome  towards  Naples,  with  all  the 
state  of  a  public  officer  ;  impressing  carriages  for  his  use,  taking 
possession  of  the  inns  on  the  road,  and  obliging  all  travellers  whom 
he  met  to  move  out  of  the  way  till  he  had  passed.  Having  thus 
reached  Puteoli  in  safety,  he  there  pretended  to  be  employed  on  the 
service  of  the  state,  and  demanded  some  vessels  for  the  conveyance 
of  himself  and  his  attendants,  which  being  granted,  he  effected 
his  passage  in  safety  to  Sicily,  where  Sex.  Pompeius  was  holding 
the  chief  command.  Antius  Restio  had  been  proscribed,^^'  and 
escaped  from  his  house  secretly  by  night,  while  his  slaves,  having 
hea'rd  of  their  master's  sentence,  were  busily  engaged  in  plundering 
his  property.  One  slave  alone  had  watched  him,  and  followed 
him  in  his  flight ;  a  man  who  had  been  branded  in  the  face  by 
his  master  for  some  offence,  and  had  been  confined  in  chains  in 
his  workhouse,  from  whence  he  had  only  been  released  by  some  of 
his  felluw-servants  at  the  time  of  the  general  ruin  of  their  master's 
fortunes.  This  man  overtook  Antius,  assured  him  that  he  enter- 
tained no  resentment  against  him  for  the  punishment  which  he 
had  received,  but  rather  felt  grateful  to  him  for  many  former 
kindnesses  ;  and  having  concealed  him  out  of  the  way  of  the 
soldiers  who  were  in  search  of  him,  he  began  to  construct  a 
funeral  pile,  and  then  having,  without  any  scruple,  murdered  an 
old  man  who  happened  to  be  passing  by  on  the  road,  he  placed 
his  body  upon  it.  The  soldiers  coming  up  while  he  was  thus 
employed,  he  hastened  to  tell  them  that  he  had  himself  killed  the 
object  of  their  search,  in  revenge  for  the  former  ill-treatment  which 
he  had  received  from  him  ;  and  as  his  story  seemed  probable,  they 
contented  themselves  with  taking  the  head  of  the  murdered  man 
as  that  of  Antius,  in  order  to  obtain  the  usual  reward  from  the 
Triumvirs  on  producing  it ;  and  suspicion  being  thus  laid  asleep, 
Antius  himself  was  conducted  from  his  hiding  plac?  by  his  slave, 
and  escaped  with  him  into  Sicily.  M.  Volusius,^^^  one  of  the 
aediles,  procured  from  a  friend  the  dress  of  one  of  the  ministers  of 
Isis,  and  disguising  himself  in  the  long  linen  gown,  and  wearing  the 
mask  made  like  a  dog's  face,  which  were  the  distinguishing  marks 
of  that  order  of  persons,  he  went  about  through  the  streets  dancing 
and  begging  money  of  the  passengers  ;  and  in  this  manner  he 
made  his  way  through  a  considerable  part  of  the  country,  till  he 

220  Valerius  Maximus,  VII.  3.  Appian,        22J  Valerius  Maximus,  VII.  3.     Appian, 
rV.  45.  IV.  47. 

221  Valerius  Maximus,  VI.  8.  Macrobi- 
us,  Saturnalia,  I.  11.     Appian,  IV.  43. 


4 IS  REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  PROSCRIPTION. 

est  part  of  the  tax  which  it  had  been  intended  to  raise.  But  as 
the  men  could  not  utter  their  complaints  with  equal  safety,  they 
were  condemned  to  make  up  for  this  deficiency.  Every  person,  of 
what  rank  or  condition  soever,  who  was  possessed  of  property  to 
the  amount  of  more  than  400,000  h.  s.,  or  about  32001.,^^^  was 
required  to  furnish  a  loan  of  two  per  cent,  upon  all  that  he  was 
worth,  and  at  the  same  time  to  pay  the  value  of  a  year's  income 
as  a  tax  for  the  immediate  expenses  of  the  war. 

But  the  cruelty  and  rapacity  of  the  Triumvirs  themselves. 
Crimes  of  the  soldiers  gi'cat  as  they  wcrc,  might  yct  have  been  satisfied 
and  others.  ^jy  g^  mauy  murdcrs  and  confiscations  as  we  have 

already  recorded.  A  wider  and  almost  boundless  scene  of  misery 
was  opened  by  the  infinite  vexations,  robberies,  and  violences  of 
every  kind  which  were  committed  by  the  army  at  large  f^*  when 
every  soldier  gratified  his  passions  without  scruple,  and  the  Tri- 
umvirs dared  not  refuse  to  their  instruments  that  same  license  of 
wickedness  which  they  were  themselves  so  largely  enjoying. 
The  example  of  the  soldiers  was  followed  by  numerous  bands  of 
slaves  and  other  low  persons,  who  took  advantage  of  the  general 
confusion  to  plunder  and  to  murder  in  their  turn,  and  often  as- 
sumed the  disguise  of  soldiers  to  insure  to  themselves  impunity. 
But  as  their  resentment  was  not  dreaded,  their  disorders  were 
more  speedily  repressed  ;  orders  were  given  by  the  Triumvirs  to 
punish  those  who  committed  unauthorized  acts  of  violence  ;  and 
as  the  soldiers  were  too  formidable  to  be  restrained,  the  inferior 
malefactors  were  the  only  sufl'erers ;  and  of  these  last,  several 
were  seized  and  crucified. 

Although  no  previous  provocation,  nor  any  prospect  of  future 
Reflections  on  the  benefits  to  the  commonwealth,  could  justify  in  any 
proscription.  dcgrcB  SO  atrocious  a  massacre,  yet  its  wickedness 

becomes  still  more  heightened  when  we  consider  the  only  pleas 
which  its  perpetrators  could  urge  in  their  defence,  and  the  utter  self- 
ishness of  the  motives  by  which  they  were  actuated.  Their  great 
pretence  was  to  revenge  the  murder  of  Caesar ;  an  act  the  guilt  of 
which  was  confined  to  about  sixty  individuals,  scarcely  any  of 
whom  were  among  the  victims  of  the  present  proscription.  Thou- 
sands who  had  no  share  in  his  death,  might  very  justly  have  re- 
joiced in  the  effects  of  it,  in  the  dissolution  of  a  tyrannical  power, 
and  the  restoration  of  the  lawful  constitution  ;  and  after  the  mur- 
der had  been  perpetrated,  the  best  course  which  could  be  follow- 
ed was  that  which  the  senate  actually  adopted  on  the  motion  of 
Cicero,  to  decree  a  general  amnesty  for  the  past,  and  to  resume 
the  usual  form  of  the  government,  as  if  Caesar's  usurpation  had 
never  interrupted  it.  And  on  this  principle  the  more  respectable 
of  Caesar's  friends,  such  as  Hirtius  and  Pansa,  acted  ;  who,  while 

23»  Appian,  34.  ^  Appian,  35. 


REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  PROSCRIPTION. 


419 


openly  lamenting  and  condemning  his  murder,  thought  that  it  ill 
became  them  to  renew  the  civil  war  for  the  purpose  of  revenging 
it ;  but  that  it  was  the  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to  uphold  that  old 
constitution  of  their  country  which  was  now,  by  whatever  means, 
restored;  especially  as  all  the  beneficial  effects  of  the  late  revolution 
were  still  maintained,  in  the  extension  of  the  privileges  of  citizen- 
ship to  a  great  number  of  foreigners,  and  the  elevation  of  many  in- 
dividuals of  humble  birth  to  the  enjoyment  of  wealth  and  honours. 
But  Antonius  and  Lepidus  wishing  to  continue  the  system  of 
military  usurpation,  and  having  been  deservedly  declared  public 
enemies,  were  anxious  to  exterminate  all  those  who  were  zeal- 
ously attached  to  the  constitution  of  their  country  ;  while  Augus- 
tus, hoping  to  inherit  his  uncle's  sovereignty  as  well  as  his  name 
and  private  fortune,  and  animated  besides  with  that  inveteracy 
which  men  naturally  feel  against  a  cause  which  they  have  de- 
serted and  betrayed,  longed  to  destroy,  if  possible,  the  whole  of 
■the  aristocratical  party,  that  his  way  to  the  throne  might  be  clear- 
ed from  all  impediments.  His  conduct,  accordingly,  was  marked 
by  peculiar  traits  of  malignity  and  hard-heartedness.  We  have 
already  mentioned  that  he  himself  was  not  known  to  spare  a  single 
victim  of  those  whom  he  had  marked  out  for  death  ;  and  he  op- 
posed every  inclination  to  clemency  in  his  associates.  When  the 
proscription  was  ended, ^^^  Lepidus,  in  a  speech  to  the  senate, 
made  something  of  an  apology  for  what  was  past,  and  said  that 
henceforth  such  instances  of  severity  would  not  be  repeated,  as 
enough  of  the  guilty  had  been  already  punished  ;  but  Augustus 
arose  and  added,  that  he  had  only  closed  the  proscription  as  long 
as  he  thought  proper,  but  without  meaning  to  impose  the  least 
restriction  on  himself  with  regard  to  his  future  measures.  When 
he  thus  spoke  and  acted,  he  was  scarcely  one-and-twenty  years 
old.  Had  his  whole  after-life  been  marked  by  nothing  but  bene- 
fits to  his  country,  no  human  judgment  would  be  warranted  in 
attributing  his  altered  conduct  to  any  better  motive  than  the  ab- 
sence of  temptation ;  for  he  who  had  once  plunged  so  deeply  in 
wickedness,  must  ever  be  suspected  of  being  ready  to  do  the 
same  again  if  his  interests  required  it,  unless  he  could  give  posi- 
tive proof  that  he  regarded  his  former  crimes  with  remorse  and 
abhorrence. 

Whilst  Italy  was  overwhelmed  by  these  calamities,"*  three 
neighbouring  countries  aflfbrded  a  secure  refuge  to  The  proscribed  are 
all  those  of  the  proscribed  who  were  happy  enough  AfncI'milfsicUyf ' 
to  reach  them.  Many  accordingly  escaped  to  M.  Brutus  in  Mace- 
donia, and  to  Q,.  Cornificius  in  Africa  ;  but  a  still  greater  num- 
ber fled  to  Sicily,  where  Sex.  Pompeius,  in  a  manner  worthy  of 
ihis  name,  was  exercising  the  most  unwearied  benevolence  towards 
i 

«3S  Sufetonius,  in  Augusto,  27.  236  Appian,  IV.  36. 


422    PROGRESS  OP  BRUTUS  AND  CASSIUS  IN  THE  EAST. 

They  attack  sicfly  was  eager  to  gain  the  island,  because  the  usual  sup- 
without  success.  pjjgg  q^  (^Qm  which  it  sent  to  the  Roman  market 
were  now  interrupted  ;  and  the  horrors  of  a  scarcity  were  thus 
added  to  the  accumulated  miseries  under  which  Italy  was  suffer- 
ing. But  Q,.  Salvidienus,  one  of  Augustus's  principal  ofRcers,'^*^ 
was  repulsed  by  the  fleet  of  Sex.  Pompeius,  when  attempting  to 
cover  the  passage  of  troops  from  Rhegium  to  the  opposite  shore  ; 
and  the  naval  and  military  forces  of  the  Triumvirs  were  all  re- 
quired immediately  after  in  another  quarter,  to  stop  the  progress 
of  Brutus  and  Cassius  in  the  east. 

.  Since  the  defeat  and  death  of  Dolabella  at  Laodicea,  which 
Progress  of  Brutus  and  sccms  to  havc  takcu  placo  about  thc  end  of  June, 
Cassius  m  the  east.  ^^  jj^g  summcr  of  thc  year  711,  Cassius  had  been 
engaged  in  an  obstinate,  but  at  last  successful,  contest  with  those 
cities  and  countries  of  Asia  Minor  which  had  manifested  their  at- 
tachment to  the  cause  of  his  enemy.  After  the  fall  of  Laodicea, 
he  had  hoped  to  make  himself  master  of  Egypt,  in  return  for  the 
succours  which  Cleopatra  had  sent  to  Dolabella ;  but  being 
pressed,  it  is  said,  by  messages  from  Brutus,'^"  he  abandoned  his 
enterprise,  and  began  to  return  towards  the  province  of  Asia,  On 
his  way  he  levied  a  severe  contribution  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
Tarsus,^"  and  having  enriched  himself  considerably,  by  this  and 
many  similar  exactions,  he  met  Brutus  at  Smyrna,  as  far  as  ap- 
pears, about  the  middle  of  the  winter. ^^ 5  Brutus  had  lately  crossed 
over  with  his  army  from  Macedonia,  having  constantly  refused  to 
listen  to  the  pressing  exhortations  of  Cicero  and  Decimus  Brutus, 
who  had  urged  him  to  come  to  the  assistance  of  the  common- 
wealth in  Italy,  before  the  treason  of  Augustus  had  openly  mani- 
fested itself.  We  cannot  now  decide  whether  he  acted  wisely  or 
timidly  in  adopting  a  different  line  of  conduct ;  but  it  seems  im- 
possible not  to  condemn  the  result  of  his  subsequent  meeting  with 
Cassius  at  Smyrna,  if  the  writers,  whom  we  are  now  reduced  to 
follow,  have  put  us  at  all  in  possession  of  the  real  circumstances 
of  the  case,  or  of  the  grounds  of  the  resolution  which  was  adopted. 
Cassius,^^^  it  is  said,  insisted  on  the  difficulties  with  which  the 
Triumvirs  were  actually  surrounded  at  Rome  ;  on  their  want  of 
money,  and  on  the  delay  which  Sex.  Pompeius  must  necessarily 
occasion  them  by  his  occupation  of  Sicily  ]  and,  therefore,  he 
urged  the  policy  of  employing  the  present  moments  in  the  reduc- 
tion of  Rhodes  and  Lycia,  which  were  warmly  attached  to  the 
party  of  the  Triumvirs,  and  might  effect  a  formidable  diversion 
in  the  rear  if  left  unsubdued,  while  Brutus  and  himself  were  ad- 

242  Livy,  Epitome,  CXXIII.  Appian,  245  Plutarch,  in  Bruto,  28.  Livy,  Epit- 
IV.  85.  ome,  CXXII. 

243  Plutarch,  in  Bruto,  28.  Appian,  IV.  246  Djon  Cassius,  XLVII.  346.  Appian, 
63.  IV.  65. 

244  Dion  Cassius,  XLVII.  345. 


REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  PROSCRIPTION.  419 

openly  lamenting  and  condemning  his  murder,  thought  that  it  ill 
became  them  to  renew  the  civil  war  for  the  purpose  of  revenging 
it ;  but  that  it  was  the  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to  uphold  that  old 
constitution  of  their  country  which  was  now,  by  whatever  means, 
restored;  especially  as  all  the  beneficial  effects  of  the  late  revolution 
were  still  maintained,  in  the  extension  of  the  privileges  of  citizen- 
ship to  a  great  number  of  foreigners,  and  the  elevation  of  many  in- 
dividuals of  humble  birth  to  the  enjoyment  of  wealth  and  honours. 
But  Antonius  and  Lepidus  wishing  to  continue  the  system  of 
military  usurpation,  and  having  been  deservedly  declared  public 
enemies,  were  anxious  to  exterminate  all  those  who  were  zeal- 
ously attached  to  the  constitution  of  their  country  ;  while  Augus- 
tus, hoping  to  inherit  his  uncle's  sovereignty  as  well  as  his  name 
and  private  fortune,  and  animated  besides  with  that  inveteracy 
which  men  naturally  feel  against  a  cause  which  they  have  de- 
serted and  betrayed,  longed  to  destroy,  if  possible,  the  whole  of 
the  aristocratical  party,  that  his  way  to  the  throne  might  be  clear- 
ed from  all  impediments.  His  conduct,  accordingly,  was  marked 
by  peculiar  traits  of  malignity  and  hard-heartedness.  We  have 
already  mentioned  that  he  himself  was  not  known  to  spare  a  single 
victim  of  those  whom  he  had  marked  out  for  death  ;  and  he  op- 
posed every  inclination  to  clemency  in  his  associates.  When  the 
proscription  was  ended,'^^^  Lepidus,  in  a  speech  to  the  senate, 
made  something  of  an  apology  for  what  was  past,  and  said  that 
henceforth  such  instances  of  severity  would  not  be  repeated,  as 
enough  of  the  guilty  had  been  already  punished  ;  but  Augustus 
arose  and  added,  that  he  had  only  closed  the  proscription  as  long 
as  he  thought  proper,  but  without  meaning  to  impose  the  least 
restriction  on  himself  with  regard  to  his  future  measures.  When 
he  thus  spoke  and  acted,  he  was  scarcely  one-and-twenty  years 
old.  Had  his  whole  after-life  been  marked  by  nothing  but  bene- 
fits to  his  country,  no  human  judgment  would  be  warranted  in 
attributing  his  altered  conduct  to  any  better  motive  than  the  ab- 
sence of  temptation  ;  for  he  who  had  once  plunged  so  deeply  in 
wickedness,  must  ever  be  suspected  of  being  ready  to  do  the 
same  again  if  his  interests  required  it.  unless  he  could  give  posi- 
tive proof  that  he  regarded  his  former  crimes  with  remorse  and 
abhorrence. 

Whilst  Italy  was  overwhelmed  by  these  calamities,^^^  three 
neighbouring  countries  afforded  a  secure  refuge  to     The  proscribed  are 

1,  ,1  J?  ii  -1^     1         1  1  1         sheltered  in  Greece, 

all  those  oi  the  proscribed  who  were  happy  enough     Afnca.andsiciiy. 
to  reach  them.     Many  accordingly  escaped  to  M.  Brutus  in  Mace- 
donia, and  to  d.  Cornificius  in  Africa  ;  but  a  still  greater  num- 
ber fled  to  Sicily,  where  Sex.  Pompeius,  in  a  manner  worthy  of 
his  name,  was  exercising  the  most  unwearied  benevolence  towards 

t3S  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  27.  'i^  Appian,  IV.  36. 


422    PROGRESS  OF  BRUTUS  AND  CASSIUS  IN  THE  EAST. 

They  attack  Sicily  was  eager  to  gaiii  the  island,  because  the  usual  sup- 
without  success.  p] jgg  Qf  corn  which  it  sent  to  the  Roman  market 
were  now  interrupted ;  and  the  horrors  of  a  scarcity  were  thus 
added  to  the  accumulated  miseries  under  which  Italy  was  suffer- 
ing. But  Q,.  Salvidienus,  one  of  Augustus's  principal  officers,^^^ 
was  repulsed  by  the  fleet  of  Sex.  Pompeius,  when  attempting  to 
cover  the  passage  of  troops  from  Rhegium  to  the  opposite  shore  ; 
and  the  naval  and  military  forces  of  the  Triumvirs  were  all  re- 
quired immediately  after  in  another  quarter,  to  stop  the  progress 
of  Brutus  and  Cassius  in  the  east. 

Since  the  defeat  and  death  of  Dolabella  at  Laodicea,  which 
^  „  ,    ,  .  seems  to  have  taken  place  about  the  end  of  June, 

Progress  of  Brutus  and    _  r  rri  i      /-^  •  i        i    i 

Cassius  in  the  east.  ^^  []^q  summer  01  the  year  711,  Uassms  had  been 
engaged  in  an  obstinate,  but  at  last  successful,  contest  with  those 
cities  and  countries  of  Asia  Minor  which  had  manifested  their  at- 
tachment to  the  cause  of  his  enemy.  After  the  fall  of  Laodicea, 
he  had  hoped  to  make  himself  master  of  Egypt,  in  return  for  the 
succours  which  Cleopatra  .  had  sent  to  Dolabella  ;  but  being 
pressed,  it  is  said,  by  messages  from  Brutus,^^^  \^q  abandoned  his 
enterprise,  and  began  to  return  towards  the  province  of  Asia.  On 
his  way  he  levied  a  severe  contribution  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
Tarsus,*^^*  and  having  enriched  himself  considerably,  by  this  and 
many  similar  exactions,  he  met  Brutus  at  Smyrna,  as  far  as  ap- 
pears, about  the  middle  of  the  winter.'^^^  Brutus  had  lately  crossed 
over  with  his  army  from  Macedonia,  having  constantly  refused  to 
listen  to  the  pressing  exhortations  of  Cicero  and  Decimus  Brutus, 
who  had  urged  him  to  come  to  the  assistance  of  the  common- 
wealth in  Italy,  before  the  treason  of  Augustus  had  openly  mani- 
fested itself.  We  cannot  now  decide  whether  he  acted  wisely  or 
timidly  in  adopting  a  different  line  of  conduct ;  but  it  seems  im- 
possible not  to  condemn  the  result  of  his  subsequent  meeting  with 
Cassius  at  Smyrna,  if  the  writers,  whom  we  are  now  reduced  to 
follow,  have  put  us  at  all  in  possession  of  the  real  circumstances 
of  the  case,  or  of  the  grounds  of  the  resolution  which  was  adopted. 
Cassius,^^^  it  is  said,  insisted  on  the  difficulties  with  which  the 
Triumvirs  were  actually  surrounded  at  Rome  ;  on  their  want  of 
money,  and  on  the  delay  which  Sex.  Pompeius  must  necessarily 
occasion  them  by  his  occupation  of  Sicily ;  and,  therefore,  he 
urged  the  policy  of  employing  the  present  moments  in  the  reduc- 
tion of  Rhodes  and  Lycia,  which  were  warmly  attached  to  the 
party  of  the  Triumvirs,  and  might  effect  a  formidable  diversion 
in  the  rear  if  left  unsubdued,  while  Brutus  and  himself  were  ad- 

242  Livy,  Epitome,  CXXIII.     Appian,  245  Plutarch,  in  Bruto,  28.     Livy,  Epit- 
IV.  85.  ome,  CXXII. 

243  Plutarch,  in  Bruto,  28.  Appian,  IV.  24S  Djon  Cassius,  XLVII.  346.  Appian, 
63.  IV.  65. 

244  Dion  Cassius,  XLVII.  345. 


THE  TRIUMVIRS  OCCUPY  MACEDONIA.  423 

vancing  into  Greece.  No  reasoning  could  be  more  opposite  to  the 
soundest  principles  of  policy  and  military  conduct ;  and  if  Cassius 
really  argued  in  such  a  manner,  he  was  a  very  unequal  antago- 
nist to  generals  who  had  been  trained  like  Antonius  in  the  school 
of  Caesar.  The  event  was  a  memorable  lesson  on  the  folly  of 
wasting  time  in  war  upon  inferior  objects,  and  of  pecking  at  the 
extremities  of  an  enemy's  power,  instead  of  striking  at  the  heart. 
Rhodes  and  Lycia,  indeed,  were  successively  conquered  f^''  but 
the  power  of  the  Triumvirs  was  in  the  mean  time  consolidated, 
their  armies  were  in  a  condition  to  take  the  field,  and  they  them- 
selves, acting  in  the  true  spirit  of  Caesar's  system,  were  prepared 
to  anticipate  attack,  and  had  already  despatched  a  force  Into  Ma- 
cedonia, to  fix  the  seat  of  war  in  the  territories  of  their  adversa- 
ries instead  of  in  their  own. 

This  first  division  of  the  army  of  the  Triumvirs  was  com- 
manded by  C.  Norbanus  and  Decidius  Saxa.'^^'  Of  The  Triumvirs  send 
the  former  we  can  find  nothing  recorded,  but  if  he  Macedonia  agai'nft 
were  of  the  family  of  that  C.  Norbanus  who  was  ^^^°'- 
proscribed  by  Sylla,  and  who  killed  himself  at  Rhodes,  that  he 
might  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  his  connexion  with 
the  party  of  the  Triumvirs  was  natural.  Decidius  Saxa  was  a 
Spaniard,'^*'  on  whom  Caesar  had  conferred  the  rights  of  Roman 
citizenship,  and  had  afterwards  caused  him  to  be  named  one  of 
the  tribunes.  He  was  with  Antonius  during  the  siege  of  Mutina, 
and  is  frequently  mentioned  by  Cicero  in  his  philippics  as  one  of 
his  principal  adherents.  At  the  time  when  Saxa  and  Norbanus 
crossad  over  into  Greece,  there  was  no  enemy  to  obstruct  their  pro- 
gress either  by  land  or  sea,  for  both  the  fleets  and  armies  of  Brutus 
and  Cassius  were  still  employed  in  Asia.  They  advanced,  there- 
fore, through  Macedonia,  till  they  approached  Philippi,  a  place 
favourably  situated  for  intercepting  the  march  of  an  army  from 
the  Hellespont  towards  Greece.  The  great  plain  of  the  Strymon 
is  bounded  on  the  east  by  a  branch  of  the  mountains  known  by 
the  name  of  Pangaeus,^^"  and  which,  running  to  the  southward 
nearly  at  right  angles  with  the  general  course  of  the  chain,  is  only 
separated  from  the  sea  by  a  tract  of  low  and  marshy  ground,  over 
which  there  was,  at  this  time,  no  practicable  road.  The  road, 
therefore,  from  the  Hellespont  to  Macedonia,  crossed  this  project- 
ing branch  of  Pangasus  by  two  mountain  passes,  before  it  descend- 
ed into  the  plain  of  the  Strymon  ;  and  a  little  to  the  westward  of 
the  passes  it  came  to  the  city  of  Philippi,  which  was  itself  situated 
on  one  of  the  lower  points  of  the  mountain  range,  near  the  head 
of  a  small  stream  which  flowed  to  the  westward,  through  the 
plain,  to  join  the  Strymon.     The  two  passes  to  the  eastward  of 

247  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  69.  249  Cicero,  Philippic.  XI.  5  ;  and  XIII. 

248  Dion  Cassius,  XL VII.  347.  13. 

250  Dion  Cassius,  348.  Appian,  IV.  105. 
28 


424  BRUTUS  AND  CASSIUS  ADVANCE  TO  PHILIPPI. 

Philippi  were  occupied  by  Norbanus  and  Saxa ;  and  in  this  posi- 
tion they  hoped  to  check  the  march  of  the  enemy,  if  he  should  re- 
turn from  Asia  to  attack  them,  until  they  could  be  supported  by 
Antonius  himself,  who  was  to  join  them  as  soon  as  possible  with 
the  rest  of  his  army  from  Italy. 

Brutus  and  Cassius  having  effected  the  conquest  of  Rhodes  and 
Brutus  and  cassius  of  Lycla,  met  again  at  Sardis,^^'  and  thence  re- 
advance  to  phihppi.  solved  to  carry  their  united  forces  into  Europe. 
They  were  aware  that  a  part  of  the  army  of  the  Triumvirs  had 
already  arrived  in  Macedonia,  but  they  trusted,  by  the  superiority 
of  their  naval  force,  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  remainder ;  and 
for  this  purpose,  L.  Statins  Murcus  was  sent  with  a  considerable 
squadron  to  cruise  off  Brundusium,^^^  exactly  as  Pompey's  naval 
officen  had  done  before  in  the  war  with  Csesar.  Meanwhile  they 
themselves  crossed  the  Hellespont,  and  advanced  towards  Philippi. 
And  here  again  the  impossibility  of  defending  a  moimtain  line  of 
considerable  length,  against  a  superior  enemy,  was  fully  proved. 

The  positions  of  Norbanus  and  Saxa  Avere  impregnable  in  front ; 
but  one  of  the  Thracian  chiefs  pointed  out  a  way  over  the  moun- 
tains to  the  northward  of  the  passes,^^^  by  which  the  army  of 
Brutus  and  Cassius  crossed  without  opposition,  after  a  laborious 
march  of  three  days  through  the  woods,  and  appearing  suddenly 
on  the  flank  of  Saxa  and  Norbanus,  obliged  them  to  retreat  with 
great  expedition,  and  to  fall  back  across  the  plain  of  the  Strymon, 
as  far  as  Amphipolis.  Brutus  and  Cassius  then  formed  their  re- 
spective camps  on  two  hills,  distant  somewhat  less  than  a  mile 
from  one  another,  and  about  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  westward  of 
Philippi.  Immediately  to  the  south,  or  left  of  their  position,  the 
marsh  began,  and  extended  from  thence  to  the  sea.  On  their 
right  were  the  mountains,  the  regular  passes  being  probably 
covered  by  their  own  position,  while  they  were  likely  to  keep  a 
watchful  eye  upon  the  more  difficult  track  by  which  they  had 
themselves  effected  their  passage. 

The  space  between  their  two  camps  was  secured  by  fortifica- 
tions connecting  the  two  hills  with  each  another ;  their  fleet  was 
stationed  in  the  neighbouring  harbour  of  Neapolis  to  co-operate 
with  them  ;  and  their  magazines  of  every  kind  were  placed  in 
perfect  safety  in  the  island  of  Thasos,  which  lay  just  opposite  to 
that  part  of  the  coast  at  an  inconsiderable  distance  from  the  main 
land.  Thus  situated,  and  having  all  the  resources  of  Asia  in  their 
rear,  while  their  enemy's  communications  with  Italy  and  the 
western  provinces  would  be,  as  they  hoped,  coijstantly  intercept- 
ed by  the  fleets  of  Sex.  Pompeius  and  L.  Murcus,  they  trusted  to 
follow  successfully  the  system  which  Pompey,  under  similar  cir- 

^'  Plutarch,  in  Bruto,  34.  253  Appian,  IV.  103,  104. 

252  Dion  Cassius,  348.     Appian,  88. 


ANTONIUS  AND  AUGUSTUS  AT  EPIRUS.  425 

cumstances,  had  been  unwisely  induced  to  abandon,  and  to  bring 
the  war  to  a  triumphant  end,  without  exposing  themselves  to  the 
hazard  of  a  battle. 

But  Antonius  effected  his  passage  from  Brundusium  with  the 
same  success  which  had  attended  him  before  in  the  Antonius  and  Augug- 

,  111  •  i  tu3  arrive  in  Macedo- 

very  same  place,  and  under  the  same  circumstances,  ma  to  oppose  them. 
when  he  commanded  the  rear  division  of  Caesar's  army,  and  joined 
his  general  on  the  coast  of  Epirus  in  spite  of  all  the  fleets  of  Pom- 
pey.  After  he  had  been  blockaded  for  some  time  by  L.  Murcus, 
he  sent  to  Augustus,  who  was  then  at  Rhegium,  requesting  him 
to  suspend  his  preparations  against  Sicily,  and  to  employ  his 
naval  force  in  driving  off  the  blockading  squadron  from  Brundu- 
sium."^* It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  the  fleet  which  Au- 
gustus could  spare  for  this  service,  was  at  all  able  to  meet  that  of 
L.  Murcus  in  battle.  But  the  apprehension  of  being  hemmed  in  in 
the  narrow  space  between  Brundusium  and  the  little  island  which 
lay  off  the  harbour's  mouth,  induced  L.  Murcus  to  draw  off  his 
ships,  and  to  allow  Augustus  to  join  Antonius  without  opposition. 
The  legions  were  then  embarked  on  board  of  vessels  such  as  were 
usually  employed  in  commerce,  and  which  were  worked  only  by 
sails,  while  an  escort  of  ships  of  war  accompanied  them,  to  be 
sacrificed,  if  needful,  to  the  superior  force  of  the  enemy,  in  the 
hope  that  their  resistance  might  at  least  allow  the  transports  time 
to  escape.  But  the  wind,  for  some  days,  happened  to  blow  so 
freshly,  that  the  transports  were  carried  across  with  full  sails,  at 
a  rate  which  rendered  it  impossible  for  the  enemy's  ships  of  war, 
worked  only  with  oars,  to  overtake  them  ;  and  in  this  manner,  we 
are  told,  Antonius  and  A  ugustus  landed  the  main  body  of  their 
army  on  the  coast  of  Epirus  without  loss.  Antonius  instantly 
hastened  to  the  support  of  Saxa  and  Norbanus,  with  an  activity 
which  rivalled  that  of  his  old  commander,  and  which  far  exceeded, 
as  we  are  told,  all  the  calculations  ot  his  opponents.*^"  We  might 
wonder,  indeed,  why  Brutus  and  Cassius  had  not  followed  upon 
Saxa  and  Norbanus  in  their  retreat  from  Philippi,  instead  of  allow- 
ing them  quietly  to  strengthen  themselves  on  the  Strymon  ;  but  it  is 
idle  to  attempt  to  give  the  military  history  of  a  campaign,  when 
the  writers  whom  we  are  obliged  to  follow  have  not  recorded  the 
date  of  any  one  operation  or  movement  on  either  side.  It  only 
appears,  that  as  soon  as  Antonius  arrived  at  Amphipolis,*^^^  he  in- 
stantly moved  forwards  with  his  whole  army,  and  encamped  near 
Philippi,  within  a  short  distance  from  the  enemy ;  and  that  here 
he  was  in  a  short  time  joined  by  Augustus,  who  on  his  first  land- 
ing had  remained  at  Dyrrhachium  on  account  of  illness,  but  not 
choosing  to  be  absent  from  the  scene  of  action  at  so  critical  a 

25<  Appian,  86.  2s«  Appian,  IV.   107.      Dioq  Gaasius, 

255  Plutarch,  in  Bruto,  38.  349. 


426  FIRST  ACTION  AT  PHILIPPL 

moment,  he  hastened  to  follow  his  troops,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of 
the  position  of  the  two  armies,  and  arrived  in  the  camp  while  he 
was  still  too  weak  to  discharge  the  most  active  duties  of  a  general. 
In  the  present  contest,  as  in  that  between  Pompey  and  Csesar, 
First  action  at  Philip,  the  army  of  the  constitutional  party  was  the  more 
PI.  Autumn  of  712.  numerous,  their  naval  superiority  was  undoubted, 
and  their  resources  were  so  ample,  that  they  could  easily  afford 
to  protract  the  war.  But  on  the  side  of  the  Triumvirs  there  were 
generals  and  officers  trained  in  the  school  of  Caesar  ;  these  were 
the  remains  of  his  invincible  veterans  :  and  even  the  newly-raised 
soldiers,  disciplined  by  the  same  commanders,  and  having  before 
their  eyes  in  their  more  experienced  comrades  such  a  perfect  pat- 
tern of  military  excellence,  were  likely  to  emulate  the  good  con- 
duct of  the  veterans  themselves.  Antonius,  therefore,  was  eager 
to  bring  on  a  general  action,  and  finding  that  the  enemy 
remained  immovable  within  his  lines,  he  endeavoured  to  make 
opportunities  of  fighting,  by  carrying  a  road  through  the  marsh 
on  the  left  of  Cassius's  camp,  as  if  he  designed  to  turn  his  posi- 
tion.'^^'  It  appears  that  an  irregular  engagement  was  at  last  the 
consequence  of  these  operations  ;  for  the  details  of  which  we  can 
best  rely  on  the  narrative  of  Plutarch,  as  he  appears  to  have  copied 
from  the  memoirs  of  M.  Messala,  an  officer  of  the  highest  rank  in 
the  constitutional  army,  next  to  Brutus  and  Cassius.  According, 
then,  to  the  statement  of  Messala,  the  left  of  the  Triumvirs'  army, 
which  was  the  part  commanded  by  Augustus,  was  drawn  out  in  or- 
der of  battle  in  front  of  its  camp,  to  effect  a  diversion  in  favour  of  An- 
tonius. But  the  troops  of  Brutus  making  a  sudden  and  unexpected 
sally,  Messala  himself,  with  a  part  of  the  army,  turned  the  left 
flank  of  the  enemy,  pushed  forwards  at  once  to  their  camp,  and 
carried  it  with  little  opposition ;  while  Brutus,  assailing  them  at 
the  same  time  in  front,  broke  them  with  great  slaughter,  and 
chased  them  back  to  their  camp,  which  was  already  in  Messala's 
possession.  Meanwhile  the  centre  of  the  Triumvirs'  army,  ob- 
serving that  the  troops  of  Cassius  had  taken  no  part  in  the  action, 
passed  by  the  left  flank  of  the  victorious  legions  of  Brutus,  and 
attacked  the  left  wing  of  the  constitutional  army,  commanded  by 
Cassius.  Antonius  himself,  on  the  extreme  right  of  his  own  army, 
was  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  the  marsh,  in  an  attempt  to  take 
the  cross  wall  which  Cassius  had  carried  out  of  his  own  camp, 
in  order  to  intercept  the  projected  road  of  the  enemy.  It  appears 
that  the  veteran  legions  were  all  in  that  part  of  the  army  com- 
manded by  Brutus,  and  that  the  troops  of  Cassius  were  probably 
very  unfit  to  maintain  a  contest  with  the  disciplined  soldiers  of 
the  Triumvirs.  In  spite,  therefore,  of  all  the  efforts  of  their  gen- 
eral, they  were  easily  routed ;  their  cavalry,  instead  of  covering 

257  Appian,  109,  et  seq. 


BLUNDER  AND  DEATH  OP  CASSIUS.  427 

the  infantry,  fled  in  disorder  towards  the  sea  ;  and  the  enemy- 
pursuing  his  advantage,  not  only  carried  the  cross  wall  in  the 
marsh,  but  attacked  and  took  the  camp  of  Cassius.  The  prospect 
over  the  field  was  so  obscured,  it  is  said,  by  clouds  of  dust,  that 
the  parts  of  both  armies  which  were  victorious,  were  not  aware 
of  the  fortune  of  their  friends  in  the  other  wing  ;  and  when  they 
were  informed  of  it,  botli  Brutus  and  Antonius  returned  to  their 
own  respective  camps,  and  both  parties,  on  the  following  morning, 
remained  in  the  same  position  which  they  had  occupied  before 
the  action.  But  the  hasty  despair  of  Cassius  gave  to  a  battle, 
which  was  otherwise  a  doubtful  success,  all  the  appearances,  and 
some  of  the  consequences,  of  a  total  defeat  of  the  constitutional 
army.  When  he  saw  his  own  legions  routed,"^  he  supposed  that  all 
was  lost,  and  could  scarcely  be  prevailed  on  to  despatch  an  officer 
to  the  other  part  of  the  field  to  learn  what  was  the  fate  of  Brutujs. 
The  officer,  however,  was  sent,  and  Cassius,  it  is  said,  attended 
by  one  of  his  freed  men,  watched  his  progress  for  a  time  from  a  hill 
on  which  he  had  taken  refuge.  He  soon  saw  him  met  by  a  party 
of  cavalry  ;  then  he  heard  a  loud  shout  of  triumph,  and  presently 
observed  that  the  cavalry  continued  to  advance  towards  the  spot 
where  he  was,  and  that  his  officer  was  forming  one  of  their  com- 
pany. Concluding  from  this  that  the  horsemen  belonged  to  the 
enemy,  that  his  officer  was  their  prisoner,  or  was,  perhaps,  now 
guiding  them  to  the  place  where  they  might  find  his  general, 
Cassius  conjured  his  freedman  to  save  him  from  falling  into  their 
hands,  and  instantly  to  kill  him.  The  freedman  obeyed,  and 
fled  ;  and  presently  after,  the  officer  arrived  on  the 
hill,  followed  by  the  horsemen  whom  Brutus  had  ^^  °  '"^""' 
sent  to  announce  his  success  to  his  colleague,  and  who,  on  meet- 
ing the  messenger  despatched  by  Cassius,  had  shouted  aloud  to  an- 
nounce their  victory,  and  turned  him  back  with  them,  to  acquaint 
his  general  with  the  happy  tidings.  It  is  added,  that  when  he 
saw  the  body  of  Cassius  lying  on  the  ground,  he  immediately 
stabbed  himself,  and  fell  dead  beside  it. 

The  body  of  the  deceased  general  was  sent  by  Brutus  to  be 
buried  privately  at  Thasos,  lest  the  performance  of  the  funeral 
solemnities  in  sight  of  the  army  should  communicate  some  dis- 
couragement to  the  soldiers.  Brutus  himself  resolved  still,  as  be- 
fore, to  act  on  the  defensive,*^^^  and  hoped  that  the  enemy  would 
soon  be  obliged  to  retreat  from  want  of  provisions.  But  a  system 
which  even  Pompey  could  not  steadily  persevere  in,  was  found 
much  more  impracticable  now.  The  soldiers,  and  even  the  su- 
perior officers,  grew  impatient  of  the  taunts  which  the  enemy 
continually  threw  out  against  them  ;  while  the  enemy  were  more 

258  Plutarch,   in   Bruto,  43.      Appian,        359  Dion    Cassius,    XLVII.   354,  355. 
113.     Dion  Cassius,  354.  Appian,  IV.  123,  et  seq. 


428  SECOND  ACTION  AT  PHILIPPI. 

eager  than  ever  to  fight,  as  their  situation  was  greatly  compro- 
mised by  a  heavy  disaster  recently  sustained  in  the  Ionian  Gulf. 
Since  Antonius  and  Augustus  had  effected  their  passage,  L.  Mur- 
cus  had  been  reinforced  by  a  numerous  squadron  under  the  com- 
mand of  Cn.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus,  the  son  of  that  Domitius  who 
had  been  one  of  the  most  violent  enemies  of  Cassar,  and  who  was 
himself  charged,  whether  truly  or  not,  with  having  been  one  of 
Caesar's  assassins.  With  his  fleet  thus  strengthened,  Murcus  soon 
after  fell  in  with  a  large  force  of  soldiers  which  Cn.  Domitius  Cal- 
vinus  was  carrying  over  in  transports,  escorted  only  by  a  few 
ships  of  war,  to  reinforce  the  army  of  the  Triumvirs.^*'"  The 
weather  was  now  as  favourable  to  Murcus  as  it  had  been  before 
adverse  ;  for  the  wind  suddenly  dropped,  and  the  transports  were 
left  becalmed  and  perfectly  helpless,  while  the  enemy's  ships  of 
war  could  use  their  oars  with  increased  facility  in  the  smooth 
water.  After  an  obstinate  resistance  the  whole  of  the  transports 
were  taken,  burnt,  or  dispersed ;  and  a  force  which  had  consisted 
of  two  legions,  and  a  praetorian  cohort  of  two  thousand  men,  be- 
sides a  numerous  body  of  cavalry,  was  thus  almost  entirely  de- 
stroyed. But  these  successes  could  not  decide  the  general  issue  of 
the  war.  Brutus  was  at  last  induced,  as  Pompey  had  been  before 
him,  to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  his  army  ;  for  latterly  several  de- 
sertions to  the  enemy  had  taken  place,^^^  and  he  feared  that  his 
troops,  the  best  of  which  had  formerly  served  under  Caesar,  might 
be  persuaded,  if  longer  suffered  to  remain  inactive,  to  join  the 
standard  of  the  friend  and  adopted  son  of  their  old  general.  Ac- 
cordingly he  drew  out  his  legions  in  order  of  battle,  and  was 
cheerfully  met  by  the  enemy,  who  already  began  to  suffer  serious 
inconvenience  from  want  of  provisions.  The  battle  of  Philippi 
Second  battle  of  was  marked,  according  to  our  accounts,  by  no  dis- 
phiiippi.  p}^y  Qf  generalship  on  either  side  ;  but  after  some 

hours  of  close  combat,  the  superior  discipline  of  the  Triumvirs' 
army  prevailed,  and  the  soldiers  of  Brutus  first  began  slowly  to 
give  ground,  and  then  were  totally  routed.  Brutus  himself,^" 
being  cut  off  from  his  camp,  fled  to  a  small  glen  or  deep  dell,  at 
no  great  distance  from  the  field  of  battle,  through  which  a  stream 
flowed  between  deep  banks,  occasionally  covered  with  wood,  and 
sometimes  consisting  of  bare  clifts.  He  was  accompanied  by 
several  of  his  friends,  and  amongst  the  rest  by  P.  Volumnius,who 
from  his  love  of  literature  had  long  lived  on  terms  of  familiarity 
with  Brutus,  and  whose  account  of  the  close  of  his  friend's  life 
Plutarch  appears  to  have  followed  as  his  principal  authority.  We 
may  venture  then  to  give  the  following  particulars,  as  resting  on 
the  testimony  of  one  who  was  present  at  the  scene  which  he  de- 
scribes. 

2«o  Appian,  115.  2«2  Plutarch,  in  Bruto,  51,  et  seq. 

26'  Dion  Cassius,  XLVII.  355. 


SECOND  ACTION  AT  PHILIPPI.  439 

It  was  already  dark  when  Brutus  seated  himself  on  a  large 
piece  of  rock  in  the  narrow  valley,  and  looking  up  to  the  sky, 
which  was  bright  with  stars,  he  repeated  two  lines  from  Greek 
poets,  one  of  which,  from  the  Medea  of  Euripides,  Volumnius  still 
remembered  when  he  wrote  his  narrative,  and  has  recorded  it. 
It  was  an  imprecation,  "  that  Jove  would  not  forget  to  punish  the 
author  of  all  this  misery.'"**  He  was  full  of  the  thought  of  the 
many  friends  who  had  already  fallen  in  the  battle  ;  and  he  par- 
ticularly lamented  the  loss  of  Labeo,  who  had  been  one  of  his 
lieutenants,  and  of  C.  Flavins,  his  master  of  the  works,  who  had 
been  long  one  of  his  intimate  friends.*"  Shortly  afterwards  he 
began  to  express  his  hopes  that  the  number  of  his  soldiers  who 
had  fallen  could  not  be  great,  upon  which  Statyllius,  one  of  his 
companions,  engaged  to  make  his  way  to  the  camp,  to  send  up  a 
fire  signal  from  thence,  if  he  found  it  still  in  the  possession  of 
their  own  troops,  and  then  to  return  to  Brutus.  He  went  accord- 
ingly, and  after  a  certain  interval  the  fire  signal  was  observed  to 
be  made ;  but  Statyllius  did  not  return,  so  that  Brutus  rightly 
conjectured  that  he  had  fallen  in  with  some  of  the  enemy  on  his 
way  back,  and  had  perished  by  their  hands.  This  circumstance 
showed  that  it  would  not  be  easy  to  regain  the  camp,  or  to  rally 
any  part  of  the  army  that  might  have  taken  refuge  in  its  neigh- 
bourhood. Accordingly,  as  the  night  wore  away,  Brutus  was 
seen  to  whisper  something  successively  to  two  of  his  attendants, 
and  his  words  were  observed  to  draw  tears  from  those  to  whom 
they  were  addressed.  He  then  spoke  in  Greek  to  P.  Volumnius 
himself;  reminded  him  of  the  studies  which  they  had  shared  to- 
gether ;  and  plainly  requested  him  to  lend  him  his  assistance  in 
killing  himself.  But  Volumnius  refusing  to  comply,  and  some 
one  of  the  party  observing  that  it  would  not  be  safe  to  remain  any 
longer  where  they  were,  Brutus  arose  from  his  seat  and  said  : 
"  Yes,  indeed,  we  must  go  hence  ;  but  it  must  be  with  our  hands, 
and  not  with  our  feet."  He  then,  with  a  cheerful  countenance, 
shook  hands  successively  with  every  one  present,  and  declared  to 
them  the  happiness  it  gave  him  to  think  that  none  of  his  friends 
had  proved  false  to  him.  On  his  country's  account  he  might 
justly,  he  said,  complain  of  the  cruelty  of  fortune  ;  but  for  him- 
self, he  was  even  at  that  moment  a  happier  man  than  the  con- 
querors, inasmuch  as  he  should  leave  behind  him  a  character  for 
goodness  which  neither  their  arms  nor  their  treasures  would  ever 
procure  for  them.  In  conclusion,  he  conjured  all  his  friends  to 
provide  for  their  own  safety  ;  and  having  said  thus  much,  he  left 
them,  with  only  two  attendants,  and  retired  to  some  distance  out 
of  their  sight.     There,  according  to  the  general  report,  Strato, 

253  ZtS  ftti  \ddoi  at  rdvS  Si  airioi  KUKuf.         ^*  See  Gomel.  Nep.  in  Attico,  8. 
Med.  333, 


430  DEATH  OP  BRUTUS. 

who  was  one  of  those  who  still  remained  with  him,  and  who  had 
been  used  to  practise  declamation  with  him,  and  to  take  part  in 
his  studies  in  oratory,  yielded  at  last  to  his  repeated  requests,  and 
Death  of  Brutus.  tumiug  a  Way  his  face,  held  out  towards  him  the 
point  of  his  sword.  Brutus  having  placed  it  exactly  at  his  heart, 
threw  himself  upon  it  and  expired  immediately. 

Meantime,  whatever  was  the  numerical  loss  of  the  constitu- 
tional army,  many  citizens  of  the  noblest  names  in  Rome  liad  al- 
ready fallen.  M.  Cato,  the  son  of  M.  Cato  of  Utica,  and  L.  Lu- 
cullus,  the  son  of  the  conqueror  of  Tigranes,  are  particularly 
mentioned  f^^  while  Q,.  Hortensius,  the  son  of  the  famous  orator 
of  that  name,  M.  Favonius,  so  long  known  as  the  friend  and  imi- 
tator of  Cato,'^^^  and  M.  Varro,  who  had  been  quaestor  under 
Brutus  in  Cisalpine  Gaul,  and  a  relation  probably  of  that  M.  Varro 
who  was  reputed  the  most  learned  of  the  Romans,  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  When  these  prisoners  were  brought  be- 
fore the  Triumvirs,  they  addressed  Antonius  with  respect  as  an 
honourable  adversary,^"  but  directed  against  Augustus  the  bitter- 
est reproaches  ;  as,  in  addition  to  the  perfidy  and  cruelty  which 
he  had  before  exhibited,  he  had  been  guilty  of  some  atrocious  in- 
stances of  cold-blooded  barbarity  to  some  other  captives  who  had 
fallen  into  his  power  in  the  last  battle.  Yet  Antonius  was  not 
more  merciful  to  them  than  his  colleague,  and  Hortensius,  Varro, 
and  Favonius  were  all  put  to  death.  To  complete  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  aristocratical  party,  L.  Livius  Drusus,  the  father  of  the 
future  wife  of  Augustus,  killed  himself  in  his  tent ;  and  Q,uintilius 
Varus,  having  arrayed  himself  in  the  insignia  of  the  offices  which 
he  had  borne,  desired  one  of  his  freedmen  to  become  his  execu- 
tioner. 

The  greatest  part  of  the  constitutional  army  rallied  under  the 
Dispersion  of  the  arts-  commaud  of  M.  Mcssala  and  L.  Bibulus,  at  a  little 
locraticai  party.  dlstaucc  froui  thc  field  of  battle,  and  was  soon  join- 
ed by  several  persons  of  distinction,  who  immediately  after  the 
action  had  taken  refuge  in  the  island  of  Thasos.  Messala  was 
called  upon  to  become  the  leader  of  this  last  hope  of  the  aristo- 
cratical party  f^^  but  he  wisely  considered  all  further  resistance 
as  hopeless,  and  preferred  to  submit  himself  and  all  his  troops  to 
the  Triumvirs,  on  a  promise  of  full  indemnity  for  them  all.  The 
magazines  of  Thasos  were  then  surrendered  ;'*^  and  the  victori- 
ous generals,  being  now  in  fact  absolute  masters  of  the  empire, 
concluded  a  new  agreement  between  themselves,  in  which,  disre- 
garding Lepidus  altogether,  they  made  some  new  arrangements 
in  the  division  of  the  provinces,  and  determined  that  Antonius, 
with  the  greater  part  of  their  army,  should  proceed  into  Asia,  to 

265  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  71.  268  Vdleius  Paterculu3,  II.  71. 

Jfis  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  13.  **'  Appian,  IV.  136  ;  V.  3.     Dion  Cas- 

267  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  13.  sius,  XLVIII.  357,  358. 


AUGUSTUS  RETURNS  TO  ITALY.  431 

organize  that  country,  and  to  raise  contributions  in  order  to  enable 
him  to  fultil  the  promises  which  he  had  made  to  his  soldiers ; 
while  Augustus  should  return  to  Italy,  to  superintend  the  division 
of  lands  there,  and  to  estabhsh  the  veterans  in  the  settlements 
which  they  had  been  encouraged  to  expect.  Meantime  the  offi- 
cers of  Brutus  and  Cassius.  who  had  been  left  behind  by  them  in 
Asia,  now  lied  to  L.  Murcus  and  Cn.  Domitius,  whose  lieet  still 
remained  unsubdued.  But  the  battle  of  Philippi  produced  an 
universal  derangement  of  the  constitutional  party.  L.  Murcus,'^"" 
with  his  squadron,  joined  Sex.  Pompeius  in  Sicily,  while  Cn. 
Domitius  acted  for  a  time  as  an  independent  commander,  and 
maintained  his  seamen,  we  must  suppose,  by  forcible  contributions 
raised  upon  the  people  of  the  sea  coast,  or  by  acts  of  piracy  upon 
ships  employed  in  commerce. 

In  an  evil  hour  for  himself  did  Antonius  turn  his  back  upon 
Italy,  and  leave  the  immediate  government  of  the  Aucustu? retu.n» to 
capital  in  the  hands  of  his  associate.  Augustus,  {h'^-d,\"/jo!lonand» 
still  suffering  from  ill  health,'^''  travelled  Slowly  among  his  soWiers. 
on  his  way  towards  Rome ;  whilst  the  population  of  Italv,  who 
had  already  experienced  his  cruelty  and  rapacity,  looked  forwards 
with  horror  to  the  moment  of  his  arrival,  which  would  consign 
some  of  the  finest  districts  of  the  peninsula  to  the  occupation  of 
a  rapacious  soldiery.  How  eagerly  should  we  open  the  smallest 
volume  of  contemporary  history,  which  might  paint  to  us  from 
the  life  the  state  of  society  in  Italy,  under  the  etfects  of  this  dread- 
ful revolution !  But  not  a  single  annalist  of  these  times  has 
reached  posterity,  and  we  must  find  our  way.  as  best  we  can, 
with  no  other  guidance  than  that  of  the  weak  and  ignorant  Greeks 
of  a  later  age,  whose  testimony  we  have  so  often  found  worthless. 

It  was  not  till  the  spring  of  the  following  ^-ear  that  Augustus 
returned  to  Rome,  and  found  P.  Servilius  and  L.  l.  Antonius,  the  con- 
Antonius,  the  brother  of  the  Triinnvir,  in  posses-  nyonhe^^my.''"^' 
sion  of  the  title  of  consuls.  Antonius  had  been  tribune  three 
years  before,  and  had  then  courted  popularity  by  proposing 
divisions  of  land  on  a  very  extensive  scale  among  the  poorer  citi- 
zens of  Rome.  He  now  saw  a  division  on  the  eve  of  being  made, 
which  was  to  be  still  more  extensive,  and  which  was  to  benefit 
exclusively  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Triumvirs'  army.  So 
long  as  the  aristocratical  party  was  strong  enough  to  excite 
jealousy,  that  union  between  the  popular  party  and  some  am- 
bitious military  leaders,  which  had  iirst  been  observed  in  the  coa- 
lition between  Sulpicius  and  Marius,  had  continued  for  the  most 
part  unbroken ;  but  when  the  power  of  the  senate  was  utterly 
destroyed,  it  was  manifest  to  the  most  prejudiced  of  the  popular 
leaders,  that  the  liberties  of  Rome  were  at  least  as  endangered  by 

"0  Vellcius  Paterculus,  II.  72.  *"  Dion  Cassius,  XLVIII.  358. 


432  WAR  BETWEEN  L.  ANTONIUS  AND  AUGUSTUS. 

the  usurpation  of  the  army,  as  they  had  ever  been  by  the  oppres- 
sion of  the  rich  nobility ;  and  that  large  proportion  of  citizens 
who,  with  all  their  turbulence  and  violence,  were  yet,  in  the  main, 
sincerely  attached  to  their  country,  perceived  that  all  their  hopes 
of  a  beneficial  change  in  the  political  system  of  the  empire  were 
about  to  be  crushed  in  a  manner  that  seemed  likely  to  render  them 
for  ever  desperate.  Besides,  there  were  considerations  of  imme- 
diate personal  interest  which  aroused  the  inhabitants  of  Italy  in 
general  against  the  Triumvirs.  Their  cities  and  their  lands  were 
to  be  torn  from  them,  merely  on  the  plea  that  it  was  necessary  to 
fulfil  the  promises  made  by  the  generals  to  their  army.  If  the 
people  had  been  guilty  of  any  crime  in  supporting  the  government 
against  the  rebellion  of  M.  Antonius,  it  was  a  crime  in  which 
Augustus  himself  had  shared  ;  and  again,  since  the  formation  of 
the  Triumvirate,  Italy  had  suffered  much  from  the  proscription 
on  the  one  hand,  and  from  the  loss  of  its  ordinary  supplies  of 
foreign  corn  on  the  other,  but  had  submitted  to  all  its  calamities 
without  resistance.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  contest  which 
took  place,  nominally  between  Augustus  and  L.  Antonius,  may  be 
looked  upon  in  reality  as  a  struggle  between  the  people  of  Italy 
and  the  army  ;  as  the  last  effort  made  in  defence  of  liberty  and 
property  against  a  military  despotism.  It  is  said,  that  L.  Anto- 
nius and  his  sister-in-law,  Fulvia,  who  was  the  partner  of  all  his 
measures,  at  first  quarrelled  with  Augustus,  because  they  wished 
to  have  their  share  in  the  proposed  distribution  of  lands  to  the 
soldiery  ;'^''*  and,  also,  that  the  promised  rewards  should  be  given 
in  the  name  of  M.  Antonius  as  well  as  in  that  of  Augustus.  But 
the  general  clamours  which  prevailed  throughout  Italy  against 
the  spoliation  of  property,  induced  L.  Antonius  to  espouse  a  no- 
bler cause  and  to  oppose  altogether  the  pretensions  of  the  army. 
In  Rome  itself,^''^  and  in  all  the  principal  towns  of  the  peninsula, 
there  were  frequent  and  bloody  engagements  between  the  soldiers 
and  citizens,  which  were  attended  with  the  destruction  of  a  great 
number  of  houses ;  and  as  the  pressure  of  scarcity  began  to  be 
severely  felt  from  the  total  cessation  of  all  supplies  from  Sicily, 
robberies  and  disorders  of  every  kind  became  common,  till  at  last 
the  shops  in  Rome  were  shut  up,  and  the  ordinary  magistrates  of 
the  city,  utterly  unable  to  preserve  tranquillity,  gave  up  their 
offices,  we  are  told,  to  pacify  the  people,  who  were  indignant  at 
seeing  the  semblance  of  government  retained,  when  it  had  lost 
all  its  power  of  affording  protection. 

D.  Antonius  now  openly  professed  his  opposition  to  the  illegal 
War  between  L.  An-  powcr  of  thc  triumviratc,*'*  as  well  as  the  spolia- 
tonius  and  Augustus,   tjoj^  Qf  [\^q  cltics  Aud  lauds  of  Italy.     His  brothci, 

"«  Dion  Cassius,  XLVIII.  359.     Ap-        *"  Dion  Cassius,  XLVIII.  362.     Ap- 
pian,  V.  14.  pian,  V.  18. 

"*  Livy,  Epit.  CXXV.    Appian,  V.  30. 


L.  ANTONIUS  SURRENDERS  AT  PERUSIA.  433 

he  said,  was  willing  to  resign  the  title  of  Triumvirj  to  see  the  law- 
ful authority  of  the  consulship  restored,  and  to  receive  himself,  in 
his  election  to  that  office,  the  reward  of  the  sacrifice  which  he 
should  make  to  his  country's  good.  All  ranks  of  people  joined  the 
standard  of  opposition  to  the  Triumvirate  with  equal  eagerness  f^ 
the  nobility  and  the  commons,  the  patricians  and  equestrian  order 
at  Rome,  as  well  as  the  inhabitants  of  all  the  cities  of  Italy,  took 
up  arms^ against  Augustus,  and  the  system  of  military  tyranny  of 
which  he  was  the  leader.  He  himself,  leagued  with  his  soldiers 
to  support  their  mutual  oppressions,  was  obliged  to  tolerate  many 
acts  of  violence  and  disrespect  to  himself,^^^  which  his  army, 
knowing  their  power,  unscrupulously  committed  ;  and  in  order  to 
attach  them  to  his  service,  he  plundered  even  the  temples,  where- 
ever  they  were  in  his  power,^'''  and  thus  added  still  more  to  the 
odiousness  of  his  cause.  But  on  the  other  hand,  in  proportion  as 
L.  Antonius  became  more  evidently  the  head  of  a  party  truly  na- 
tional, so  the  feeling  of  the  army  in  every  part  of  the  empire  was 
more  interested  to  assist  Augustus.  Asiuius  Pollio  and  P.  Ven- 
tidius,"^  who  were  both  warmly  attached  to  M,  Antonius,  and 
who  commanded  such  a  force  in  Cisalpine  Gaul  as  would  have 
enabled  them  readily  to  turn  the  scale  in  favour  of  his  brother, 
hesitated  when  he  saw  that  his  success  was  likely  to  put  a  stop 
universally  to  the  overgrown  greatness  of  the  army  ;  and  although 
they  did  not  actually  take  part  against  him,  yet  they  allowed  Au- 
gustus and  his  lieutenants  to  shut  him  up  in  Perusia,  without 
making  any  effort  in  his  favour,  when  he  advanced  towards  the 
frontiers  of  Cisalpine  Gaul,  relying  on  their  co-operatien.  Aban- 
doned thus  to  himself,  and  left  to  struggle  against  a  veteran  army, 
with  only  the  feeble  support  of  an  undisciplined  and  unwarlike 
population,  L.  Antonius  could  only  defend  himself  l.  Antonius  is  obliged 

i     ^-r»  •       .^^1     .1  •    •  /•  I   •  •  to  surrender  at  Peru- 

Ill  Perusia  till  the  provisions  01  his  garrison  were  sia. 

exhausted,  and  he  was  then  obliged  to  submit  to  his  adversary. 
He  was  himself  dismissed  in  perfect  safety,  for  it  was  not  politic 
to  exasperate  M.  Antonius  at  such  a  juncture  by  the  execution  of 
his  brother  ;  his  soldiers  also  were  pardoned,  at  the  intercession  of 
their  comrades  m  the  service  of  Augustus  ;  but  neither  L.  Anto- 
nius nor  his  troops  were  the  chief  objects  of  the  conqueror's  jeal- 
ousy and  hatred  ;  and  the  true  nature  of  the  contest  was  shown 
by  the  choice  of  the  victims  who  were  marked  out  for  destruction 
at  the  close  of  it.  There  were  captured  at  Perusia  a  great  num- 
ber of  Roman  citizens  of  distinction,"'  who  had  taken  up  arms 
for  the  restoration  of  their  liberties  and  laws  ;  these  Augustus  put 
to  death  without  remorse,  and  on  this  occasion  dis- 

,  1  -.1  .,  ,  /.,.  ,  Cruelties  of  Augustus. 

played  again  the  same  vile  and  unfeeling  nature 

*«  Appian,  V.  27.  29.  31.  "«  Appian,  V.  32. 

•'B  Appian.  V.  15,  16.  *'»  Appian,  V.  48.     Suetonius,  in  Au- 

277  Dion  Cassius,  XL VIII.  364.  gusto,  15.     Dion  Cassius,  XLVII.  365. 


434    PROSPECTS  OF  SEPARATION  OP  M.  ANTONIUS  AND  AUGUSTUS. 

which  he  had  shown  in  the  whole  course  of  his  public  life. 
Though  he  was  only  three  and  twenty  years  of  age,  he  heard  the 
prayers  and  excuses  of  his  victims  without  the  least  emotion, 
answering  every  suppliant  by  a  repetition  of  the  words,  "  You 
must  die  ;"  and  to  show  that  he  considered  his  triumph  as  gained, 
not  so  much  over  L.  Antonius  as  over  the  liberty  of  his  country, 
he  selected  three  hundred  persons  from  among  his  prisoners,  some 
of  the  rank  of  senators,  and  others  of  the  equestrian  ordej:,  and  or- 
dered them  all  to  be  butchered  on  the  ides  of  March,  at  an  altar 
erected  in  honour  of  his  uncle,  Caesar.  To  the  citizens  of  Perusia 
he  acted  with  equal  cruelty  ;  for  they,  in  common  with  the  people 
of  the  other  Italian  cities,  had  zealously  entered  into  the  war  to 
save  their  property  from  military  violence.  He  put  to  death  all 
the  magistrates  of  the  town,  and  gave  up  the  city  to  be  plundered  ; 
and  in  the  confusion  thus  occasioned,  it  was  set  on  fire,  and  burnt 
to  the  ground. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  siege  of  Perusia,  P.  Ventidius  and 
Appearances  of  a  thc  othcr  officcrs  who  commauded  the  forces  be- 
M^  Amonhirind  longing  to  M.  Antonius  in  Cisalpine  Gaul,  made  a 
thi ''o'p°prlssfon"of  sliow  of  marchlug  to  the  relief  of  their  general's 
army^  us  an  e  bj-Qther ;  but  their  efforts  were  hardly  more  than 
nominal,  and  plainly  showed  that  they  did  not  enter  sincerely 
into  the  quarrel.  Yet  the  union  between  L.  Antonius  and  the 
friends  of  the  old  constitution,  seems  to  have  brought  about  a  tem- 
porary coalition  between  the  remnants  of  the  aristocratical  party 
and  the  officers  of  M.  Antonius  himself;  and  thus  Cn.  Domitius, 
who  still  commanded  in  his  own  name  a  portion  of  the  fleet  which 
had  belonged  to  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  was  cruizing  with  it  in 
the  Adriatic  to  intercept  the  communications  between  Italy  and 
the  opposite  coasts  of  tllyricum  and  Epirus,  was  now  induced  by 
Asinius  Pollio,'^^''  to  submit  himself  to  the  command  of  Antonius, 
on  the  assurance,  probably,  that  Antonius  was  disposed  to  join 
with  his  brother  in  restoring  the  lawful  government  of  the  com- 
monwealth. And  in  the  same  spirit,  when  Julia,*^"  the  mother  of 
Antonius  fled  from  Italy,  after  the  success  of  Augustus  at  Perusia, 
she  was  received  by  Sex.  Pompeius  in  Sicily,  and  treated  by  him 
with  every  possible  attention  and  kindness.  Amidst  all  the  cruel- 
ties and  profligacies  of  Antonius's  life,  some  traits  of  generosity 
were  recorded,  which  might  lead  men  to  believe,  that  he  acted 
rather  from  personal  resentment  than  from  a  deliberate  design  to 
enslave  his  country.  Anecdotes  in  particular  were  told  of  his  be- 
haviour after  the  battle  of  Philippi,'^^'^  which  contrasted  strongly 
with  the  mean  and  merciless  cruelty  of  Augustus  on  the  same  oc- 
casion.   It  might  not  be  impossible  that  the  affronts  offered  to  so 

»o  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  76.  "'  Valerius  Maximus,  V.  1.     Plutarch, 

">  Dion  Cassias,  XLVIII.  366.  in  Bruto,  50. 


TOTAL  OVERTHROW  OF  THE  NATIONAL  CAUSE  IN  ITALY.      435 

many  of  his  near  relations  by  his  ambitious  associate,  that  the  ex- 
ample of  his  brother,  and  some  sense  of  the  innumerable  miseries 
under  which  Rome  and  Italy  were  groaning,  might  at  last  awaken 
the  better  feelings  of  his  nature,  and  urge  him  to  atone,  as  far  as 
possible,  for  the  guilt  of  the  proscription,  by  becoming  now  the 
restorer  of  his  country's  liberty. 

Meantime  the  war  in  Italy  was  brought  rapidly  to  an  end  after 
the  fall  of  Perusia.     An  armed  force  had  taken  the     Total  overthrow  of 

/^    ij      •         /-N,  •      no,     •„     J    r  r    xi  the  national  cause  in 

field  m  Campama,^^'  in  deience  01  the  common  itaiy. 
cause  of  liberty  and  property,  under  the  command  of  Tib.  Claudius 
Nero,  a  man  of  the  highest  nobility.  Ten  years  before  this  time 
he  had  been  much  valued  as  a  young  man  by  Cicero,  and  had 
nearly  become  his  son-in-law  j'^^*  he  had  afterwards  served  under 
Csesar  in  Egypt,  and  had  been  by  him  created  one  of  the  ponti- 
fices  f^^  yet,  after  Csesar's  death,  he  had  supported  the  party  of  the 
aristocracy,  though  without  taking  a  prominent  share  in  the  events 
of  that  period.  He  now,  after  the  surrender  of  L.  Antonius,  en- 
deavoured to  raise  the  slaves  in  Campania  to  swell  his  forces ;  but 
failing  in  this  attempt,  he  was  obliged  to  fly  to  Sicily,  accompa- 
nied by  his  wife,  and  by  his  son,  a  child  of  about  two  years  of  age. 
His  wife  was  Livia  Drusilla,  who  was  shortly  afterwards  married 
to  Augustus  ;  and  his  son  was  that  Tiberius  who  in  little  more 
than  fifty  years  from  this  period  became  the  sovereign  of  the  Ro- 
man empire. 

Such  was  the  termination  of  this  brief  contest,  which  con- 
signed the  people  of  Rome  and  of  Italy  to  many  centuries  of  help- 
less weakness.  In  this,  more  than  in  any  other  of  the  civil  dis- 
sensions of  the  Romans,  it  was  a  direct  struggle  between  the 
army  and  the  nation ;  and  the  triumph  of  the  army,  in  which  it 
ended,  was  a  much  more  serious  evil  to  the  state,  than  the  victo- 
ries and  usurpations  of  any  political  party,  or  even  than  the  ty- 
ranny of  Caesar  himself.  It  committed  henceforward  the  whole 
power  of  the  empire  to  a  mercenary  standing  army ;  and  reduced 
all  the  other  classes  of  society  to  that  state  of  conscious  insignifi- 
cance in  the  government  of  their  country,  which  most  surely  leads 
to  the  degradation  of  national  and  individual  character.  Litera- 
ture may  flourish  under  such  circumstances,  and  the  physical 
comforts  of  mankind  may  suffer  at  times  little  diminution  ;  but 
the  soul  of  civilized  society,  the  power  and  the  will  to  take  part 
in  the  administration  of  the  great  system  of  national  government, 
to  watch  over  and  assist  in  the  execution  of  the  existing  laws, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  observe  their  deficiencies,  and  propose 
their  remedies  ;  the  spirit  of  real  liberty  which  distinguishes  the 
citizen  from  the  mere  subject — this  is  totally  destroyed ;  and  car- 

»83  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  75.  ««  Auctor  de  Bello  Alexand.  25. 

***  Cicero,  ad  Atticum,  VI.  epist.  VI. 


436  RETURN  OP  ANTONIUS  TO  ITALY. 

ries  away  with  it  that  practical  vigour  of  mind  which,  when  dif- 
fused amidst  the  mass  of  the  people,  under  the  guidance  of  sound 
principles,  is  the  greatest  earthly  blessing  of  which  mankind  are 
susceptible.  The  siege  of  Perusia,  then,  may  be  regarded  as  an 
event  far  more  really  disastrous  to  liberty  than  the  battle  of 
Philippi. 

After  the  victory  of  Augustus,  the  proposed  distribution  of 
Fate  of  the  expelled  lauds  anioug  the  soldicrs  was  probably  carried  into 

possessors  of  lands  in    ^g.^^^  .^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^  j^^j^^       rpj^^  OCCUpicrS    of  CS- 

tates  or  of  farms,  thus  driven  from  their  homes,  sought,  for  the 
most  part,  we  are  told,  an  asylum  in  Sicily  with  Sex.  Pompeius.^^^ 
But  great  numbers  wandered,  it  is  probable,  into  the  adjacent 
provinces,^^''  and  there  found  settlements,  we  may  conjecture, 
where  their  agricultural  experience  and  industrious  habits  would 
make  them  valuable  inhabitants.  In  this  manner  good  may 
have  arisen  out  of  evil ;  and  the  civilization  of  Gaul  and  Spain, 
and  that  general  dissemination  of  the  Latin  language  which  took 
place  at  so  early  a  period  in  those  countries,  may  have  been  ac- 
celerated by  the  desolation  of  Italy.  There  were  others  of  the 
expelled  Italians  who  repaired,  it  is  likely,  to  Rome,  and  helped 
to  increase  the  immense  population  of  the  capital ;  for  the  inhab- 
itants of  Rome  were  too  important  to  be  neglected  ;  and  care  was 
taken  by  the  government  to  provide  for  their  maintenance,  and 
even  for  their  enjoyments,  while  the  country  of  Italy  was  suffered 
to  remain  in  a  state  of  misery.  Bnt  at  the  actual  moment  of 
which  we  are  now  speaking,  Rome  herself  was  sharing  in  the 
common  distress ;  for  the  fleets  of  Sex.  Pompeius  still  blockaded 
all  the  ports,  and  intercepted  the  supplies  on  which  her  subsist- 
ence depended. 

Meantime  M.  Antonius  had  been  recalled  from  Asia  by  the 
Return  of  Antonius  tldlugs  of  hostilitles  lu  Italy,  and  it  is  said  was 
^^^^y-  induced  actually  to  form  an  alliance  with  Sex.  Pom- 

peius, in  his  dread  of  the  ambition  and  ascendency  of  Augustus. 
On  his  arrival  off  Brundusium  he  found  the  gates  of  that  city  shut 
against  him,  and  he  accordingly  laid  siege  to  it  f^^  while  his 
alliance  with  Sex.  Pompeius,  and  the  accession  of  force  which  he 
had  lately  gained  through  the  submission  of  Cn.  Domitius,  gave 
him  the  undisputed  dominion  of  the  sea.  But  we  hear  nothing 
of  his  entering  into  the  views  of  his  brother  Lucius  ;  and  his 
quarrel  with  Augustus  now  seems  to  have  been  of  the  same  kind 

'**  Appian,  V.  53.  climate,  and  a  less  civilized  country,  which 

^''  The    Mantuan     farmer   in     Virgil,  was  in  reality,  we  may  suppose,  the  lot  of 

speaks  of  his  countrymen  flying  to  Africa,  many  of  the  poet's  neighbours  and  friends. 

to   Scythia,  and  to  Britain;  but  these  are         ^^  Dion  Cassius,   XLVIII.  373.     Ap- 

only  hyperbolical   expressions  to    denote  pian,  V.  56. 

that  species  of  exile  in  a  less  favourable 


PEACE  BETWEEN  POMPEIUS  AND  THE  TRIUMVIRS.  437 

with  his  final  contest  with  him  a  few  years  later,  a  mere  struggle 
for  dominion  between  two  military  leaders,  in  which  the  nation 
had  no  other  interest  than  as  far  as  it  would  decide  which  should 
be  sovereign.  On  the  present  occasion,  however,  the  veteran  sol- 
diers were  strongly  averse  to  a  war  between  Csesar's  oldest  asso- 
ciate and  his  nephew,  which  would  tend,  perhaps,  to  raise  a  son 
of  Pompey  on  the  ruins  of  their  common  cause.  Accordingly  the 
mutual  friends  of  the  two  generals  endeavoured  to  bring  about  a 
reconciliation ;  and  C.  Mecaenas  was  despatched  by  Augustus  to 
Brundusiutn,^^^  together  with  L.  Cocceius,  a  common  friend  to 
both  parties,  to  settle  all  their  differences.  The  death  of  Fulvia,^^" 
the  wife  of  Antonius,  which  happened  about  this  Peace  of  Brundusium. 
time,  removed,  it  is  said,  one  obstacle  to  peace,  and  uc. 713. 
suggested  the  plan  of  cementing  the  union  of  the  Triumvirs  by 
the  marriage  of  Antonius  with  Octavia,  the  sister  of  Augustus. 
In  other  points  it  was  agreed,  that  all  the  provinces  eastward  of 
the  Ionian  Gulf,*^*'  should  be  held  by  Antonius,  and  those  to  the 
westward  of  the  same  boundary  by  Augustus  ;  that  both  the  Tri- 
umvirs might  equally  raise  recruits  for  their  armies  in  Italy  ;  that 
Lepidus  should  be  left  in  possession  of  Africa  ;  and  that  Antonius 
should  aftbrd  no  protection  to  Sex.  Pompeius  against  Augustus. 

The  peace  of  Brundusium  was  celebrated  by  both  the  Trium- 
virs with  the  ceremony  of  the  smaller  triumph  or  ovation  ]^^^  and 
the  marriage  which  had  been  agreed  on  between  Antonius  and 
Octavia  was  soon  after  concluded.  The  people  of  Rome,'^'^ 
meanwhile,  finding  their  usual  supplies  of  provisions  still  inter- 
cepted by  the  fleets  of  Sex.  Pompeius,  were  clamorous  against 
the  Triumvirs  for  not  relieving  them  from  this  evil ;  and  Anto- 
nius, probably  ashamed  of  having  deserted  Pompeius,  was  desi- 
rous of  including  him  in  the  general  peace.  Accordingly,  after 
some  preparatory  correspondence,  the  Triumvirs  and  Pompeius 
met  at  Misenum,-^*  on  the  coast  of  Campania,  and  there  con- 
cluded a  treaty,  by  which  Pompeius  was  to  hold  pg^^^  between  the 
the  islands  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Corsica,  and  the  {i:;'™;';';^^.''"'*  ^^''• 
province  of  Achaia,  for  the  same  period  as  the  Tri-  ^  ^-  '"■ 
umvirs  should  retain  the  command  of  the  other  provinces  of  the 
empire.  It  was  agreed,  besides,  that  he  should  be  allowed  to 
hold  the  office  of  consul  without  appearing  personally  at  Rome  ; 
that  he  should  be  appointed  a  member  of  the  college  of  augurs  ; 
and  that  the  sum  of  about  565,104^.  should  be  given  to  him  as  a 

*»  Horace,  Sat.  I.  5.     Appian,V.  64.  ^^  Dion  Cassius,   XLVIII.   375,  376. 

29«  Dion  Cassius.  XLVIII.  374.     Flu-  Veileius  Paterculus,  K.  77. 

tarch,  in  Antonio,  30.  ^^*  Veileius   Paterculus,  II.  77.      Dion 

'9'  Dion  Cassius,  XLVIII.  374.     Ap-  Cassius,  XLVIII.  378.     Plutarch,  in  An- 

pian,  65.     Plutarch,  in  Antonio,  30.  tonio,  32.     Appian,  V.  72. 

*"  Fasti  Capitolini,  apud  Sigonium. 


438  RETURN  OF  THE  PUBLIC  QUIET. 

compensation  for  his  father's  property  Avhich  had  been  confis- 
cated. Pompeius,  on  his  part,  was  to  withdraw  his  garrisons 
from  all  the  ports  which  he  occupied  on  the  coasts  of  Italy  ;  he 
was  not  to  add  to  the  actual  number  of  his  ships,  nor  receive  any 
deserters  from  the  service  of  the  Triumvirs  ;  and  he  was  to  allow 
the  usual  tribute  of  corn  to  be  sent  from  his  provinces  to  Rome. 
But  the  stipulation  which  reflected  most  honour  on  Pompeius, 
was  that  in  which  it  was  agreed  that  all  persons  who  had  fled 
from  Italy  during  the  proscription,  should  be  allowed  to  return  in 
perfect  safety,  and  should  recover  a  fourth  part  of  their  forfeited 
property  ;  that  all  others,  who  had  any  reason  to  dread  the  re- 
sentment of  the  Triumvirs,  should  enjoy  a  general  amnesty  ;  and 
those  whose  property  had  been  confiscated  should  receive  back 
its  full  value.  The  assassins  of  Caesar  were  alone  exempted ; 
but  most  of  these  probably  had  already  perished,  and  Cn.  Do- 
mitius,  who  had  at  least  the  reputation  of  belonging  to  their 
number,  was  not  only  freed  from  all  personal  danger  by  his 
previous  submission  to  Antonius,  but  a  few  years  afterwards 
was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  consul.  In  this  manner  Sex.  Pom- 
peius earned  the  real  glory  of  putting  an  end  to  the  worst  part  of 
the  miseries  of  the  civil  wars,  and  of  closing  that  long  course  of 
banishments  and  forfeitures  by  which  the  late  revolution  had  been 
accompanied.  In  the  succeeding  contests,  the  leaders  of  parties, 
with  a  few  of  their  principal  officers,  were  all  who  suffered  on 
the  vanquished  side  ;  proscription  lists  were  no  more  needed,  and 
the  old  constitution  having  been  already  effectually  destroyed, 
there  was  no  renewal  of  those  scenes  of  general  devastation 
which  had  marked  the  convulsions  of  its  overthrow.  Society 
began  to  settle  in  its  new  form,  and  to  taste  that  tranquillity 
which,  during  the  later  years  of  the  life  of  Augustus,  was  en- 
joyed so  universally. 

We  shall  make  no  apology  for  passing  briefly  over  the  events  of 
the  eight  following  years  which  intervened  between  tbe  peace 
concluded  with  Sex.  Pompeius,  and  the  final  contest  between 
Augustus  and  Antonius,  When  we  can  copy  the  narrative  of  a 
good  contemporary  historian,  the  most  ordinary  times  deserve 
attention  ;  but  when  we  can  only  follow  the  compilations  of 
writers  of  a  distant  age,  from  whom  it  is  vain  to  expect  a  faithful 
picture  of  the  physical  condition  of  mankind,  or  of  their  opinions, 
feelings,  and  morals,  during  the  period  under  review,  there  are 
many  wars  and  intrigues  which  may  be  safely  dismissed  with 
only  a  bare  outline  of  their  origin  and  issue.  Such,  for  instance, 
are  the  campaigns  of  P.  Ventidius  and  of  Antonius  himself 
against  the  Parthians  ;  the  last  war  between  Augustus  and  Sex. 
Pompeius,  and  the  deposition  of  Lepidus  from  that  scanty  share 
of  dominion  which  he  had  till  then  been  suflfered  to  retain. 


WAR  IN  THE  EASTERN  PROVINCES.  439 

Before  the  battle  of  Philippi,  Bmtus  and  Cassius  had  de- 
spatched au  oiRcer  to  the  Parthian  court^®^  to  soU-  ^^^  -^  ^^^  eastern 
cit  the  assistance  of  that  power.  The  officer  em-  tEs'overruT,''sy*'rfa," 
ployed  on  this  mission  was  a  son  of  T.  Labienus,  cuicia,  and  Asia. 
of  that  general  who  alone  in  Caesar's  army  had  remembered  his 
duty  to  his  country,  and  had  left  the  standard  under  which  he 
had  gained  so  many  laurels,  as  soon  as  it  became  dishonoured  by 
the  guilt  of  rebellion.  His  son,  the  younger  Labienus,  found  the 
Parthian  court  unwilling  to  give  him  a  decisive  answer,  and  in 
this  manner  the  time  passed  away,  till  Brutus  and  Cassius  had 
perished,  and  the  aristocratical  party  was  utterly  ruined.  Labi- 
enus, foreseeing  that  his  return  to  his  own  country  was  now 
hopeless,  continued  to  remain  in  Parthia ;  and  when  it  was 
known  that  M.  Antonius  had  abandoned  all  public  business  for 
the  society  of  Cleopatra  in  Egypt,  and  that  Augustus  was  en- 
grossed in  Italy  with  the  struggle  between  the  army  and  the  peo- 
ple, Labienus  prevailed  on  the  Parthian  king  to  seize  the  favour- 
able moment  and  attack  the  Roman  empire.  A  large  Parthian 
army  was  intrusted  to  his  guidance,  and  with  this  he  suddenly 
invaded  Syria.  Many  of  the  Roman  troops  in  that  province  had 
served  under  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  had  passed  under  the 
standard  of  Antonius  after  the  battle  of  Philippi ;  and  these  now 
immediately  joined  Labienus.  Thus  strengthened,  he  was  en- 
abled to  give  battle  to  Decidius  Saxa,  whom  Antonius  had  made 
his  lieutenant  in  Syria,  and  totally  defeated  him.  The  conquest 
of  all  Syria  and  Palestine,  with  the  exception  of  the  single  city 
of  Tyre,  was  the  result  of  this  victory;  after  which,  Pacorus,  the 
son  of  the  Parthian  king,  remained  in  the  conquered  provinces 
with  a  part  of  the  army,  while  Labienus,  with  the  other  part, 
advanced  into  Cilicia.  There  was  no  force  capable  of  resisting 
him,  so  that  he  not  only  occupied  the  whole  of  Cilicia,  but  attack- 
ed the  province  of  Asia,  obliged  L.  Plancus,  the  governor  of  the 
province,  to  retire  to  one  of  the  islands  of  the  ^Egean,  and  made 
himself  master  of  all  the  cities  on  the  continent,  except  Stratoni- 
cea,  which  he  besieged  for  a  long  time  in  vain.  Yet  the  contest 
between  Augustus  and  L,  Antonius  in  Italy  seemed  of  more 
urgent  importance  to  M.  Antonius  than  even  the  recovery  of  the 
eastern  provinces ;  and  accordingly,  as  we  have  seen,  he  hasten- 
ed to  return  to  Italy,  and  Labienus  was  left  in  the  undisturbed 
possession  of  his  conquests  till  after  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty 
between  the  Triumvirs  and  Sex.  Pompeius,  in  the  year  714. 

Immediately  after  that  treaty,^^^  Antonius  crossed  over  into 
Greece,  and  despatched  P.  Ventidius  before  him  They  are  driven  out 
into  Asia,  to  attack  Labienus.     The  fortune  of  that  byp.venudm".""*'*'^ 

»»  Dion  Ca83ius,  XL VIII.  371,  et  seq.         ^«  Di«n  Cassius,  XLVIII.  380.     Plu- 
Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  78.     Livy,  Epito-     tarch,  in  Antonio,  33. 
me,  GXXVII. 

29 


440  RENEWAL  OP  THE  WAR  BETWEEN 

officer  was  as  rapid  in  its  ebb  as  it  had  been  in  its  flood  ;  he  was 
surprised  and  driven  out  of  the  province  of  Asia  almost  without 
resistance  ;  then,  having  hahed  on  the  frontiers  of  CiHcia,  and 
being  reinforced  by  the  Parthians,  he  was  attacked  by  Yentidius^ 
and  his  army  defeated  and  dispersed.  He  himself  fled  in  dis- 
guise, but  was  discovered  soon  after,  and,  as  it  seems,  put  to 
death. ^^^  Cilicia  was  thus  recovered,  and  a  second  victory  over 
the  Parthians  in  Syria  put  the  Romans  again  in  possession  of  all 
their  former  dominions,  except  the  town  of  Aradus,  which  being 
exceedingly  strong  in  its  natural  situation,  was  long  and  obsti- 
nately defended. '^^^  It  was  in  the  following  year,  while  Anto- 
nius  was  still  lingering  in  Greece,  that  Pacorus,  the  son  of  the 
Parthian  king,  made  a  second  attempt  to  reconquer  Syria,  and 
was  defeated  and  slain  by  Ventidius  in  a  battle  which  the  Ro- 
mans dwelt  on  with  peculiar  delight  as  a  retaliation  for  the  de- 
feat and  death  of  Crassus. 

Augustus,  probably,  was  by  this  time  well  aware  of  the  little 
Renewal  of  the  wat  daugcr  he  had  to  apprehend  from  the  character  of 
an'cTsex"  ponfpeiu8^  Autouius  J  and  he  commenced,  accordingly,  his 
attacks  upon  Sex.  Pompeius,  in  order  to  make  himself  sole  sove- 
reign of  the  western  provinces,  in  a  spirit  of  undisguised  ambition, 
which  a  more  observant  and  active  rival  would  have  repressed 
by  a  timely  resistance.  He  at  this  time  received  into  his  service 
a  man  of  the  name  of  Menas,'^^*  one  of  the  ablest  officers  of  Sex, 
Pompeius,  who  being  an  enfranchised  slave  and  a  mere  soldier 
of  fortune,  was  tempted  easily  to  follow  a  master  so  much  more 
powerful  than  his  old  one.  Menas,  not  content  with  his  own 
desertion,  gave  up  to  Augustus  the  islands  of  Sardinia  and  Cor- 
sica, and  an  army  of  three  legions,  which  had  been  intrusted  to 
his  command ;  and  when  Pompeius  remonstrated  against  this 
breach  of  the  treaty,  Augustus  answered  him  by  complaints  of 
counter-violations -of  it  on  his  own  part;  accusing  him  of  having 
built  new  ships  of  war,  and  of  still  encouraging  secretly  the  com- 
mission of  acts  of  piracy  on  trading  vessels  bound  to  Italy.  It 
appears  that  some  of  the  men  taken  on  board  of  some  piratical 
ships  were  put  to  the  torture,^""  and  it  was  thus  that  the  confes- 
sion was  extorted  from  them,  that  they  were  acting  at  the  instiga-* 
tion  of  Sex.  Pompeius.  On  the  other  hand,  Pompeius  complained 
that  the  exiles  who  had  returned  to  Italy  had  not  recovered  the 
portion  of  their  property  which  had  been  promised  them,  and 

'9'  "  Extinctus  est  viituteet  ductu  Ven-  field,  but  was  made  prisoner,  his  death 

tidii,"   are  the  words  of  Paterculus:  "P.  seems  to  have  taken  place  in  the  manner 

Ventidius  Parthos,  praelio  victos,  Syria  ex-  described  in  the  text,  and  not  in  battle, 
pulit,  Labieno  eorum  duce  occiso,"  is  the  ^^"^  Strabo,  XVI.  873,  edit.  Xyland. 
account  of  the  epitomizer  of  Livy.     But         ^^^  Dion  Cassius,  XLVIII.  384,  et  seq. 

as  it  appears  from  the   more  defiled  and  Appian,  V.  77. 

seemingly  probable  account  of  Dion  Cas-         ^oo  j^^;  j,  Karirnp   nta  Xpari'ipia  crv\\a/3bjr 

fiiue,  that  Labienus  was  not  killed  in   the  i/^adit^ev.     Appian,  V.  77. 


AUGUSTUS  AND  SEX.  POMPEIUS.  441 

that  Achaia  was  not  ceded  to  him  ;  but  that  Antonius  was  drain- 
ing it  lo  the  utmost  of  all  its  wealth,^"'  that  when  he  gave  it  up 
it  might  be  a  useless  acquisition  to  its  new  master.  When  we 
compare  the  respective  giounds  of  complaint  alleged  by  the  two 
parties,  and  consider,  besides,  which  was  most  likely  to  be 
anxious  for  a  new  rupture,  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  Au- 
gustus was  the  aggressor,  and  thatPompeius  was  in  truth,  accord- 
ing to  the  expression  of  Tacitus,^"^  deceived  to  his  ruin  by  a  mere 
show  of  peace.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  war  was  speedily  renew- 
ed, and  Augustus  requested  Antonius  to  co-operate  with  him  in 
conducting  it.  Antonius,  who  was  then  in  Greece,  crossed  over 
to  Brundusium  to  meet  him  f'^^  but  not  finding  him  there,  he  re- 
turned again  immediately  with  so  little  apparent  cause  for  his 
sudden  departure,  that  men  accounted  for  it  according  to  their 
own  fancies,  and  some  attributed  it  to  a  superstitious  alarm  oc- 
casioned by  a  reported  prodigy.  Perhaps  he  was  glad  of  any 
excuse  for  not  taking  part  in  the  contest,  and  availed  himself  of 
some  rumours  respecting  the  progress  of  the  Parthians  in  the 
East,  as  a  reason  for  returning  instantly  to  his  own  provinces. 
Augustus,  however,  resolved  to  carry  on  the  war  alone  ;  but  his 
first  attempts  to  invade  Sicily  were  so  foiled  by  storms  and  the 
resistance  of  the  enemy,  that  he  recalled  his  ablest  lieutenant, 
M.^grippa,  from  Gaul,  to  assume  the  direction  of  his  forces,  and 
began  to  make  preparations  for  another  attempt  on  a  scale  pro- 
portioned to  the  greatness  of  his  power.^"* 

It  seems  to  have  been  towards  the  close  of  the  year  715, 
when  Augustus  was  greatly  annoyed  by  the  dis-  Treaty  of  Tarent«m 
appointment  of  his  hopes  of  conquest  in  Sicily,  and  and^M^  Anfomus.'"* 
irritated  at  receiving  no  assistance  from  Antonius,  u.c.  Tie. 
that  Antonius  crossed  over  to  Italy  once  more  with  a  fleet,  as  it 
is  said,  of  three  hundred  ships  of  war, ^"^  which  he  seemed  as 
much  inclined  to  employ  against  Augustus  as  in  his  behalf. 
His  honour  and  his  interest,  indeed,  alike  urged  him  to  defend 
Sex.  Pompeius ;  but  his  unsteady  resolutions  were  liable  to  be 
influenced  by  any  motive  that  could  gain  a  momentary  ascend- 
ency over  him  ;  and  on  this  occasion,  his  wife,  Octavia,  was  as 
injurious  to  her  husband's  interests,  by  persuading  him  to  peace 
with  her  brother,  as  she  was  a  few  years  afterwards,  when  the 
affronts  which  she  received  from  him  became  one  of  the  osten- 
sible causes  of  the  last  decisive  war.  Antonius  and  Augustus 
met  at  Tarentum  ;  Antonius  contributed  a  large  portion  of  his  fleet 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  Sicihan  war,  and  received  in  exchange 
two  legions  from  Augustus  to  strengthen  the  army  which  he  in- 
tended soon  to  lead  into  Parthia.     Then,  as  the  term  of  their 

3°^  Dion  Cassius,  385.     Appian,  77.  ^04  Dion  Cassius,  387.     Appian,  96. 

302  Annal.  I.  10.  305  piutarch,   in    Antonio,   35.       Dion 

8'»3  Dion  Cassius,  385.     Appian,  79.         Cassius,  XLVIII.  390.     Appian,  V.  93. 


442  MARRIAGE  OF  AUGUSTUS  WITH  LIVIA. 

Triumvirate  was  just  expiring,  they  renewed  it,  by  their  own  sole 
authority,  for  five  years  more  ;  and  to  cement  their  union  more 
strongly,  a  further  interchange  of  marriages  between  the  differ- 
ent members  of  their  families  was  agreed  on,  but  was  never  car- 
ried into  effect.^"^  When  this  new  arrangement  was  settled,  An- 
tonius  left  Italy,  to  return  to  it  no  more  ;  and  consigning  Octavia, 
as  well  as  his  children  by  his  former  marriage,  to  the  care  of 
Augustus,  he  immediately  hastened  into  Asia. 

About  this  same  time  Augustus  married  his  third  wife, 
Marriage  of  Augustus  Livla,^"''  who  was  givcu  up  to  him  by  her  husband, 
m&"''''^'°^  Tiberius  Nero,  although  she  was  at  that  very  time 
far  advanced  in  her  pregnancy.  Into  this  act,  indecent  and  scan- 
dalous even  in  the  estimation  of  the  Romans  themselves,  Augus- 
tus was  hurried,  it  is  said,  by  his  passion  for  the  person  of  Livia  ; 
and  this  union  of  mere  sensuality  with  a  temper  of  the  utmost 
coldness  and  hearllessness,  is  by  )io  means  uncommon,  and  shows 
with  what  facility  vices,  apparently  the  most  opposite,  can  exist 
together  in  a  character  totally  unprincipled.  We  have  already 
mentioned  that  the  first  marriage  of  Augustus  with  Clodia,  the 
daughter-in-law  of  Antonius,  originated  altogether  in  political 
views,  insomuch  that  he  treated  her  with  total  neglect  even  while 
their  connexion  nominally  lasted  ;  and  he  divorced  her  when  her 
mother,  Ful via,  joined  with  L.  Antonius  in  opposing  his  dominion 
in  Italy.  He  then  married  Scribonia,^"^  the  daughter  of  L.  Scri- 
bonius  Libo,  and  whose  sister  was  the  wife  of  Sex.  Pompeius ; 
and  the  second  marriage  was  concluded  like  the  first,  from  mere 
motives  of  personal  interest,  when  he  dreaded  the  union  of  Anto- 
nius and  Sex.  Pompeius  against  him  soon  after  the  siege  of  Peru- 
sia,  and  was  anxious  to  form  some  connexion  with  those  whose 

3°s  The  character  of  all  these  transactions  supply- his  total  deficiencies  as  a  general, 

between  the   Triumvirs   is  well  given    by  and  his  utter  want  of  generosity  and  noble 

Tacitus,  in  the  following  words  : — "  Anto-  feeling,  are  all  represented  over  again  most 

nium    Tarentino    Brundusinoque  Fccdere,  faithfully  in  Louis  XL  ;  while  the  violent 

et  nuptiis  Sororis  illectum,  subdolae  affini-  and   headstrong    selfishness  of  Antonius, 

tatis  pcsnas  morte  exsolvisse."     Annal.  L  the  cruelties  in  which   he   indulged  from 

10.     Augustus    and   Antonius    were    the  passion  and  resentment,  the  easiness  with 

exact  counterparts  of  Louis  XI.  of  France,  which  he  was  managed  by  his  adroit  an- 

and  Charles  Duke  of  Burgundy  ;  and  the  tagonist,  that  incapability  of  pursuing  his 

manner  in   which   Augustus    amused  his  own  interest  steadily,  which  rendered  his 

rival,  till  he  had  cut  off  all  his   other  op-  military  prowess  so  often  nugatory,  togeth- 

ponents,  brings  strongly  to  mind  the  cau-  erwith    tho.se  gleams    of    a   noble    spirit 

tious  observance  which  Louis  showed  to-  which  sometimes  burst  through  the  darker 

wards  Charles,  till  he  had   destroyed  the  parts  of  his  character,  are  qualities  which 

count  de  St.  Pol,  and   divided  and  broken  the  reader  of  Philip  de    Comines  will    re- 

the  power  of  his  own  nobles,  in  whom  the  cognize  as  distinguishing  the    unfortunate 

house  of  Burgundy  might  have  found  such  Charles  of  B'jrgundy. 

useful  auxiliaries.     The  cunning  and  cal-  S"?  Velleius  Paterculus,  IL  79.  Tacitus, 

culating  cruelty  of  Augustus,  his  wisdom  Annal.  L  10  ;  V.  ]. 

in  the  choice  of  his  servants,  his  skill  in  ^os  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  62.    Appian, 

corrupting  those  of  his  rivals,  the  address  V.  53. 
with  which  he  made  his  political  talents 


•  SEX.  POMPEIUS  IS  CONQUERED.  443 

influence  might  be  supposed  to  be  powerful  over  Pompeius.  But 
Scriboiiia's  conduct,  according  to  his  own  account,  was  exceed- 
ingly profligate, ^"^  and  he  chose  to  divorce  her,  it  is  said,  on  the 
very  day  on  which  she  became  the  mother  of  his  daughter, 
Julia  ;^^''  though,  as  we  are  told  that  he  was  already  enamoured 
of  Livia,  the  guilt  of  Scribonia  may  be  as  doubtful  as  that  of  Anne 
Boleyn,  whom  her  husband  accused  of  infidelity  when  his  own 
affections  were  diverted  to  a  new  object.  It  should  be  remember- 
ed, that  when  Augustus  formed  his  new  connexion  with  Livia, 
after  having  been  twice  married  from  political  views,  and  having 
been  twice  divorced,  he  was  still  no  more  than  twenty-five  or 
twenty-six  years  of  age. 

The  whole  of  the  year  716  was  employed  by  Augustus  and 
Agrippa  in  completing  their  naval  preparations.  Beginning  of  the 
The  Italians  and  the  provinces  were  again  op-  siciiiaawar. 
pressed  with  a  fresh  load  of  taxation  to  furnish  the  money  that 
was  required;^"  while  the  establishments  of  all  senators,  mem- 
bers of  the  equestrian  order,  and  other  wealthy  individuals,  were 
called  upon  to  supply  a  certain  number  of  slaves  to  man  the  fleet 
as  rowers.  It  was  on  this  occasion,  also,  that  M.  Agrippa  con- 
verted the  lakes  Lucrinus  and  Avernus,  on  the  coast  of  Campania, 
into  harbours,  in  which  the  ships  might  be  assembled,^  "^  and 
where  the  seamen  might  be  exercised  at  the  oar  in  perfect  safety, 
alike  secured  from  storms  and  from  the  enemy.  At  length,  in  the 
spring  of  717,  Augustus  commenced  his  operations,  being  sup- 
ported not  only  by  the  fleet  which  he  had  received  from  Antonius, 
but  by  the  military  and  naval  force  of  the  province  of  Africa, 
which  the  third  member  of  the  Triumvirate,  M.  Lepidus,  was  to 
bring  over  to  his  aid.  A  force  thus  overwhelming  could  gain  little 
glory  by  its  victory  ;^'^  but  Sex.  Pompeius  bravely  resisted  it,  and 
in  one  engagement  totally  defeated  the  enemy's  fleet,  command- 
ed by  Augustus  in  person,  and  reduced  to  the  utmost  distress 
the  legions  which,  under  the  command  of  Cornificius,  had  effected 
a  descent  on  the  coast  of  Sicily.  They  were,  however,  relieved 
by  M.  Agrippa  ;  and  soon  after.  Sex.  Pompeius  hav-  g^^  Pompeius  i> 
ing  been  defeated  by  Agrippa  in  a  general  naval  conquered, 
engagement,^'*  and  being  utterly  unable  to  withstand  the  united 

309  "  Cum  hac  etiam  divortium  fecit,  cript  of  the  famous  description  of  the  de- 
pertSESus,  ut  scribit,  morum  perversitatem  cisive  defeat  of  the  Athenians  in  the  har- 
ejus."     Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  62.  hour  of  Syracuse,  in  the  seventh  book  of 

310  Dion  Cassius,  XLVIII.  377.  Thucydides,  70,  71.   We  care  little  for  the 

311  Dion  Cassius,  XLVIII.  387.  plagiarism  ;  but   it  shows  the  manner  in 

312  Dion  Cassius,  XLVIII.  387.  Vel-  which  the  later  Greek  historians  compiled 
leius  Paterculus,  II.  79.  their  narratives,  not  giving  authentic  ac- 

313  Dion  Cassius,  XLIX.  392,  et  seq.  counts  of  the  battles  or  sieges  which  they 
Velleius  Paterculus,  79.  Livy,  Epitome,  profess  to  describe,  but  borrowing  some 
CXXIX.  famous  passage  of  description  from  one  of 

314  The  whole  account  of  this  battle,  tiieir  old  writers,  and  applying  it,  without 
given  by  Dion  Cassius,  is  almost  a  trans-     scruple,  to  their  own  immediate  subject. 


444  LEPIDUS  IS  DESERTED  BY  HIS  ARMY. 

forces  of  Augustus  and  Lepidus  on  shore,  abandoned  the  contest, 
and  escaped  with  his  family  and  most  valuable  effects  to  Pelo- 
ponnesus. 

The  moment  was  now  favourable  to  Augustus  for  ridding  him- 
Dispute. between Au-  sclf  of  auothcr  rival.  Some  disputcs  had  already 
gustus  and  Lepidus.  ariseu  between  him  and  Lepidus,  because  Lepidus 
naturally  objected  to  that  tone  of  superiority  which  his  associate 
pretended  to  assume  f^^  but  the  quarrel  came  to  an  height  when 
the  army  of  Sex.  Pompeius  at  Messina  surrendered  to  Lepidus  in 
the  absence  of  Augustus  ;  and  Lepidus  saw  no  reason  for  yielding 
up  to  his  colleague  a  force  which  had  voluntarily  submitted  to 
himself  In  this  state  of  things,  Augustus  presented  himself,  with 
only  a  small  guard  attending  his  person,  at  the  camp  of  Lepidus  ; 
and  being  allowed  to  enter  without  suspicion,  he  began  to  tamper 
with  the  soldiers  of  his  rival,  trusting  that  his  superior  power  and 
ability  would  prevail  on  them  to  desert  him.  But  he  was  disap- 
pointed in  this  hope,  and  the  soldiers  of  Lepidus,  irritated  by  his 
proposals,  fell  upon  him  and  his  escort,  and  obliged  him  to  save 
his  life  by  a  precipitate  flight.  When  treachery  had  thus  failed, 
he  applied  himself  to  open  force,  and  bringing  up  his  whole 
Lepidus  is  deserted  by  army,  prepared  to  besiege  the  camp  of  Lepidus. 
byTu^ususofairhi^  Lcpldus,  destitutc  of  all  personal  influence  over  his 
u°a7i8.  soldiers,  saw  them  now  gradually  abandon  him, 

and  go  over  to  his  enemy  ;  till  at  length,  despairing  of  his  for- 
tune, he  laid  aside  his  general's  dress,  and,  in  a  mean  habit,  be- 
took himself  to  the  camp  of  Augustus,  and  prostrated  himself  be- 
fore his  feet.  With  that  nice  discrimination  which  led  him  to 
shed  no  blood,  unless  it  were  for  his  interest,  and  to  show  no 
mercy  towards  those  whom  he  respected  and  feared,  Augustus 
merely  deprived  Lepidus  of  his  power  as  Triumvir,  and  granted 
him  the  free  enjoyment  of  his  life  and  of  his  private  property, 
while  he  put  to  death,  with  few  exceptions,  every  senator  and 
member  of  the  equestrian  order  whom  he  found  amongst  the  fol- 
lowers of  Pompeius,  and  either  gave  up  all  the  slaves  amongst 
his  prisoners  to  their  former  masters  for  execution,  or,  if  their 
masters  could  not  be  found,  ordered  them  himself  to  be  crucified. 

Immediately  after  these  great  successes,  the  army  in  Sicily, ^^^ 
Mutiny  of  the  army  couscious  of  its  powcr,  bcgau  to  mutluy  ;  and  find- 
suppresse    y  Augus-  .^^  ^-^^^  their  demauds    were  not  listened  to,  the 

legions  petitioned  for  their  discharge,  imagining  that  Augustus 
would  be  afraid  to  disband  them,  and  thus  leave  himself  exposed 
to  the  attacks  of  Antonius.  But  the  example  of  his  uncle's  con- 
duct in  similar  circumstances  was  not  lost  upon  him  ;  he  professed 
his  readiness  to  comply  with  their  wishes,  and  first  discharged  all 

315  Dion  Cassius,  XLIX.  398,  etseq—         ^le  Vdleius   Paterculus,   II.  81.     Dioa 
Velleius  Paterculus.  II.  80.  Cassius,  XLIX.  39U. 


MUTINY  OP  THE  ARMY  SUPPRESSED  BY  AUGUSTUS. 


445 


those  who  had  served  under  him  against  M.  Antonius  at  Miitina  ; 
he  then  dismissed  every  soldier  who  had  been  enUsted  as  long  as 
ten  years ;  but  to  these  last  he  refused  to  give  the  rewards  and 
settlements  in  land  which  they  had  expected,  and  by  this  punish- 
ment, and  by  declaring  that  he  would  never  again  employ  any 
of  the  troops  whom  he  should  now  discharge,  he  terrified  the  rest 
of  the  army,  and  made  them  desirous  of  continuing  in  his  service. 
Having  thus  restored  order,  he  proceeded  to  conciliate  the  late 
mutineers  by  a  display  of  his  liberality.  Besides  various  honorary 
rewards,  and  a  donation  in  money,  he  assigned  to  them  those 
settlements  in  land  which  they  coveted  above  every  thing  else; 
and,  to  increase  the  value  of  the  gift,  he  purchased,  we  are  told,  a 
large  tract  of  country  in  Campania,  to  be  divided  amongst  his 
soldiers,^ '^  and  repaid  the  former  colonists  of  Capua  by  a  grant  of 


217  Dion  Cassius  and  Paterculus,  locis 
citatis.  We  have  copied  the  statement  of 
Dion  Cassius,  but  without  being  at  all  con- 
fident of  its  accuracy.  Capua,  as  we  be- 
lieve, became  a  Roman  colony  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Julian  law,  passed  by  Cassar 
in  his  first  consulship,  u.  c.  694.  But  the 
soil  of  this  part  of  Campania  w^as  so  much 
coveted,  that  succeeding  demagogues  or 
usurpers  were  not  pleased  to  be  deprived 
of  a  means  of  bribing  or  rewarding  their 
followers  ;  and  accordingly  we  find  that 
M.  Antonius,  soon  after  Caesar's  death, 
planted  new  colonies  in  Campania,  regard- 
less of  the  rights  of  those  already  estab- 
lished there,  and  encroaching  in  particular 
on  the  territory  of  Capua.  Cicero,  Phi- 
lippic. II.  39,  40.  Appian  tells  us,  that 
Capua  was  one  of  the  cities  which  the  Tri- 
umvirs gave  up  to  their  soldiers  when  they 
commenced  their  usurpation.  Probably  it 
was  not  a  military  colony,  and  its  inhabi- 
tants might  therefore  have  been  ejected 
without  scruple.  But  a  colony  of  veterans 
seems  to  have  been  settled  there,  when 
Augustus  divided  so  large  a  portion  of  all 
Italy  amongst  his  soldiers,  after  the  battle 
of  Philippi.  This  colony,  however,  was 
capable  of  receiving  a  greater  number  of 
inhabitants  ;  i-izo'iKOiv  t)  TrdXij  ttoW(7jv  eSetro, 
are  the  words  of  Dion  Cassius.  Possibly 
the  veterans  who  had  been  settled  there 
had  been  tempted  to  serve  again  either 
under  Augustus  or  Antonius,  and  many  of 
them  may  thus  have  perished,  either  in  the 
East  or  in  the  actions  with  Sex.  Pompeius. 
Besides,  the  decay  of  these  military  colo- 
nies was  often  inconceivably  rapid,  from 
the  habitual  extravagance  of  the  soldiers 
and  their  ignorance  of  farming ;  so  that 
they   soon  parted  with  their  shares,  and 


were  eager  to  go  to  the  wars  again,  to  en- 
title themselves  to  a  new  division  of  spoil. 
But  it  was  competent  to  the  government 
to  fill  up  the  numbers  of  colonies  thus  di- 
minished ;  "  Colonos  novos  adscribi  posse," 
Cicero,  Philippic.  II.  40,  because  the  state 
never  lost  its  right  of  re-entering  into  the 
possession  of  its  demesne  lands,  if  the  ten- 
ants to  whom  they  had  been  granted,  or 
their  heirs,  ceased  to  occupy  them.  Ac- 
cording to  Dion  Cassius,  however,  we 
must  suppose  that  Augustus  gave  the  rev- 
enues in  Crete  to  the  old  colonists  of  Cap- 
ua, as  a  compensation  for  the  land  which 
he  reclaimed,  for  the  purpose  of  the  state, 
in  Campania,  and  which  may  have  come 
into  their  hands  as  the  shareholders  drop- 
ped off,  in  the  same  way  that  the  national 
lands  were  so  often  usurped  of  old  by  the 
rich  citizens,  as  the  small  landholders  be- 
came obliged  to  part  with  their  shares. 
But  if  we  could  be  sure  that  Dion  Cassius 
had  copied  his  account  from  Valerius  Pa- 
terculus— and  certainly  the  passages 
strongly  resemble  one  another — we  should 
think  that  he  had  misunderstood  the  writer 
whom  he  wag  following,  and  that  Patercu- 
lus had  meant  to  say,  that  the  revenues  in 
Crete  were  given  to  the  Roman  treasury 
as  a  compensation  for  the  loss  of  the  Cam- 
panian  rents,  which  were  at  all  times  so 
valuable  a  part  of  the  revenue,  and  which 
were  constantly  paid  by  the  small  farmers 
who  cultivated  those  parts  of  the  national 
lands,  which  had  not  yet  been  divided  out 
as  colonies.  See  Cicero,  de  Lege  Agra- 
ria,  Orat   II.  30,31. 

We  should  apologize,  perhaps,  to  the 
general  reader  for  this  long  and  unsatis- 
factory note  ;  but  if  any  person,  well  con- 
versant with  Roman  history,  should  peruse 


446       ^     HONOURS  PAID  TO  AUGUSTUS. 

a  larger  revenue  arising  from  some  lands  in  Crete,  Before  he 
returned  to  Rome,  he  was  desirous  of  crossing  over  into  Africa, 
to  superintend  the  settlement  of  that  province,  which,  on  the 
deposition  of  Lepidus,  had  submitted  to  his  authority  without 
resistance ;  but  he  was  prevented  by  a  contirmance  of  stormy 
weather  f^^  and  thus,  it  is  said,  Africa  and  Sardinia  were  the  only 
provinces  in  the  empire  which  in  the  course  of  his  life  he  never 
visited. 

He  returned  to  Italy  in  time  to  check  a  rising  insurrection  in 
Honours  paid  to       Tuscauy  ;  this  is  all  that  Dion  Cassius  tells  us  ;^'' 

Augustus  on    his  ,  r         j.-  ..•  j.\ 

return  to  Italy.  uor  have  wc  any  means  oi  estmiatmg  the  magni- 

tude of  the  danger  from  which  his  timely  victory  in  Sicily  had 
delivered  him.  But,  as  it  was,  he  found  nothing  in  Italy  but  an 
excess  of  servility.  He  seemed  ah-eady  to  be  regarded  as  the 
sovereign  of  the  empire  ;  for  he  had  for  some  years  resided  amidst 
the  Romans,  while  Antonius  was  engaged  in  distant  wars,  or  had 
been  revelling  in  Greece  and  in  Egypt ;  and  now  Antonius  ap- 
peared to  be  altogether  forgotten,  while  the  senate,  if  we  may  still 
call  it  by  that  name,  was  lavishing  on  Augustus  those  excessive 
and  odious  distinctions  which  had  before  been  heaped  upon  his 
uncle.  As  if  in  ridicule  of  its  own  flattery,  we  are  told  that  the 
senate  presented  to  Augustus  a  list  of  the  different  honours  which 
had  been  voted  to  him,^"°  that  he  might  either  accept  the  whole, 
or  select  as  many  as  he  thought  proper.  It  is  said  that  he  chose 
the  following  :  to  enter  the  city  with  the  ceremony  of  the  smaller 
triumph,  or  ovation  ;  that  his  victory  should  be  commemorated 
every  year  by  some  days  of  solemn  thanksgiving  ;  and  that  his 
statue  in  a  triumphal  dress  should  be  erected  in  the  forum,  on  the 
top  of  a  pillar  ornamented  with  the  beaks  of  ships.  The  dignity 
of  Pontifex  Maximus,  which  was  held  by  M.  Lepidus,  was  also 
offered  to  him  ;  but  as  it  could  only  be  legally  vacated  by  death, 
he  refused  to  accept  it ;  he  was  invested,  however,  with  the  more 
valuable  character  of  perpetual  tribune  j^^i  that  is,  his  person  was 
declared  sacred  ;  and  to  offer  any  violence  to  him  was  made  as 
great  a  crime  as  to  injure  the  person  of  a  tribune.  On  his  first 
arrival  at  Rome,  he  addressed  the  senate  and  the  people  succes- 
sively in  set  speeches,  which  he  afterwards  published,  and  which 
contained  a  general  exposition  of  his  whole  political  career.  He 
then  promised  his  hearers  the  enjoyment  of  a  state  of  peace  and 
"prosperity  ;  and  in  some  measure  to  verify  his  words,  he  remitted 
all  the  yet  unpaid  taxes  which  he  had  imposed  for  the  support  of 

these   pages,  the  statement  of  what  is  to  3i8  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  47. 

us  a  difficulty  may,  perhaps,  direct  his  at-  3'9  Dion  Cassius,  XLIX.  400. 

tention  more  successfully  to  the  same  sub-  ^'^^  Appian,V.  130. 

ject ;  and  thus  even  a  display  of  our  own  ^'^'  Dion  Cassius,  XLIX.  401. 

ignorance  may  possibly  not  be  without  its 

benefit  to  our  readers. 


HIS  PERFIDY  TOWARDS  THE  PREEDMEN.  447 

the  war  with  Sex.  Pompeins,  and  gave  a  general  discharge  to  all 
those  who  were  indebted  to  the  treasury  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  civil  war  ;  but  this  last  piece  of  liberality  excited  some 
ridicule,  inasmuch  as  he  made  a  merit  of  resigning  what  he  had 
little  chance  of  ever  recovering.  The  system  of  audacious  rob- 
bery which  the  distresses  of  the  times  had  long  fostered  in  Rome, 
he  now  took  effectual  measures  for  suppressing  f"^^  and  by  the 
establishment  of  a  strong  night  patrole,  and  the  appointment  of 
an  officer,  with  those  ample  powers  with  which  the  special  com- 
missions even  under  the  old  government  had  always  been  invest- 
ed, he  is  said  to  have  delivered  the  country  entirely  from  this  evil 
in  the  space  of  a  twelvemonth.  Another  of  his  His  perfidy  towards 
measures  rivalled  in  cruelty  the  sweeping  massa-  had'^"ser'v'^d"unde'r 
cres  of  Sylla,  and  was  marked  by  a  perfidy  which  sex.  pompeiua. 
was  eminently  characteristic  of  Augustus.  Great  numbers  of 
slaves  had  enlisted  some  years  before  in  the  service  of  Sex.  Pom- 
peins,^" g^fjfj  when  he  concluded  his  treaty  with  the  Triumvirs, 
it  was  stipulated  that  all  these  persons  should  be  allowed  their 
liberty,  and  might  return  in  safety  to  Italy.^"  But  Augustus  sus- 
pecting that  they  would  cherish  a  fondness  for  the  memory  of 
Sex.  Pompeins,  which  would  make  them  disaffected  towards  him- 
self, is  said  to  have  sent  sealed  orders  to  all  his  armies,  with 
directions  that  they  were  all  to  be  opened  on  the  same  day ;  and 
on  that  day  all  the  freedmen,  who  had  gained  their  liberty  from 
the  treaty  between  Pompeins  and  the  Triumvirs,  were  arrested 
and  sent  to  Rome,  Augustus  then  ordered  them  all  to  be  given 
back  to  their  former  masters,  or  to  their  masters'  heirs,  if  they  be- 
longed to  a  Roman,  an  Italian,  or  a  Sicilian  ;  and  if  no  one  ap- 
peared to  claim  them,  they  were  sent  to  the  cities  in  which  they 
had  lived  in  their  state  of  slavery,  and  were  there  put  to  death.  A 
somewhat  similar  act  of  bloody  treachery  is  recorded  to  have  been 
committed  by  the  Spartans  upon  those  of  their  helots  whose  spirit 
and  enterprise  they  most  dreaded ;  but  while  the  Spartans  have 
been  ever  justly  condemned  for  this  and  other  such  deeds,  the 
memory  of  Augustus  has  escaped  the  detestation  which  it  de- 
serves ;  and  this  perfidy  and  cruelty  has  been  called,  even  by  a 
modern  historian,  "  a  severe  but  well-concerted  reform."  ^^^ 

322  Appian,  V.  132.  and  that  they   were  living   peaceably,  as 

'"  Appian,  V.   131.  far  as  appears,  in  Italy,  at  the  moment  at 

324  Dion  Cassius,  XL VIII.  378.     Appi-  which   they    were  treacherously  seized. — 

an,  V.  72.  According   to  Ferguson,  they  were  slaves 

326  Ferguson,  V.  7.    In  this  instance,  as  who,  having  deserted  during  the  civil  war, 

well  as  in  the  account  of  Syila's  massacre,  were  "  taken  into  the   levies  which  were 

which  we   formerly  noticed,  Ferguson  has  continually  forming  by  different  parties  ;" 

completely  misrepresented  the  facts  of  the  and  Octavius  wished"  to  purge  the  army  of 

case  ;  for  he    entirely  omits    to  mention  a  dangerous  class  of  men  by  whom  it  was 

that  the  slaves  were  men  who  had  served  overcharged  and   contaminated."     If,  in- 

under  Sex.  Pompeius ;  that   they  had  re-  deed,   the    freedmen,   who    had    formerly 

ceived  their   liberty  by  a  solemn    treaty  ;  served  under  Pompeius,  had  enlisted  since 


448  L^S"^  ADVENTURES  OF  SEX.  POMPEIUS. 

Sex.  Pompeius  did  not  long  survive  this  treatment  of  his  old 
,   ,  J     .       ,     followers.     When  he  reached  the  coast  of  Pelopon- 

Last  adventures  of        j.\jli.kj  yy  y^i^.  ..,■,  ,  i-iii 

Sex.  Pompeius         nesus,  hc  was  jOHied  by  several  vessels  which  had 
escaped  from  Sicily :  but  despairing  of  continuing  the  war,  he 
recommended  their  captains  to  provide  for  their  own  safety,  and 
himself,  with  a  very  small  force  which  he  still  retained,  sailed  for 
Asia,  with  the  intention  of  requesting  the  protection  of  Antonius. 
He  first  stopped  at   the  island  of  Lesbos,  at  that   very  city  of 
Mitylene,^^^  in  which  his  mother  and  himself,  then  a  boy,  had 
received  his  father  in  his  flight  from  the  battle  of  Pharsalia,  and 
where  the  inhabitants  still  cherished  with    a   fond  regard  the 
memory  of  his  father's  virtues.     The  kind  reception  which  they 
gave  him  revived  his  hopes  ;  at  the  same  time  he  received  tidings 
of  the  disastrous  expedition  of  Antonius  against  the  Parthians, 
and  of  the  dissension  between  Augustus  and  Lepidus  in  Sicily. 
He  is  said  accordingly  to  have  played  a  double  part,  on  the  one 
hand  endeavouring  to  win  the  support  of  the  Parthians,  and  on 
the  other  soliciting  the  friendship  of  Antonius,  when  he  found 
that  he  had  returned  from  Parthia  in  safety.     But  we  are  told 
also  that  C.  Furnius,^^''  who  was  the  lieutenant  of  Antonius  in 
the  province  of  Asia,  had  shown  an  unfriendly  disposition  towards 
Pompeius  from  the  first  moment  of  his  arrival  at  Lesbos;  and 
that  M.  Titius,  whom  Antonius  had  sent  from  Syria  to  oppose 
him,  on  the  first  tidings  of  his  hostile  purposes,  had  formerly 
received  kindnesses  from  him,  which  he  had  repaid  by  deserting 
his  service  and  going  over  to  Antonius.     What  provocation  then 
these  two  officers  may  have  given,  or  how  far  they  may  have 
misrepresented  to  their  general  the  conduct  of  Pompeius,  is  diffi- 
cult to  say ;  but  we  are  told  that  Pompeius  having  collected  a 
small  force,  partly  from  his  own  partisans,  who  now  again  joined 
him  after  their  dispersion,  and  partly  from  that  distressed  portion 
of  the  population  which  seems  in  these  times  to  have  abounded 
in  every  quarter  of  the  empire,  and  to  have  been  always  ready  to 
follow  any  standard  in  the  hope  of  phmder,  began  to  act  in  a 
hostile   manner  in  Asia.     Some  of  his  principal  friends,^^^  and 
among  the  rest  his  own  father-in-law,  L.  Libo,  are  said  to  have  left 
him,  from  a  conviction  of  the  utter  hopelessness  of  his  cause,  and  to 
have  made  their  own  terms  with  the  officers  of  Antonius.     Pom- 
peius himself  was  willing  to  surrender  himself  to  C.  Furnius,^^' 
but  this  otfer  was  refused ;  and  he  could  not  bear  to  put  himself  in 

tlieir  emancipation  in  the  army  of  Angus-  ^^^  Dion  Cassius,  XLIX.  402.    Appian, 

tus,    it  only  enliances  the    atrocity  of  his  V.  133. 

conduct  towards  tliem  ;  but  it  does  not  ap-  '"  Dion  Cassius,  XLIX.  402. 

pear  that  they  had  done  so,  but  rather  that  ^'*  Appian,  V.  139. 

they  were  living  peaceably  in  Italy  on  the  ^^'  Appian,  V.   141. 

faith  of  that   treaty  which    had  stipulated 

for  their  liberty. 


QUARREL  BETWEEN  AUGUSTUS  AND  ANTONIUS.  449 

the  power  of  Titius,  whom  he  considered  an  ungrateful  traitor. 
But  being  overpowered  by  the  force  brought  against  him,  and 
having  in  vain  endeavoured  to  make  his  way  into  the  interior  of 
Asia  Minor,  he  was  finally  taken  prisoner,  and,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  was  put  to  death  by  Titius,-''^''  at  Miletus.  It  is  the 
more  probable  account  that  this  act  was  committed  He  u  put  to  death  in 
without  the  knowledge  of  Antonius  ;  but  it  was  the jieuteilaius  o" in- 
received  by  Augustus  at  Rome  as  a  triumph  won  by  u."c!^7i9. 
his  associate,^^'  and  he  celebrated  it  by  rejoicings,  and  by  pay- 
ing some  public  compliments  to  Antonius,  while  the  people  at 
large,  indignant  at  the  death  of  the  last  surviving  son  of  the 
great  Pompey,  retained  a  strong  detestation  of  Titius  as  the  author 
of  it ;  and  some  time  afterwards,  when  he  was  exhibiting  some 
games  in  the  theatre  of  Pompey, ^^'^  he  was  driven  from  the  theatre 
by  a  general  burst  of  public  feeling,  as  if  one  of  the  monuments 
of  Pompey's  munificence  ought  not  to  be  profaned  by  the  presence 
of  the  murderer  of  his  son. 

In  the  interval  which  followed  before  the  commencement  of 
the  final  contest  with  Antonius,  we  read  of  several  wars  carried 
on  by  Augustus  and  his  lieutenants  against  the  rude  tribes  inhab- 
iting the  Alps,  aM  against  the  Dalmatians ;  ^^^  it  is  mentioned, 
also,  that  he  now  Ted  the  Roman  armies,  for  the  first  time,  against 
the  Pannonians,  who  lived  between  Dalmatia  and  the  Danube, 
and  whom  he  attacked  without  any  provocation,  for  the  mere 
object  of  keeping  his  soldiers  in  employment.  On  his  return  from 
these  wars  to  Rome,  fresh  honours  were  lavished  upon  him  in  the 
distinctions  conferred  upon  his  wife  Livia,^^^  and  his  sister  Octa- 
via,  whose  persons  were  declared  sacred,  like  those  of  the  tribunes  ; 
and  they  were  allowed  the  privilege  of  managing  their  own  affairs 
without  a  guardian  or  trustee,  whose  agency  was  necessary  to 
all  women  in  legal  transactions,  as  no  female  was  supposed  to  be 
independent,  or  was  capable  of  acting  in  her  own  name. 

The  Triumvirs  had  renewed  their  power  for  a  period  of  five 
years,  as  we  have  already  seen,  from  the  beginning  of  the  year 
716 ;  and  the  succession  to  the  ordinary  offices  of  the  common- 
wealth had  been  settled  for  eight  years,  when  the  Triumvirs  con- 
cluded their  treaty  with  Sex.  Pompeius  in  the  year  First  beginnings  of  the 
714,  According  to  Xhis  arrangement,  the  Triumvi-  giistusand  Amonii^s"" 
rate  properly  expired  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  720 ;  and  Cn. 
Domitius  Ahenobarbus  and  C.  Sosius  were  the  persons  who  had 
been  named  as  consuls  for  the  year  721.  Already  were  the  signs 
of  an  approaching  quarrel  between  Augustus  and  Antonius  be- 
come clearly  visible.     Antonius   coald  not  be  insensible  to  the 

330  Appian,  V.  144.     Strabo,  III.  150,         333  Livy,  Epitome,  CXXII.     Dion  Cas- 
edit.  Xyland.  sius,  XLIX.  412,  413. 

331  Dion  Cassius,  XLIX.  403.  334  Dion  Cassius,  XLIX.  414. 

332  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  79. 


450  CONSULSHIP  OF  SOSIUS  AND  DOMITIUS. 

great  accession  of  power  which  his  rival  had  gained  by  his  acqui- 
sition of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Africa ;  nor  was  this  his  only 
ground  of  complaint;"*  but  he  expressed  his  dissatisfaction  that 
Augustus  had  appropriated  to  himself  the  military  resources  of 
Italy,  which  were  to  be  divided  jointly  between  them ;  and  that 
in  assigning  settlements  in  lands  to  the  veteran  soldiers,  he  had 
confined  his  grants  almost  exclusively  to  those  who  had  served 
particularly  under  his  own  standard.  Augustus,  in  reply,  taxed 
Antonius  with  having  on  his  part  occupied  Armenia,  and  having 
brought  disgrace  on  the  Roman  name  by  the  treacherous  murder 
of  its  king ;  he  said  Egypt  was,  in  fact,  become  his  province 
through  his  connexion  with  Cleopatra ;  and  that  his  soldiers 
could  not  claim  their  share  of  settlements  in  Italy  till  they  chose 
to  divide,  with  equal  fairness,  what  they  had  won  themselves  in 
Media  and  Parthia.  This  was  a  mere  insult  on  the  disasters  of 
Antonius's  late  expedition  into  those  countries ;  and  there  was 
hardly  more  weight  in  another  accusation  which  Dion  Cassius 
ascribes  to  Augustus,  namely,  that  Antonius  had  put  Sex.  Pom- 
peius  to  death,  whereas  he  himself  had  purposely  allowed  him  to 
escape  from  Sicily.  But  Augustus's  main  reliance  was  on  the 
feeling  of  national  pride  which  he  hoped  to  ^vaken  in  the  Ro- 
mans, by  representing  his  rival  as  one  who  had  cast  off  his  duty 
to  his  country,  and  was  become  the  mere  slave  of  a  foreign  queen. 
With  this  view  every  tale  of  the  levities  in  which  Antonius  in- 
dulged in  his  hours  of  festivity  with  Cleopatra,  and  of  the  atten- 
tions and  gallantries  which  he  paid  to  her,  was  eagerly  caught  up 
and  industriously  circulated  ;  and  the  public  were  taught  to  de- 
plore the  degradation  of  the  majesty  of  the  Roman  name,  because 
Antonius  had  assumed  the  character  of  gymnasiarch,  or  master 
of  the  gymnastic  exercises  at  Alexandria;"^  because  he  had 
called  Cleopatra  his  queen  and  sovereign  lady ;  and  because  she 
had  some  Roman  soldiers  amongst  her  guards,  and  her  name  was 
inscribed  on  their  shields  as  their  commander  and'mistress. 

But  the  two  consuls,  C.  Sosius  and  Cn.  Domitius,  were  friends 
consuiship'ofc.sosi-  of  Autouius,  and  as  the  Triumvirate  was  now  legal- 

us  and  Cn.  Domitius.     i  .  j      ^i  i  ■     i   x 

u.c.  721.  ly  at  an  end,  the  consular  power  might  seem  en- 

titled to  resume  its  ancient  ascendency.  Accordingly,  on  the  very 
first  day  of  the  year,"^  C.  Sosius  delivered  a  speech  full  of  the 
praises  of  Antonius,  and  of  invective  against  Augustus  ;  and  he 
would  have  immediately  proceeded  to  employ  the  authority  of  his 
office  in  some  measure  adverse  to  the  interests  of  the  latter,  had 
not  Nonius  Balbus,  one  of  the  tribunes,  interposed  with  his  nega- 
tive. But  this  revival  of  the  legal  government  of  the  common- 
wealth was,  of  all  things,  most  unwelcome  to  Augustus ;  he  re- 

333  Dion  Cassius,  I.  419.     Plutarch,  in         336  Dion  Cassius,  I.  421. 
Antonio,  55.  ^^'  Dion  Cassius,  I.  419. 


ANTONIUS  RENOUNCES  AUGUSTUS.  45 1 

turned,  therefore,  speedily  to  Rome,  (for  he  had  absented  himself 
purposely  from  the  meeting  of  the  senate  on  the  first  of  January,) 
assembled  the  senate,  and  surrounding  his  person  with  a  military 
force,  and  with  a  multitude  of  his  partisans,  armed,  it  is  said,  with 
concealed  daggers,  he  took  his  seat  on  the  curule  chair,  which  he 
was  used  to  occupy,  between  the  chairs  of  the  consuls,  and  after 
having  spoken  at  some  length  in  defence  of  himself,  he  uttered  a 
strong  invective,  in  his  turn,  against  Sosius  and  Antoniiis.  The 
actual  presence  of  his  soldiers  intimated  sufficiently  that  "the 
master  of  the  legions"  was  not  a  person  with  whom  it  was  safe 
to  argue ;  no  one  therefore  answered  him,  and  he  summoned  the 
senate  to  meet  again  on  a  fixed  day,  when  he  assured  them  that 
he  would  produce  written  proofs  of  the  un  worthiness  of  Antonius. 
Meanwhile  the  consuls,  followed  by  a  considerable     The  consuls  leave 

,  r  .  1    n  xi  -i    1  •        i    1  1        Rome,  and  return  to 

number  01  senators,  ieit  the  capital  privately,  and  Antonius. 
repaired  to  Antonius  ;  while  Augustus,  to  avoid  the  odium  which 
their  retirement  cast  upon  him,  pretended  that  he  had  himself  al- 
lowed them  freely  to  withdraw,  and  that  he  would  not  oppose  the 
departure  of  any  other  friends  of  Antonius,  who  might  wish  in 
like  manner  to  join  him.  It  appears  that  Antonius  had  already 
begun  to  prepare  for  war;'^^  and  that  both  Cleopatra  and  himself 
were  about  this  time  in  Asia  Minor,  while  their  land  and  sea 
forces  were  gathering  together  in  the  same  quarter  and  in  the 
^Egean.  Here  he  heard  of  the  proceedings  which  were  going  on 
against  him  at  Rome,^"  of  the  subsequent  meeting  of  the  senate 
which  took  place  after  the  departure  of  the  consuls,  and  of  the 
language  which  Augustus  used  both  in  speaking  and  writing  con- 
cerning him.  Upon  this  he  assembled  a  sort  of  Antonius  renounces 
counter-senate,  consisting  of  the  numerous  senators  AugTstusr'and^'d^ 
who  had  repaired  to  him  from  Rome.  After  much  '■°"="  octavia. 
debate,  it  was  resolved  that  the  war  should  be  undertaken ;  and 
Antonius  sent  a  formal  divorce  to  Octavia,  exactly  as  Augustus 
had  divorced  his  first  wife,  Clodia,  on  the  occasion  of  his  quarrel 
with  her  mother  Fulvia  and  with  L.  Antonius.  But  the  notorie- 
ty of  the  connexion  of  Antonius  with  Cleopatra,  made  it  appear 
that  Octavia  was  rather  sacrificed  to  his  passion  for  the  Egyptian 
queen,  than  divorced  on  account  of  his  quarrel  with  her  brother  ; 
and  this  also  was  used  as  a  topic  on  which  to  excite  the  national 
pride  of  the  Romans,  by  representing  a  noble  Roman  lady  as  dis- 
honoured and  despised  by  her  husband,  in  order  to  gratify  the 
jealousy  of  his  barbarian  paramour. 

This  feeling,  indeed,  was  not  confined  to  the  Romans  of  the 
capital ;  even  the  officers  of  Antonius  were  disgusted     He  is  deserted  by 
at  the  evident  influence  which  Cleopatra  exercised     xitius^"'^"*  ^" 
over  him,  and  against  which  their  wisest  counsels  were  sure  to  be 

»38  Plutarch,  in  Antonio,  56.  ^  Dion  Cassius,  I.  420. 


452 


THE  WILL  OF  ANTONIUS  IS  PUBLISHED. 


offered  ineffectually.  They  might  conjecture,  too,  from  the  in- 
fatuation of  their  general,  the  probable  result  of  the  war ;  and 
thus  L.  Plancus,^"  who  had  formerly  made  so  many  professions 
of  fidelity  to  the  old  constitution,  and  had  afterwards  joined  the 
Triumvirs,  and  procured  from  them  the  murder  of  his  own  brother 
as  one  of  the  rewards  of  his  treason,  now  deserted  the  cause  of 
Antonius.  Accompanied  by  his  nephew,  M.  Titius,  the  author 
of  the  death  of  Sex.  Pompeius,^^*  he  hastened  to  Rome  to  trans- 
fer his  services  to  Augustus.  Plancus  and  Titius  had  been 
deeply  trusted  by  Antonius,  and  they  now  betrayed  to  his  enemy 
They  betray  the  con-  evory  sccrct  of  whlch  they  were  in  possession. 
AS?ast'us,''who'pub°  Amongst  the  rest  they  intimated  to  him  the  con- 
L'^a^VanTp'ople.'''  tcuts  of  the  will  of  Autouius,  which  they  had 
themselves  attested,  and  informed  him  in  whose  care  it  was 
deposited.  Augustus  immediately  got  this  document  into  his 
power,^^'^  and  with  shameless  baseness  broke  open  the  seals,  and 
read  the  contents  of  it  publicly,  first  to  the  senate,  and  afterwards 
to  the  assembly  of  the  people.  The  clause  in  it  which  especially 
induced  Augustus  to  commit  this  act,  was  one  in  which  Antonius 
desired  that  his  body  might,  after  his  death,  be  carried  to  Alex- 
andria, and  there  buried  by  the  side  of  Cleopatra.  This  proof  of 
his  romantic  passion  for  a  foreigner,  seemed  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Romans  to  attest  his  utter  degeneracy,  and  induced  the  populace 
at  least  to  credit  the  inventions  of  his  enemies,  who  asserted  that 
it  was  his  intention,  if  victorious  in  the  approaching  contest,  to 
give  up  Rome  to  the  dominion  of  Cleopatra,  and  to  transfer  the 
seat  of  empire  from  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  to  those  of  the  Nile. 
It  is  clear,  from  the  language  of  those  poets  who  wrote  under  the 
patronage  of  Augustus,^^^  that  this  was  the  light  in  which  the 
war  was  industriously  represented  ;  that  every  effort  was  made  to 
give  it  the  character  of  a  contest  with  a  foreign  enemy,  and  to 
array  on  the  side  of  Augustus  the  national  pride  and  jealousy  of 
the  people  of  Rome.    Nor  were  these  arts  unsuccessful ;  insomuch, 

340  Dion  Cassius,  I.  420.     Plutarch,  in         3"  VelleiusPaterculus,  II.  83. 
Antonio,  58.  342  Djon   Cassius,  420.      Plutarch,  in 

Antonio,  58.     Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  17. 
343  <<  Antehac  nefas  deproniere  Caecubum 
Cellis  aviiis  :  dum  Capitolio 
Regina  dementes  ruinas, 
Funus  et  imperio  parabat, 
Contaminate  cum  grege  turpium 
Morbo  virorum." — Horace,  Carm.  I    ode  37. 
"  Hinc  Augustus  agens  Italos  in  proelia  Caesar, 
Cum  Patribue  Populoque,  Penatibus  et  Magnis  Diis, 

Hinc  ope  barbarica,  variisque  Antonius  armis, 

— sequiturque,  nefas!  jEgyptia  conjux  ! 

Omnigenuinque  Deflm  monstra,  et  latrator  Anubis 
Contra  Neptunum  et  Venerem,  contraque  Minervam, 
Tela  tenent."— Virgil,  jEneid,  VIII.  v.  678.  685.  698. 


WAR  DECLARED  AGAINST  CLEOPATRA.  453 

that  the  infamy  of  steahng  and  divulging  the  contents  of  a  will 
was  forgotten  in  the  indignation  felt  by  the  Romans  at  the  prefer- 
ence shown  by  Antonius  to  Egypt,  rather  than  to  his  own  country ; 
and  it  is  said  that  the  senate,  as  soon  as  they  had  heard  the  will 
read,  decreed  that  Antonius  should  be  deprived  of  the  consulship  to 
which  he  was  to  have  succeeded  in  the  following  year,^^^  and  of 
all  his  other  authority  as  an  officer  of  the  Roman  commonwealth. 
His  adherents  moreover  were  encouraged  to  desert  him  by  pro- 
mises of  indemnity  and  honours. 

At  the  same  time  war  was  declared  against  Cleopatra,  and 
Augustus  discharged  the  office  of  fecialis  or  herald.  Declaration  of  war 
in  going  through  all  the  usual  ceremonies  in  de-  against  cieopatra. 
nouncing  it.  But  for  a  contest  of  this  magnitude,  immense  re- 
sources were  requisite  ;  and  accordingly  Augustus  imposed  an 
income  tax  of  twenty-five  per  cent,  on  all  the  free  citizens  who 
possessed  any  land  in  Italy,^^^  and  a  tax  upon  capital  at  the  rate  of 
12/.  10s.  per  cent,  on  all  freedmen  who  were  worth  fifty  thousand 
denarii,  or  about  1614/.  The  inequality  of  these  burdens  was 
greatly  resented  by  the  freedmen,  and  numerous  disturbances 
were  the  consequence,  insomuch  that  it  Avas  supposed  that  the 
appearance  of  Antonius  in  Italy  at  that  moment  would  have  in- 
sured him  a  complete  victory  over  his  rival.  But  whether  Anto- 
nius was  not  sufficiently  advanced  in  his  preparations  to  risk  such 
an  attempt,  or  whether  there  was  any  failure  of  enterprise  on  his 
part,  it  is  certain  that  Augustus  was  suffered  to  crush  the  discon- 
tents of  Italy  without  any  interruption.  His  fleet  was  assembled 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Brundusium,^"  and  threatened  the  opposite 
coast  of  Epirus,  about  the  autumn  of  the  year  722  ;  and  Antonius 
judging  it  too  late  in  the  season  to  commence  any  active  opera- 
tions, fell  back  from  Corcyra,  to  which  place  he  had  advanced  in 
the  hope  of  carrying  the  war  into  Italy  before  his  adv-ersary  was 
ready  to  meet  him,  and  passed  the  winter  at  Patra3,  on  the  north- 
western coast  of  Peloponnesus.  And  thus  having  brought  the 
two  parties  to  the  eve  of  the  decisive  struggle,  we  shall  here  pause 
in  our  narrative ;  and  referring  our  readers  to  the  history  of 
Egypt^^'  for  the  details  of  the  Actian  war,  we  shall  hereafter  re- 
sume the  story  of  Augustus  at  the  period  when  his  ambition  was 
fully  gratified,  and  he  was  become  the  sole  sovereign  of  the  Ro- 
man empire. 

M<  Dion  Cassius,  L  421.  3«  Dion  Cassius,  424. 

345  Dion  Cassius,  L  424.     Plutarch,  in         ^''  Ency.  Metrop. 
Antonio,  58. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

CAIUS  OCTAVIUS  CtESAR  AUGUSTUS.— A  VIEW  OP  THE  HISTORY  OF 
ROME.— FROM  U.C.  722  TO  U.C.  766,  A.C.  32  TO  A.D.  13. 

If  we  were  to  judge  of  God's  moral  government  exclusively  from 
From  u.  c.  722  to  766.  ^ho  varlous  earthly  fortune  of  good  and  bad  men, 
A.  c.  32  to  A.  D.  13.  there  are  few  instances  of  successful  wickedness 
which  would  more  disturb  our  faith  than  that  of  the  long  and 
peaceful  reign  of  Augustus  Caesar.  Other  usurpers  have  enjoyed 
till  their  death  their  ill-gotten  power,  but  it  has  been  beset  by  fears 
and  anxieties  ;  and  the  severity  of  their  government  has  betrayed 
their  consciousness  of  the  real  feelings  with  which  they  were 
regarded,  and  has  proved  that  they  could  truly  anticipate  the 
sentence  which  after-ages  would  pass  upon  their  memory.  But 
Augustus  reigned  amidst  the  grateful  obedience  of  his  people  ; 
and  the  flattery  with  which  his  own  court  resounded,  has  been 
echoed  by  successive  generations,  till  he  has  been  habitually 
ranked  amongst  the  best  and  greatest  of  sovereigns ;  and  the 
period  of  his  dominion  has  been  considered  synonymous  with  the 
highest  state  of  civilization  and  public  prosperity.  Yet  the  man 
thus  eulogized  had  shown  himself  capable  of  every  wickedness, 
so  long  as  his  interests  required  it ;  and  the  merit  of  his  later 
years  consists  only  in  that  clearness  of  understanding  which 
taught  him  that  power,  although  most  readily  gained  by  crime, 
was  most  wisely  exercised  in  promoting  the  happiness  of  man- 
kind;  and  that  justice  and  mercy,  when  they  demanded  no  per- 
sonal sacrifices,  were  only  a  means,  as  easy  as  effectual,  of  pro- 
moting at  once  his  own  security  and  greatness. 

The  conquest  of  Egypt  became  a  most  seasonable  source  of 
Augustus  settles  the  "ches  to  Augustus,  and  he  availed  himself  of  it  to 
government  of  Egypt,  ^^g  utmost.  It  Is  Said  that  bcsidcs  the  immense 
treasures  accumulated  by  Cleopatra,^  and  the  heavy  forfeitures 
imposed  on  all  those  Egyptians  who  had  served  their  queen  with 
most  distinction  during  the  late  war,  a  tax  was  imposed  on  the 
whole  people  of  Egypt  to  the  amout  of  two-thirds  of  their  property, 
besides  a  heavy  contribution  levied  on  the  citizens  of  Alexandria, 

'  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  455,  edit.  Leunclavii. 


HONOURS  DECREED  TO  AUGUSTUS  BY  THE  SENATE.    455 

as  a  ransom  for  the  exemption  of  their  city  from  plunder.  In 
this  manner  Augustus,  we  are  told,  was  enabled  to  pay  all  the 
arrears  due  to  the  army,  and  to  discharge  his  obligations  to  those 
creditors  who  had  lent  him  money  for  the  expenses  of  the  war ; 
while  at  the  same  time  he  carried  off  a  great  number  of  magnifi- 
cent offerings  which  had  ornamented  the  temples  of  Egypt,  and 
were  now  to  be  laid  up  in  those  at  Rome.  It  is  said,  too,  that 
after  all  the  spoliations,  the  wealth  and  resources  of  Egypt 
appeared  to  him  so  formidable,  that  he  was  afraid  to  intrust  that 
province  to  the  charge  of  any  man  of  rank  or  influence,  lest  he 
should  raise  up  a  rival  to  himself  He,  therefore,  committed  the 
government  of  the  country  to  Cornelius  Gallus,  a  citizen  of  the 
equestrian  order,  and  a  person  of  very  low  extraction  f  he  would 
not  allow  the  city  of  Alexandria  to  possess  any  municipal  coun- 
cil ;  and  he  declared  all  Egyptians  incapable  of  being  admitted 
into  the  senate  at  Rome.  At  the  same  time  he  employed  his 
soldiers  in  clearing  out  many  of  the  old  canals  with  which  the 
country  had  been  formerly  intersected,^  and  which  had  been  for 
a  long  period  choked  up  by  the  mud  and  sand  deposited  in  the 
successive  inundations  of  the  Nile.  He  then  departed  from 
Egypt,  passed  through  Syria,  and  thence  continued  his  progress 
to  the  province  of  Asia,  wherein  he  resolved  to  remain  during 
the  winter. 

The  tidings  of  his  final  victory  over  Antonius  and  Cleopatra 
arrived  at  Rome  in  the  month  of  September,^  when.  Honours  decreed  to 
by  a  curious  coincidence,  M.  Cicero,  the  son  of  the  u.'c.ras!'^*'^"^'^' 
orator,  was  just  entering  on  his  consulship ;  for  that  office,  which 
was  now  a  mere  empty  title,  was  not  held  as  formerly,  for  the 
whole  year ;  but,  in  order  to  multiply  the  patronage  of  the  sove- 
reign, was  given  successively  to  several  persons,  each  of  whom 
only  retained  it  for  two  or  three  months.  Although  it  might  have 
been  thought  that  all  conceivable  modes  of  flattery  to  the  con- 
queror had  been  already  exhausted,  yet  the  senate,  on  this  occa- 
sion, was  once  more  lavish  of  its  honours  to  the  chief  of  the  vic- 
torious party,  and  of  its  marks  of  disgrace  on  the  memory  of  the 
vanquished.  All  monuments  in  honour  of  Antonius  were  ordered 
to  be  defaced  or  destroyed  ;  the  day  of  his  birth  was  to  be  held 
accursed,  and  no  member  of  his  family  was  ever  to  bear  the 
praenomen  of  Marcus.  On  the  other  hand,  solemn  games  were 
to  be  celebrated  every  five  years  in  honour  of  Augustus  ;  his 
birthday,  and  the  anniversary  of  the  day  on  which  the  news  of 
his  victory  had  reached  Rome,  were  to  be  kept  as  days  of  thanks- 
giving ;  he  was  to  be  met,  on  his  approach  to  the  capital,  by  the 

2  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  455.  Suetonius,  in         *  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  456.     Pliny,  Hist 
Augusto,  6G.  Natural.  XXII.  6.     Plutarch,  in  Cicerone, 

3  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  456.  Suetonius,in     49. 
Augusto,  18. 

30 


456  AUGUSTUS  RETURNS  TO  ROME. 

Vestal  virgins,  the  senate  and  people,  in  procession  with  their 
wives  and  children  ;  and  his  power  of  protection,  as  tribune,  to 
any  one  who  appealed  to  him,  was  to  extend  to  the  distance  of 
seven  stadia  and  a  half  without  the  walls  of  Rome  ;  and  further, 
he  was  to  have  a  privilege  of  pardoning  any  criminal,  by  giving 
what  was  called  the  vote  of  Minerva,  when  the  number  of  the 
voices  which  condemned,  exceeded  only  by  one  the  number  of 
those  which  acquitted.    Finally,  on  the  first  of  Jan- 

■™'  uary  in  the  ensuing  year,  the  senators  all  took  an 

oath  to  observe  all  his  acts  ;  and  the  gates  of  the  temple  of  Janus 
were  shut,  as  if  Augustus,  by  his  conquest  of  Egypt,  had  deliver- 
ed the  commonwealth  from  every  enemy,  and  had  brought  it  to  a 
state  of  perfect  peace. 

Meantime  the  cities  of  Asia,  wherein  Augustus  was  passing  the 
winter,  were  vying  with  Rome  itself  in  the  flatteries  which  they 
offered  him.  They  professed  to  regard  it  as  a  great  distinction, 
when  he  allowed  temples,  dedicated  to  Rome  and  to  the  divine 
Flatteries  paid  him  by  JuHus,  to  bc  ralscd  at  Ephcsus  and  Nicffia,^  and  two 
Asia.  '^^  "'"  °  others,  consecrated  to  Rome  and  to  himself,  to  be 
built  at  Pergamus  and  Nicomedia.  It  is  observed,  however,  that  the 
care  of  the  temples  dedicated  to  Julius  Csesar,  was  committed  to 
the  Roman  citizens  resident  in  the  cities  wherein  they  were  placed  : 
while  the  charge  of  the  temples  of  Augustus  was  given  to  the 
native  inhabitants,  or,  as  they  were  commonly  styled,  the  Greeks. 
The  Romans,  it  is  said,  would  not,  at  this  time,  condescend  to 
become  priests  in  the  temple  of  a  living  man,«  although  they  did 
not  object  to  bestowing  divine  honours  on  the  same  individual 
after  death.  But  the  subjects  of  Rome  were  less  scrupulous,  and 
the  example  of  the  Greeks  of  Asia  was  soon  followed,  we  are  told, 
by  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  provinces  of  the  empire. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  Augustus  crossed  over  from  Asia 
Augustus  returns  to  i^to  Grccce,  aud  thcuce  to  Italy. ^  He  lavished  the 
^o""^-  treasures  of  Egypt  so  liberally  on  all  classes  of  peo- 

ple, in  donations  to  his  soldiers,  in  largesses  of  100  denarii,  or 
about  3/.  4.?.  6d.  to  each  individual  citizen,  and  in  paying  all  the 
sums  which  he  had  borrowed  for  the  expenses  of  the  war,  that 
all  his  crimes  and  oppressions  were  forgotten  amid  the  splendour 
of  his  munificence ;  nor  did  he  give  less  general  satisfaction  by 
refusing  the  golden  crowns  which  were  offered  to  him,  as  they 
had  been  to  his  uncle,  by  the  cities  of  Italy,  and  by  remitting  all 
arrears  of  taxes  which  were  still  due  to  the  treasury.  Such  an 
overflow  of  money  was  at  this  time  poured  into  the  market  at 
Rome,  that  the  price  of  land  rapidly  rose,®  and  the  usual  rate  of 
interest  was  reduced  to  only  one-third  of  what  it  had  been  before  : 

5  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  458.    Tacitus,  An-         ''  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  458. 
nal.  IV.  37.  ^  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  458.     Suetonius,  in 

8  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  458.  Augusto,  4L 


CONSPIRACY  OF  THE  YOUNGER  LEPIDUS.  457 

the  great  mass  of  disposable  capital  making  every  one  eager  to 
become  a  purchaser  of  land  as  the  readiest  means  of  investing  it 
to  advantage,  while  all  who  wanted  to  borrow  money  were  ena- 
bled to  procure  it  on  far  easier  terms  than  usual. 
Augustus  then  celebrated  his  "  triple  triumph " 
during  three  successive  days :'  on  the  first  of  which  were  com- 
memorated the  victories  gained  either  by  himself  or  his  lieuten- 
ants, over  the  Dalmatians,  Pannonians,  and  various  other  barba- 
rian tribes  of  Germany  and  the  northern  extremity  of  Gaul  ;i''on 
the  second,  his  naval  victory  at  Actium ;  and  on  the  third,  his 
conquest  of  Egypt.  No  mention  was  made  of  Antonius  ;  nor  was 
the  late  contest  represented  in  any  other  light  than  as  a  struggle 
between  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome  and  the  queen  of 
Egypt.  A  figure  of  Cleopatra  lying  on  a  couch,  intended  to  dis- 
play the  manner  of  her  death,  was  carried  in  the  procession  ;  and 
two  of  her  children  by  Antonius,  Alexander  and  Cleopatra,  were 
exhibited  among  the  prisoners.  One  striking  change  of  the  forms 
practised  under  the  old  constitution  was  remarked  on  this  occa- 
sion. The  consuls,  and  other  magistrates  of  the  commonwealth, 
were  accustomed  to  walk  before  the  chariot  of  the  victorious  gen- 
eral ;  but  now  they  followed  in  his  train,  in  company  with  those 
senators  who  had  served  with  him  in  his  late  campaigns,  and 
were  now  sharing  in  the  honours  of  his  triumph. 

The  consecration  of  a  temple,  dedicated  to  Julius  Csesar  as  a 
demigod,  soon  furnished  Augustus  with  an  opportunity  of  further 
gratifying  the  people  by  an  exhibition  of  different  kinds  of  sports 
and  combats.  It  is  mentioned,  that  the  hippopotamus  and  rhi- 
noceros were  on  this  occasion  first  hunted  and  killed  in  a  Roman 
amphitheatre ;  and  that  large  bodies  of  the  Suevi  and  the  Da- 
cians,  the  former  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  German  tribes, 
and  the  latter  a  people  who  occupied  both  banks  of  the  Danube, 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  course  of  that  river,  were  matched  against 
each  other,  and  practised  each  their  national  mode  of  fighting 
in  real  battle,  for  the  entertainment  of  the  spectators. 

It  was  a  little  before  this  time,  apparently,  that  M.  Lepidus,  the 
son  of  the  late  Triumvir,  and  the  nephew  of  M.  conspiracy  of 

Brutus,  formed  a   design  to   destroy   Augustus."  Lepidus. 

The  particulars  of  this  attempt  are  not  recorded  :  Paterculus 
charges  him  with  intending  to  assassinate  Augustus  as  soon  as 
he  should  return  to  Rome ;  while  the  Epitomizer  of  Livy  says, 
that  he  was  meditating  an  open  attack  upon  his  power,  possibly 
by  endeavouring  to  draw  away  some  of  the  legions  from  his  ser- 

9  At  Caesar,  triplici  invectus  Romana  Triumpho 
Moenia,  &c.— Virgil,  JEneid.  VIII.  714. 
1"  Dion  Cassius,  459  ;  and  Virgil  ^ne-         "  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.    88.      Livy, 
id.  VIII.  714.  Livy,  Epitome,  CXXXIII.     Epitome,  CXXXIII.    Seneca,  de  Clemen- 
Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  22.  ti&,  9.     Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  19. 


458  AUGUSTUS  REMODELS  THE  SENATE. 

vice.  But  whatever  his  plans  were,  they  were  discovered  by  C. 
Maecenas,  to  whom  Augustus  had  intrusted  the  government  of 
the  capital  during  his  absence,  and  Lepidus  was  arrested  and 
put  to  death.  His  wife,  Servilia,  is  said  to  have  killed  herself  in 
consequence  of  his  loss,  by  swallowing  fire. 

In  the  midst  of  his  triumph,  and  when  the  sovereignty  which 
he  had  so  dearly  purchased  lay  at  length  securely  within  his 
grasp,  Augustus  is  said  to  have  meditated  an  entire  resignation 
of  his  power,  and  the  restoration  of  the  old  constitution.  This 
report,  which  is  mentioned  by  Suetonius,  became  embellished  in 
process  of  time  with  additional  circumstances  ;  and  Dion  Cassius, 
in  the  true  style  of  a  Greek  rhetorician,  represents  Augustus  as 
consulting  his  two  friends,  Agrippa  and  Maecenas,  on  this  impor- 
tant question  ;  and  ascribes  to  these  two  counsellors  two  speeches 
of  immense  length,  in  one  of  which  Agrippa  repeats  all  the  old 
common-place  arguments  in  favour  of  a  republic,  and  urges  Au- 
gustus to  restore  the  authority  of  the  senate  and  people ;  while 
in  the  other,  Maecenas,  in  a  strain  equally  trite,  recounts  the  ad- 
vantages of  monarchy,  and  presses  his  friend  to  retain  the  power 
which  fortune  had  put  into  his  hands.  It  is  most  improbable 
that  Augustus  should  ever  have  entertained  a  serious  thought  of 
sacrificing  the  prize  which  he  had  led  a  life  of  such  surpassing 
wickedness  to  gain  ;  although  it  is  perfectly  consistent  with  his 
character  that  he  should  have  wished  to  spread  such  a  belief 
among  the  people,  and  should  appear  to  be  reluctantly  induced 
to  bear  the  weight  of  government,  from  a  compassion  for  the  dis- 
ordered state  of  the  commonwealth.  We  may  more  readily  be- 
Heve  that  Mascenas  suggested  to  him  many  of  the  measures 
which  he  now  began  to  carry  into  execution,  for  establishing  the 
Augustus  remodels  ^^^^^  ordcr  of  thiugs.'^  He  first  turned  his  atten- 
the  senate.  ^[q^  ^q  ^j^g  senate,  whicli  he  proposed  to  reduce  in 

its  numbers,  and  to  remove  all  those  members  who  seemed  unfit 
for  their  station,  from  their  deficiencies  in  rank,  fortune,  or  char- 
acter ;  particularly  those  individuals  who  had  procured  their 
admission  after  Caesar's  death,  by  purchasing  from  Antonius  a 
pretended  grant  of  that  honour  by  the  late  dictator,  at  the  time 
when  Antonius  was  availing  himself  of  the  possession  of  Caesar's 
papers  to  gratify  his  own  rapacity  and  ambition.  In  this  review 
of  the  senate,  Augustus  chose  M.  Agrippa  as  his  colleague,  an(J 
after  a  considerable  number  of  senators  had  resigned  their  rank 
of  their  own  accord,  to  avoid  the  disgrace  of  expulsion,  each  re- 
maining senator  was  directed  to  name  one  other  whom  he  con- 
sidered as  most  worthy  to  remain  on  the  rolls.  All  those  whose 
names  found  no  place  on  this  list,  and  all  others  whom  the  cen- 
sors judged  it  expedient  to  remove,  were  then  marked  down^  and 

'2  Dion  Cassiua,  LII.  494.     Suetonius,  in  Atiguato,  35-. 


HIS  SALUTARY  AND  POPULAR  MEASURES.  459 

obliged,  it  is  said,  to  withdraw  of  themselves,  although  they 
were  not  allowed,  like  those  who  had  resigned  before  the  examina- 
tion, to  retain  the  dress  of  senators,  nor  their  seats  amongst  those 
reserved  for  the  senate  at  the  public  spectacles.  Whilst  carrying 
on  this  scrutiny,  Augustus  is  said  to  have  worn  armour  under 
his  clothes,'^  to  have  been  constantly  surrounded  by  ten  of  the 
senators,  on  whose  personal  strength  and  attachment  he  could 
most  fully  rely,  and  to  have  admitted  no  other  senator  into  his 
presence  without  causing  him  to  be  previously  searched,  lest  he 
should  carry  about  him  any  concealed  weapon.  It  is  added  also, 
that  he  deposed  one  Q,.  Statilius  from  the  office  of  tribune,'*  that 
lie  raised  two  senators  to  the  privileges  of  the  consular  rank, 
although  they  had  never  held  that  magistracy,  and  that,  follow- 
ing the'precedent  set  by  his  uncle,  he  conferred  on  several  noble 
families  the  dignity  of  patricians.  But  his  jealousy  of  the  nobility 
was  shown  by  an  order  which  he  issued,  forbidding  any  senator 
to  leave  Italy  at  any  time  without  his  permission,  as  if  fearful  of 
their  escaping  from  his  superintendence.  In  this  policy  also  he 
trod,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  steps  of  his  uncle,  Julius  Caesar. 

The  ensuing  year,  in  which  Augustus  held  the  office  of  con- 
sul for  the  sixth  time  himself,  and  chose  M.  Agrip-  gaiu^ry  and  popular 
pa  as  his  colleague,  was  marked  by  a  variety  of  "f""^'  "^  ^"^"'" 
acts,  all  tending  to  render  the  new  government  u.c.  725. 
generally  popular,  and  thus  preparing  the  way  for  the  scene 
which  was  soon  to  follo\v.  In  the  first  place,  Augustus  aflected 
to  revive  the  appearance  of  the  old  consulship, '^  by  treating  his 
colleague  entirely  as  his  own  equal.  He  amused  the  people  with 
magnificent  games  of  various  kinds;  he  formed  and  opened  for 
public  use  a  voluminous  library  of  Greek  and  Roman  literature 
on  the  Palatine  Hill ;  he  is  said  to  have  borrowed  money  to  ena- 
ble him  to  make  a  large  contribution  to  the  public  treasury ;  he 
issued  four  times  the  amount  of  the  allowance  of  corn  usually 
given  to  the  poorer  citizens  at  the  public  expense  ;  he  gave  sums 
of  money  to  the  poorer  senators,  to  enable  them  to  bear  the  bur- 
den of  the  sedileship,  and  other  expensive  public  offices  ;  he  burnt 
the  accounts  of  all  debts  of  long  standing  which  were  due  to  the 
commonwealth ;  and  made  over  to  the  possessors  the  full  pro- 
perty of  all  ground  in  the  capital  to  which  the  state  maintain- 
ed a  doubtful  claim, '«  It  is  mentioned  besides,  that  he  not  only 
liberally  repaired  all  the  temples  in  Rome  which  needed  it,'''  but 
he  was  careful  not  to  efface  the  names  of  the  original  founders, 
sior  to  substitute  his  own  as  the  restorer  of  their  work.     He  also 

19  Suetonius,  ubi  supra.  in  urbe  publica  Juris  ambigui  possessoribus 

M  Dion  Cassius,  ubi  supra.  adjudicavit." 

15  Dion  Cassius,  LIII.  496.  '^  Livy,  IV.  20.  "  Augustum  Caesaretn, 

W  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  32.     "  Loca     Templorum  omnium  conditorem  aut  resti- 

tutorpm."     Dion  Cassius,  LIII.  497. 


460  AUGUSTUS  OFFERS  TO  RESIGN  THE  GOVERNMENT. 

Stopped  the  proceedings  against  all  persons  who  had  been  long 
exposed  to  criminal  prosecutions,  and  whose  cases  had  never  yet 
been  decided ;  ordaining,  that  if  the  prosecutors  were  resolved  to 
continue  their  suits,  they  should  themselves  be  liable,  if  the  ac- 
cused were  acquitted,  to  suffer  the  same  punishment  which  he 
would  have  undergone  had  he  been  found  guilty.  Above  all. 
this  year  is  mentioned  as  the  period  in  which  most  of  the  disor- 
ders and  abuses  introduced  in  the  course  of  the  civil  wars*^  were 
corrected  or  removed.  Three  of  the  most  flagrant  of  these  are 
particularly  noticed.*^  The  unsettled  state  of  the  times  had  in- 
troduced the  practice  of  wearing  arms  for  self-defence  even  in 
the  streets  and  neighbourhood  of  Rome;  and  whole  bands  of 
ruffians,  pretending  to  be  armed  only  for  their  own  protection, 
carried  on  their  outrages  with  impunity.  These  were  suppressed 
by  a  vigorous  exertion  of  military  force.  By  a  similar  system  of 
violence,  travellers  of  all  descriptions  were  continually  kidnapped 
on  the  roads,2"  and  carried  oif  to  private  workhouses,  where  they 
were  confined  as  slaves,  and  treated  with  the  most  excessive 
cruelty  ;  but  this  evil  was  remedied  by  submitting  all  these  work- 
houses to  a  vigorous  search,  and  delivering  all  who  were  unlaw- 
fully detained  in  them.  A  third  mischief  was  the  formation  of  a 
vast  number  of  societies  or  clubs,'^'  one  of  the  worst  aggravations 
of  the  miseries  of  revolutions.  These  professed  to  resemble  the 
old  companies  belonging  to  the  several  trades  in  Rome  ;  but  they 
were  in  reality  mere  combinations  for  the  purposes  of  corruption 
or  violence  ;  and  it  was  therefore  a  general  benefit  when  Augus- 
tus dissolved  all  associations  except  those  that  were  ancient  and 
agreeable  to  law.  When  these  salutary  measures  had  won  the 
favour  of  all  classes  of  people,  Augustus  continued  himself  and 
Agrippa  in  the  consulship  for  the  following  year,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  execute  the  trick  on  which  he  designed  to  found  the 
permanent  establishment  of  his  government. 

It  is  said  by  Dion  Cassius,''^  that  several  of  the  senators  had 
He  offers  to  resign  the  hoen  prepared  beforehand  for  the  scene  which  was 
p?evai!™(f  upon  to  re-  to  take  place,  aud  these  would  not  fail  to  suggest 
u'c'we.  to  the  other  members  the  behaviour  which  they 

were  wished  to  adopt.  Augustus  then  came  to  the  senate  and  read 
a  speech  composed  for  the  occasion,  in  which  he  expressed  his 
intention  of  resigning  all  his  power,  and  restoring  the  old  constitu- 

18  Dion  Cassius,  LIIT.  497.  or  criminal  causes  in  the  courts  of  law,  and 

19  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  32.  to  further  their  election  when  canvassing 

20  See  the  story  of  Atilius,  ante,  p.  416.  for    any  public    office.     See  Thucydides, 
*'  Similar   societies  were   frequent    in  VIII.  54.  65,  and  his  character  of  such  so- 

Greece,  and  are  described  by  Thucydides  cieties,  III.  82,  in  that  admirable  passage 

as  the  ready  instruments  of  violence,  and  on  the  seditions  of  Greece,  which  is  a  les- 

particularly  of  assassination  in  all  political  son  to  every  age  and  nation, 
disturbances.    Their  object  was  to  support         22  LHJ.  497. 
their  members  when  engaged  in  any  civil 


SUGGESTION  OF  THE  TITLE  "AUGUSTUS."  451 

tion  of  the  commonwealth.  We  may  suppose  that  such  a  dec- 
laration was  heard  by  the  majority  with  extreme  surprise ; 
many  at  once  perceived  its  insincerity  ;  but  there  were  others,  we 
are  told,  who,  dreading  above  all  things  the  restoration  of  the 
republic,23  were  led  by  their  fears  to  suspect  that  Augustus  was 
in  earnest ;  and  these  joined  most  zealously  with  the  senators 
who  were  already  in  the  secret,  in  deprecating  a  resignation 
which  they  said  would  be  fatal  to  the  empire.  The  senators  who 
most  regretted  their  ancient  independence,  joined  perhaps  the 
more  eagerly  in  the  general  cry,  lest  they  might  betray  their  real 
feelings ;  and  thus  the  proposal  of  Augustus  was  received  exactly 
as  he  had  hoped ;  and  in  consenting  to  be  the  despot  of  his  coun- 
try, he  seemed  to  be  only  yielding  to  the  national  wish,  and  to 
accept  a  painful  burden,  which  no  other  citizen  but  himself  was 
able  to  bear.  Yet  that  he  might  not  lay  aside  the  mask  alto- 
gether, he  refused  to  undertake  the  administration  of  all  the  pro- 
vinces ;  and  selected  only  those  which  were  considered  as  requir- 
ing the  most  vigilant  superintendence,  and  in  which  the  presence 
of  a  military  force  was  most  necessary.^*  The  He  divides  the  admi- 
portion  of  the  empire  which  he  thus  consented  im-  "inces' witjf  thi  sen- 
mediately  to  govern,  consisted  of  the  whole  of  ^^■ 
Spain,  with  the  exception  of  Baetica,  the  limits  of  which  corres- 
pond nearly  with  those  of  the  modern  province  of  Andalusia, 
the  whole  of  Transalpine  Gaul,  Coele-Syria,  Phoenicia,  Cilicia, 
and  Egypt.  The  other  provinces  were  to  be  governed,  as  for- 
merly, by  proconsuls  annually  appointed  by  lot  from  among  the 
senators  :  and  even  that  part  of  the  empire  which  was  given  up 
to  Augustus,  he  declared  that  he  would  only  retain  for  ten  years, 
within  which  period  he  hoped  that  every  necessity  for  such  an 
extraordinary  power  would  be  at  an  end  ;  and  he  added,  that  he 
would  gladly  restore  his  provinces  earlier  to  the  senate  and  the 
people,  if  circumstances  should  render  it  practicable. 

The  monarchy  was  thus  established,  and  the  senate  laboured 
to  invent  yet  additional  honours  to  heap  upon  their  He  receives  additional 
new  master.  It  was  ordered  that  laurels  should  be  name'of  Augus'tus"'" 
planted  at  the  gates  of  his  residence  on  the  Palatine  Hill,  and  a 
wreath  of  oak  should  be  for  ever  hung  up  over  them ;  ^^  the  first 
denoting  that  he  was  ever  victorious,  and  the  oaken  wreath,  or 
civic  crown,  implying  that  he  was  the  perpetual  saviour  of  the 
lives  of  his  fellow-citizens.  It  was  debated  also,  what  title  of 
distinction  should  be  conferred  upon  him  ;  and  it  was  then  that 
L-  Munatius  Plancus  suggested  the  name  of  Augustus, '^^  an 
epithet  which  was  ordinarily  applied  to  places  set  apart  for  reli- 

23  Dion  Cassius,  502.  25  Dion  Cassius,  LIII.   507.     Valerius 

24  Dion  Cassius,  502.       Suetonius,  in     Maximus,  II.  8. 

Augusto,  47.  26  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  7.     Festus,  in 

voce  "  Augustus." 


462         OF  THE  FOREIGN  RELATIONS  OF  ROME. 

gious  purposes,  and  containing  any  thing  consecrated  by  augury, 
and  which  was  now  offered  to  the  new  sovereign,  as  signifying 
that  a  more  than  human  sacredness  and  majesty  existed  in  his 
person. 

In  this  manner,  at  the  age  of  six  and  thirty,  did  Augustus 
Sketch  of  the  con-     regularly   commence   his  reign  over   the   Roman 

tents  of  the  remain-  .  tt  .•         ii-  j        •     ^  r      j. 

der  of  this  memoir,  empu'c.  He  retamcd  his  power  durmg  lorty  years, 
a  period  of  general  peace  and  prosperity,  during  which  the  wounds 
inflicted  by  the  long  continuance  of  the  civil  wars  were  gradually 
and  effectually  healed.  To  write  the  annals  of  such  a  reign, 
especially  with  our  present  scanty  materials,  would  be  but  a 
meagre  and  unprofitable  labour.  We  shall  rather  attempt  to  give 
a  general  picture  of  the  whole  of  it,  and  without  pretending  to 
detail  the  events  of  every  successive  year,  to  present  a  view  of 
the  external  and  internal  state  of  the  empire  ;  of  its  relations 
with  foreign  powers  ;  of  the  nature  of  the  imperial  government ; 
of  the  condition  of  Italy  and  the  provinces ;  of  the  physical, 
moral,  and  intellectual  state  of  the  Roman  world  during  this  most 
memorable  period.  Some  notice  of  the  family  of  Augustus,  and 
of  the  person  likely  to  become  his  successor,  may  then  properly 
precede  our  account  of  his  death,  and  serve  to  connect  the  present 
portion  of  our  task  with  the  lives  hereafter  to  be  given  of  the 
emperors  who  followed  him. 

The  extent  of  the  Roman  dominion  in  the  reign  of  Augustus 
Of  the  foreign  refa-  ^^^^  ^^111  bclow  the  pojut  which  it  aftcrwards  at- 
tionsof  Rome.  taiucd  uudcr  Claudius  and  Trajan.     Britain  was  as 

yet  unsubdued,  and  a  large  tract  of  country  between  the  moun- 
tains of  Haemus  and  the  Danube  was  not  yet  tributary  to  Rome. 
But  the  empire  embraced  within  its  limits  the  whole  of  the  Medi- 
terranean ;  its  eastern  frontier  reached  the  Euphrates  ;  the  con- 
quest of  Egypt  extended  its  southern  boundary  to  the  cataracts 
of  the  Nile  ;  while  in  Europe  it  possessed  Spain  and  Gaul^  together 
with  all  that  portion  of  modern  Germany  which  is  situated  be- 
tween the  Alps  and  the  Danube.  It  is  of  little  importance,  how- 
ever, to  ascertain  the  exact  line  which  separated  the  Roman 
provinces  from  the  possessions  of  the  independent  barbarians. 
Even  within  the  limits  of  the  empire,  the  more  recently  conquered 
tribes  might  create  occasional  disturbance,  and  afford  some  em- 
ployment for  the  Roman  arms.  But  as  far  as  the  knowledge  of 
geography  then  attainable  enabled  them  to  cast  their  eyes  around 
the  world,  the  Romans  could  discover  only  two  nations  capable 
of  offering  an  effectual  resistance  to  their  power;  the  Parthians 
in  Asia,  and  the  Germans  in  Europe. 

The  Parthians,  a  rude  tribe  of  mountaineers  from  the  eastern 
I.  With  parthia.  ori-  shorcs  of  thc  Casplau  sea,  wearing  large  loose  caps 
gin  of  the  Parthians.    upon  their  hcads,"  and  armed  with  short  javelins 

2T  Herodotus,  Polymnia,  66.  64.62.  61. 


THE  PARTHIAN  CAPITALS.  463 

and  bows  of  cane,  marched  in  company  with  the  neighbouring 
tribes  of  the  Chorasmians  and  Sogdians,  amidst  that  countless 
muhitude  of  nations  whom  Xerxes  led  with  him  on  his  memo- 
rable expedition  against  Greece.  Such  is  the  earliest  notice  of 
the  Parthian  name  which  is  to  be  found  in  history ;  the  later  for- 
tunes of  the  nation,  their  subjection  to  the  Greek  kings  of  Syria, 
the  foundation  of  their  monarchy  by  Arsaces,  and  its  subsequent 
progress  down  to  the  invasion  and  defeat  of  the  Roman  army 
under  Crassus,  have  been  related  elsewhere.'^'  We  have  also 
mentioned  the  attack  made  by  the  Parthians  on  Syria  and  Asia 
Minor,  when  T.  Labienus,  a  Roman  exile,  conducted  their  armies  ; 
and  have  briefly  noticed  their  rapid  successes  and  equally  rapid 
reverses ;  the  victory  gained  by  P.  Ventidius  over  Pacorus,  the 
son  of  their  king ;  and,  lastly,  the  disastrous  attempt  of  M.  An- 
tonius  to  invade  their  country,  in  revenge  for  the  assistance  which 
they  had  rendered  to  the  party  of  Brutus  and  Cassius.  Their 
empire,  which  had  thus  contended  against  Rome  with  more  than 
equal  fortune,  now  embraced  the  whole  of  Asia  eastward  of  the 
Euphrates,*^'  to  the  most  remote  of  those  countries  which  were 
within  the  knowledge  of  the  Romans.  "  They  numbered  among 
their  provinces  the  once  mighty  names  of  Media  in  Assyria  ;^° 
and  even  Persia  itself,  the  seat  of  the  empire  of  the  great  king, 
although  it  still  had  princes  of  its  own,  was  no  more  than  a 
vassal  kingdom  dependent  on  the  sovereign  power  of  Parthia.^' 
There  were  two  capitals  of  the  monarchy,  Ecbatana  and  Seleu- 
cia.^'^  The  first,  the  ancient  metropolis  of  Media,  founded  by 
Deioces,  the  earliest  of  the  Median  princes,  was  the  summer 
residence  of  the  king  of  Parthia.  His  winters  were  passed  in 
the  lower  and  milder  country  on  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  where 
stood  Seleucia,  the  former  capital  of  the  Macedonian  kings  of 
Syria.  But  Seleucia  still  retained  a  shadow  of  inde])endence ; 
its  inhabitants,  proud  of  their  Greek  extraction,  language,  and 
manners,  would  have  associated  ill  with  the  guards  and  attend- 
ants of  a  barbarian  sovereign  ;  and  in  order  to  save  the  city  from 
the  burden  of  their  presence,"  the  court  was  accustomed  to  reside 
at  the  neighbouring  village  of  Ctesiphon,  which  was  situated  at 
the  distance  of  about  three  miles  from  Seleucia,  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  Tigris.  In  later  times,  when  the  citizens  of  Seleucia: 
were  become  obnoxious  to  the  Parthian  government,  from  having 
betrayed  an  impatience  of  its  dominion,  Ctesiphon  was  studiously 
favoured  as  a  rival  city,  which  might  be  made  a  national  capital 
of  the  empire  f*  and  thus  it  gradually  increased  in  wealth  and 
greatness,  while  Seleucia  as  gradually  declined  and  went  to  ruin. 

28  Ency.  Metrop.  32  Strabo,  XVL  ],§  Ifi. 

29  Strabo,  XI.  9,  §  2,  edit.  Siebenkees.         33  Strabo,  XVI.  I,  §  16.     Tacitus,  An- 
sa Strabo,  XVI.  1,  §  19,  edit.  Sieben-     nal.  VI.  42. 

kees.  31  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  VI.  26. 

31  Strabo,  XV.  3,  §  3.  24. 


464  INTERNAL  STATE  OF  PARTHIA. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  internal  state  of  Parthia  is  confined  to 

one  or  two  isolated  facts.     Strabo  expressly  omits 

Their  internal  state.     ^^^  ^^^j^^  ^^  ^j^^  subjcct  in  liis  geographical  worlc, 

referring  his  readers  to  the  information  concerning  it  which  he 
had  given  in  some  of  his  other  writings  ;^^  and  as  these  are  now 
lost,  his  reference  to  them  only  excites  our  curiosity  in  vain.  We 
can  only  discern  in  Parthia  the  existence  of  two  orders,  of  the 
nobility  and  priesthood,^^  each  of  which  formed  a  distinct  mem- 
ber of  the  great  national  council,  and  from  either  of  them  indif- 
ferently the  kings  might  be  selected.  There  was  also  that  striking 
characteristic  of  the  Sclavonic  tribes,  a  powerful  nobility,  with 
the  rest  of  the  population  consisting  almost  entirely  of  slaves. 
In  time  of  war  the  nobles  attended  the  king's  standard,  each 
bringing  with  him  a  large  body  of  his  dependents.  These  were 
not  freemen,  like  the  feudal  vassals  of  Europe,  but  slaves  j^''  they 
were,  however,  all  carefully  armed  and  trained  as  cavalry,  for  this 
constituted  the  whole  strength  of  the  Parthian  armies  ;  and  the 
greatness  of  the  chiefs  was  measured  by  the  number  of  slaves 
which  they  brought  into  the  field.  The  growth  of  an  inter- 
mediate class  of  freemen  between  the  nobles  and  their  slaves, 
was  checked  by  the  law  of  the  country,  which  forbade  any  master 
to  give  a  slave  his  liberty ;  so  that  the  highest  and  lowest  classes 
of  society  seemed  destined  to  exist  alone,  and  in  perpetual  contact 
with  each  other.  Probably,  indeed,  the  evils  of  slavery  were 
softened  by  the  interposition  of  such  wide  distinctions  between 
the  slave  and  the  freemen ;  as  they  must,  on  the  other  hand,  ap- 
pear more  intolerable  where  the  line  of  division  is  merely  arbi- 
trary, and  the  slave  sees  around  him  a  number  of  freemen  who 
appear  neither  in  wealth,  or  birth,  or  condition,  elevated  above 
his  own  level.  But  when  freedom  was  identified  with  riches,  and 
power,  and  high  nobility,  it  seemed  placed  completely  out  of  his 
reach,  and  the  absence  of  it  was  so  natural  as  hardly  to  excite  a 
murmur.  Those  revolts  and  mutinies,  therefore,  of  which  we 
have  seen  such  bloody  instances  among  the  slaves  in  the  Roman 
empire,  appear  to  have  been  unknown  in  Parthia.  None  would 
have  dared  in  Greece  or  Rome  to  enlist  slaves  into  the  army,  much 
less  to  give  them  the  same  arms  which  were  intrusted  to  free 
citizens  ;  but  the  Parthian  chiefs  armed  their  dependents  like 
themselves,  and  instead  of  trembling  at  any  symptoms  which 
they  might  display  of  courage  and  activity,  they  trained  them 

35  Strabo,  XI.  !),  §  3,  edit.  Siebenkees.  caste.     The  Adiaemenidae  in  Persia  seem 

33  Strabo,  XI.  9,  §3.  ruii/  napdvaioju  cv-  to  have  been  an  instance  of  a  smaller  class 

viipwv  iprjji   IljueiSi-oinos  dvai  Sittuv  to  jiiv  on  a  more  limited  scale. 
avyycviiv,  to  Si  aotp'^v  xat  jtiy(oi>,  i^  (oi/ d/d/nHi'         3''  Justin,  XLI.  2.    This  account  of  the 

Tovi  PaaiXcas  Kadiarnatv.     We  have  transla-  Parthians  seems  to  be  copied   from  some 

ted  iTvyyefiZv  by  the  word  "  nobility,"  sup-  trust-worthy  authority,   and  is  consistens 

posing  it  to  signify  an   extended   clan  or  and  sensible. 


PARTHIAN  DEALINGS  WITH  THE  ROMANS.  465 

carefully  in  all  martial  exercises,^^  and  beheld   their  proficiency 
with  the  same  pleasure  as  that  of  their  own  children. 

At  the  period  with  which  we  are  now  engaged,  a  prince, 
whom  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers  call  Phraates,  Transactions  between 
was  seated  on  the  Parthian  throne.^'  Having  been  them  and  the  Romans 
chosen  by  his  father  as  his  successor,  he  is  said  to  have  secured 
an  earlier  enjoyment  of  the  crown,  by  murdering  both  him  and 
thirty  of  his  other  sons  ;  and  committing  additional  cruelties  after 
his  repulse  of  the  Roman  invasion  under  Antonius,  he  was  driven 
from  the  throne  by  the  indignation  of  his  subjects,  and  a  succes- 
sor, named  Tiridates,  was  appointed  in  his  room.  After  some 
time,  however,  Phraates,  by  the  aid  of  some  of  the  rude  Scythian 
tribes  which  bordered  upon  Parthia,  recovered  his  kingdom,  and 
drove  his  competitor  into  exile  in  his  turn.  Tiridates  fled  into 
the  dominions  of  Rome,  carrying  with  him  the  youngest  son  of 
Phraates,  whom  he  had  contrived  to  get  in  his  power  ;  and  offer- 
ing this  young  prince  as  a  hostage  to  Augustus,  he  requested  his 
assistance  to  restore  him  to  his  throne,  promising  him  to  extend 
the  influence  of  Rome  over  Parthia,  if  he  were  reinstated  by  Ro- 
man aid.  Phraates,  on  the  other  hand,  solicited  Augustus  to 
release  his  son,  and  to  give  up  Tiridates  as  a  rebel."  Augustus, 
more  disposed  to  consolidate  than  to  extend  his  empire,  sent  back 
the  son  of  Phraates,  and  refused  to  assist  the  attempts  of  Tiri- 
dates, while  at  the  same  time  he  allowed  him  to  live  quietly 
in  the  Roman  dominions.  Phraates,  thus  finding  that  he  had 
nothing  to  fear  from  Rome,  and  still  suspecting  danger  from  his 
own  subjects,  resolved  to  commit  four  of  his  sons  to  the  care  of 
Augustus,  partly  as  hostages,  and  partly,  we  are  told,  to  prevent 
them  from  being  raised  to  the  throne  in  his  place,^'  knowing  that 
the  Parthians  would  set  up  no  competitor  against  him,  unless  he 
were  of  the  royal  stock  of  the  Arsacidae.  Augustus  received  the 
Parthian  princes,  and  treated  them  with  the  greatest  kindness,  bring- 
ing them  up  in  the  customs  of  the  Romans,  and  instructing  them 
in  the  arts  and  superior  knowledge  of  Europe  ;  he  availed  him- 
self also  of  his  friendly  connexion  with  Phraates,  to  procure  from 
him  the  restoration  of  all  the  Roman  standards  and  prisoners 
which  had  been  taken  in  the  expeditions  of  Crassus  and  Anto- 
nius.'*^ This  supposed  reparation  of  the  greatest  disasters  sus- 
tained for  many  years  by  the  Roman  arms,  was  especially  grate- 
ful to  Augustus  ;  and  there  is  no  foreign  transaction  of  his  reign 
on  which  the  panegyrists  of  those  limes  have  dwelt  with  greater 
complacency. 

3S  Justin,   XLI.  2.     He  says  that   the  «  Justin,  XLII.  5. 

army  which   repulsed  Antonius  consisted  4'  Tacitus,    Annal.    II.   1,   2.     Strabo, 

of  50,000  cavalry,  in  which  number  there  XVI.  1,  §  28. 

were  only  400  freemen  ;  the  rest  was  made  ^2  Strabo  and  Justin, locis  citatis.   Livy, 

up  entirely  of  slaves.  Epitome,  CXXXIX. 

39  Justin.  XLII.  5. 


466  RELATIONS  OF  ROME  WITH  GERMANY. 

Nearly  a  century  had  now  elapsed  since  the  invasion  of  Italy 
II.  Relation  of  Rome  by  the  CiiTibri  and  Teutones  ;  and  notwithstanding 
progress^f  thT'iio-  tlic  final  destrucllon  of  the  invaders,  the  Romans 
ricumT""*''"'""  "'^'  could  not  forget  that  several  consular  armies  had 
been  overthrown  before  Marius  had  been  able  to  stem  the  torrent. 
When  Caesar  first  took  possession  of  his  government  in  Gaul,  he 
found  that  the  Gauls  regarded  the  Germans  with  the  greatest  ter- 
ror, as  a  people  far  more  warlike  than  themselves  ;  and  although 
he  destroyed  the  army  of  Ariovistus,  and  made  a  short  expedition 
beyond  the  Rhine,  yet  the  conquest  of  Gaul  afforded  him  sufficient 
employment,  and  the  Roman  arms  had  as  yet  made  no  serious 
impression  upon  Germany.  During  the  thirteen  years  which 
elapsed  between  the  death  of  Csesar  and  the  battle  of  Actium,  we 
read  of  a  second  expedition  made  by  the  Romans  beyond  the 
Rhine  in  the  year  716,  under  the  command  of  M.  Agrippa  •,*^  but 
this  had  probably  no  other  object  than  to  chastise  some  of  the 
German  tribes,  who  had  assisted  the  Gauls  in  a  fruitless  attempt 
to  recover  their  independence.  A  more  regular  hostility  seems  to 
have  been  carried  on  against  those  numerous  tribes  who  were  in- 
cluded under  the  general  name  of  Illyrians,^^  and  who  occupied 
the  whole  country  between  the  Alps  and  the  Danube,  together 
with  the  whole  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  Adriatic,  extending 
southwards  to  the  veiy  confines  of  Greece.  Some  parts  of  this 
extensive  tract  had  indeed  been  conquered  by  the  Romans  at  a 
much  earlier  period :  a  king  of  the  most  southern  extremity  of  it 
had  taken  part  with  Perseus  in  the  last  struggle  made  by  the  Mace- 
donian monarchy,  and  had  paid  for  his  oftence  by  the  forfeiture  of 
his  dominions;  whilst  the  Dalmatians,  who  were  thus  brought 
into  contact  with  the  Roman  frontier,  were  attacked  twelve  years 
afterwards,  merely  in  order  to  find  some  employment  for  the  Ro- 
man arms.^^  Accordingly,  several  victories  were  gained  over 
them,  which  were  the  occasion  of  a  triumph  to  several  Roman 
generals  ;  and  the  bounds  of  the  Roman  provinces  of  Illyricum 
were  gradually  extended.  Yet  the  Dalmatians  were  persevering 
enemies  ;  even  in  the  civil  war  between  Pompey  and  Caesar,  they 
inflicted  a  signal  defeat  on  Caesar's  officer,  the  notorious  A.  Gabi- 
nius ;  and  after  the  establishment  of  Caesar's  power,  we  find  P. 
Vatinius,  the  successor  of  Gabinius,  complaining,  in  a  letter  to 
Cicero,^''  of  the  tedious  nature  of  the  contest  against  them,  and  of 
the  injustice  of  Caesar,  who  seemed  to  expect  that  he  should  go 
through  the  endless  labour  of  conquering  the  whole  people,  before 
he  would  reward  him  with  the  honour  of  a  triumph.  The  Tri- 
umvirs, however,  were  more  indulgent  than  Caasar,  for  Vatinius 

■iS  Dion  Cas3iu3,XLVIII.  387.  edit.  Le-  tiqua.      To   the  authorities   there    quoted 

unclavii.  may  be  added  Appian,  lUyrica,  6. 

<t  Cluverius,  Vindelicia  et  Noricum,  1,  *^  Polybius,  XXXII.  19. 

forming  an  appendix  to  his  Germania  An-  *^  Epist.  ad  Famiiiares,  V.  epist.  X. 


EXPEDITION  OF  DRUSUS  AND  TIB.  NERO. 


467 


obtained  his  triumph,  through  their  favour,  in  the  year  after  the 
proscription,^"  aUhough  the  Dalmatians  were  still  unconquered ; 
and  only  three  years  afterwards,  C.  Asinius  Pollio  obtained  an- 
other triumph  over  the  same  people,^^  and  Horace  could  speak  of 
the  "  eternal  renown "  which  "  the  laurel  of  his  Dalmatian  tri- 
umph had  won  for  him."  Again  the  contest  was  renewed  by 
Augustus  himself,  who  only  four  years  after  the  victories  of 
Pollio,  engaged  personally  in  the  Illyrian  war,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  wounded  in  an  attack  upon  one  of  the  fortresses  of 
Dalmatia.^^  Under  his  command  Pannonia  was  invaded  and 
conquered;  and  as  the  Roman  arms  continued  to  advance  to- 
wards the  Danube,  the  countries  bordeiing  on  the  Adriatic  appear 
to  have  been  at  last  more  effectually  subdued  ;  and  victories  be- 
came less  frequent  in  Dalmatia  and  Liburnia,  when  they  began 
to  be  won  on  the  frontiers  of  Vindelicia  and  Noricum.  After  Au- 
gustus was  established  in  the  full  possession  of  the  empire,  his 
sons-in-laW;  Tiberius  Nero  and  Claudius  Drusus,  carried  the  Ro- 
man conquests  into  Rhsetia  f°  and  whatever  occasional  disturb- 
ances might  still  arise  within  that  limit,  the  Danube  became  now 
regarded  as  the  frontier  of  the  empire,  at  least  during  the  whole 
of  its  course  through  Germany. 

Wliile  the  Romans  were  thus  extending  their  conquests  from 
the  Alps  to  the  Danube,  they  attempted  to  pene-  Expe.iition  of  Drusus 
trate  in  another  quarter  into  the  very  heart  of  Ger-  fhe  m'lin?''™  "^'"'" 
many,  and  to  advance  their  frontier  from  the  Rhine  to  the  Elbe, 
Claudius  Drusus  was  first  employed  in  this  service,  and  after- 
wards his  elder  brother,  Tiberius  Nero.  In  the  course  of  these 
wars  more  than  fifty  Roman  fortresses  were  built  on  the  banks  of 
the  Rhine,^^  many  of  which  were  the  first  germ  of  towns  still  ex- 
isting ;  and  amongst  these  are  to  be  numbered  Mentz,  Bingen, 
Coblentz,  Andernach,  and  Bonn.  A  fleet  also  co-operated  with 
the  army,  sailing  round  from  the  ports  of  Gaul  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Elbe  ;  and  the  country  was  so  far  overrun,  that  Drusus  had 
established  military  posts  along  the  course  of  that  river,  as  well 
as  of  the  Weser.  Had  these  successes  been  unchecked,  the  Ro- 
mans would  have  permanently  occupied  the  greatest  part  of  Ger- 
many ;  the  Latin  language  and  the  manners  of  Italy  might  have 
prevailed  as  entirely  over  the  language  and  manners  of  the  Ger- 
mans as  they  did  over  those  of  the  Gauls  and  Spaniards  ;  whilst 
the  Teutonic  tribes,  pressed  by  the  Romans  on  the  Elbe,  and  by 
the  Sclavonic  nations  on  the  Oder  and  the  Vistula,  would  have 

47  Fasti  Consulares  et  Triumphi,  a  Si-  *^  Dion  Cassius,  XLIX.  412.     Florus. 

gonio  editi.  IV.  12.     Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  20 

43  Fasti  Consulares   et   Triumphi,  and  ^o  Livy,  Epitome,  CXXXVI.     Florus, 

Horace,  Carm.  II.  IV.  12.       Suetonius,  in  Tiberio,  9. 

Cui  laurus  SBtemoa  honores  ^i  Florus,  IV.  12. 
Dalniatico  peperittriumpho. 


46S  aUINTlLlUS  VARUS  COMMANDS  THE  ROMAN  ARMY. 

been  either  gradually  overpowered  and  lost,  or  at  any  rate  would 
never  have  been  able  to  spread  that  regenerating  influence  over 
the  best  portion  of  Europe,  to  which  the  excellence  of  our  modern 
institutions  may  in  great  measure  be  referred.  If  this  be  so,  the 
victory  of  Arminius  deserves  to  be  reckoned  among  those  signal 
deliverances  which  have  affected  for  centuries  the  happiness  of 
mankind ;  and  we  may  regard  the  destruction  of  Quintilius 
Varus,  and  his  three  legions,  on  the  banks  of  the  Lippe,  as 
second  only  in  the  benefits  derived  from  it  to  the  victory  of 
Charles  Martel  at  Tours,  over  the  invading  host  of  the  Moham- 
medans. 

It  was  in  the  year  744  that  M.  Claudius  Drusus  died  in  Ger- 
many ;"  and  his  brother,  Tiberius  Nero,  was  appointed  to  suc- 
ceed him  in  his  command.  Tiberius  is  said  to  have  conducted 
the  war  with  extraordinary  success ;  to  have  overrun  again  the 
whole  country  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  and  to  have  re- 
duced it  almost  to  the  condition  of  a  Roman  province.  But  when 
he  returned  to  Rome  to  enjoy  a  triumph,  and  to  receive  the  con- 
sulship, the  effects  of  his  victories  began  to  wear  away,  and  the 
Germans  soon  renewed  the  contest.  Ten  years  afterwards,  when 
Tiberius  had  been  adopted  by  Augustus  as  his  son,'^  he  repaired 
for  the  second  time  to  Germany,  and  employed  two  summers  in 
retracing  the  ground  of  his  former  conquests,  and  in  again  terri- 
fying rather  than  subduing  the  Germans  into  submission.  On 
this  occasion,  too,  the  Roman  fleet  co-operated  with  the  army,  and 
again  sailed  round  to  the  mouth  of  the  Elbe,  and  advanced  some 
way  up  the  river.^*  A  succession  of  such  campaigns  must  have 
produced  a  permanent  effect ;  and  the  Germans  would  have  been 
conquered  as  completely  as  the  Gauls ;  for  the  Gauls  had  main- 
tained an  eight  years'  struggle  against  Caesar,  and  none  of  their 
efforts  had  been  so  formidable  as  the  last,  when  Vercingetorix  had 
roused  all  the  force  of  his  country  to  contend  with  the  Romans  at 
Alesia.  But  as  Tiberius  was  on  the  point  of  commencing  his 
third  campaign,  a  general  revolt  of  all  the  Pannonian  and  Dal- 
matian tribes  interrupted  his  career,  and  gave  at  this  most  criti- 
cal moment  a  breathing  time  to  Germany.^^  The  main  force  of 
the  empire  was  engaged  between  the  Danube  and  p.  auimiiius  van,8 
the  Alps ;  and  the  recent  conquests  of  Tiberius  be-  ^^r!"amy  i^Gei^t 
tween  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,  were  committed  to  "''• 
the  charge  of  P.  Q,uintilius  Varus,  with  an  army  of  three  legions. 
Varus  had  already  been  intrusted  with  the  government  of  Syria,^" 
and  in  that  station  had  made  himself  known  by  his  exactions, 
and  was  said  to  have  transferred  to  himself  the  riches  of  the 
province.     In  his  command  in  Germany  he  seemed  to  consider 

52  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  97.  ^5  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  110. 

53  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  104.  *®  Tacitus,  Histor.  V.  9.     Velleius  Pa- 

54  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  106.  terculus,  117.     Dion  Cassias,  LVI.  582. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  ARMINIUS.  459 

himself  again  in  Syria ;  he  introduced  the  Roman  jurisdiction 
into  the  conquered  territories,  and  irritated  the  rude  minds  of  the 
barbarians,  by  subjecting  them  to  a  discipline  the  most  alien  from 
their  habits  and  character.  But  it  is  said,  that  in  order  to  lull 
him  into  a  false  security,  the  German  chiefs  pretended ^o  receive 
with  gratitude  the  institutions  which  he  was  introducing  among 
them.  They  concerted  quarrels  amongst  themselves,  and  soli- 
cited the  arbitration  of  Varus  to  decide  them,  professing  to  ad- 
mire the  superior  knowledge  of  the  Romans,  which  taught  them 
to  settle  their  differences  by  the  rules  of  equity  instead  of  by  the 
sword.  Varus  by  constitution  and  habit  possessed  little  of  the 
activity  of  a  soldier :  the  imaginary  dignity  of  his  situation,  as 
the  lawgiver  and  instructor  of  Germany,  flattered  at  once  his 
vanity  and  his  indolence  ;  and  the  licentious  and  rapacious  pas- 
sions which  the  Roman  magistrates  were  so  often  accustomed  to 
indulge  in  the  provinces,  began  now  also  to  look  for  gratifica- 
tion. Those  profligacies  which  Varus  might  have  committed  in 
safety  amidst  the  general  relaxation  of  morals  in  Syria,  were  con- 
sidered as  the  most  intolerable  outrages  by  the  severe  chastity  of 
the  Germans,  who  looked  upon  adultery  with  abhorrence,  and 
regarded  their  wives  as  the  chosen  partners  of  all  the  dangers  and 
labours  of  their  lives.  It  is  likely  that  the  Romans,  believing 
themselves  securely  established  in  the  dominion  of  the  country, 
began  to  offer  without  restraint  those  insults  to  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  their  subjects  for  which  the  armies  of  southern  cli- 
mates have  ever  been  infamous  ;  and  which  in  ancient  days,  from 
the  low  standard  of  morals  every  where  existing,  were  committed 
with  peculiar  indifference. 

In  this  state  of  things  the  plan  of  surprising  and  cutting  off" 
the  whole  Roman  army  is  said  to  have  been  first  conspiracy  of  Armi. 
conceived  by  a  young  German  chief,  whose  name  "•"•■*.  of  Herman. 
the  Roman  writers  have  corrupted  into  Arminius,but  to  whom  we 
may  more  properly  give  his  true  appellation  of  Herman.  He  had 
served  in  the  late  campaigns  amongst  the  auxiliaries  of  Rome  ;^' 
and  had  been  admitted  not  only  to  the  privileges  of  Roman  citi- 
zenship, but  also  to  the  rank  of  the  equestrian  order.  He  now 
concerted  his  measures  with  his  countrymen  with  the  utmost  se- 
crecy ;  while  at  the  same  time  he  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to 
increase  the  confidence  of  Varus,  and  to  lead  him  into  the  snare 
which  he  was  preparing.  The  Roman  general  had  been  persuad- 
ed to  weaken  his  forces  by  sending  detachments  into  various 
parts  of  the  country,  at  the  request  of  the  German  chiefs  them- 
selves, in  order,  as  they  said,  to  maintain  tranquillity,  and  to  se- 
cure the  safe  arrival  of  his  convoys  of  provisions  j^^  and  on  a 
stated  day  the  insurrection  broke  out  at  a  point  most  remote  from 

57  Velleius  Paterculus,  118.  53  Dion  Cassius,  LVI.  583. 


470  FATAL  MARCH  OF  VARUS. 

his  head-quarters ;  and  he  received  intelligence  that  the  people  of 
the  country  had  risen  and  massacred  the  troops  which  they  had 
asked  him  to  send  among  them.  Upon  this  he  instantly  put  his 
army  in  motion  to  chastise  the  insurgents,  while  Herman  and  the 
other  chiefs  of  the  conspiracy  still  professed  the  most  entire  attach- 
ment to  Rome,  and  promised  to  join  him  with  their  own  forces  at 
a  certain  point  on  his  line  of  march,  that  they  might  assist  him  in 
putting  down  the  rebellion.  Varus,  we  are  told,  had  been  previ- 
ously warned  of  the  treachery  of  Herman  by  another  German 
chief,  whom  the  Romans  called  Segestes."  Herman  had  mar- 
ried the  daughter  of  this  chief  against  his  wishes,  and  this  private 
injuiy,  added  to  his  own  attachment  to  the  Romans,  made  Seges- 
tes  disposed  to  save  them  from  the  destruction  with  which  they 
were  threatened.  When  he  found  that  all  his  warnings  had  been 
slighted,  he  addressed  Varus  immediately  before  he  commenced 
his  march,  and  while  Herman  and  the  other  conspirators  were  yet 
in  the  Roman  camp,  and  implored  him  that  he  would  at  once  ar- 
rest Herman  himself,  and  all  the  other  German  chiefs  who  were 
present,  as  the  only  means  of  defeating  their  treachery.  But  Va- 
rus was  obstinate  in  his  incredulity  ;  and  Herman  and  his  asso- 
ciates were  allowed  to  depart  and  put  themselves  at  the  head  of 
their  forces. 

The  Roman  army  was  impeded  by  an  immense  train  of  wag- 
varus  sets  out  with  ous  ladcu  with  their  baggage,  and  by  a  crowd  of 
his^army  from  his  ^^^j-^-^gj-j  ^^^^  children  belonging  to  the  soldiers,  who 
were  permitted  to  follow  the  march,  as  the  general  would  not 
allow  himself  to  apprehend  any  danger.  The  way  ran  through 
an  extensive  forest,  called  by  the  Romans  the  Forest  of  Teuto- 
burg,*"  which  spread  over  a  considerable  tract  of  country  between 
the  Lippe  and  the  Ems.  In  the  intervals,  between  the  woods, 
the  ground  was  broken  and  boggy,  and  the  Romans  had  to  un- 
dergo the  labour  of  forming  for  themselves  a  practicable  road,  by 
clearing  away  the  trees,  and  constructing  a  sort  of  causeway 
through  the  worst  parts  of  the  morasses.  W^hen  they  were  al- 
He  is  surprised  on  his  ready  wcaricd  by  their  exertions,  and  perfectly  un- 
Sans!*  ^^  ^^^  ^^^  prepared  for  any  attack,  the  troops  of  Herman  and 
his  associates,  who  were  to  join  them  at  this  place,  suddenly  ap- 
peared ;  and  rushing  out  from  the  woods  on  every  side,  assailed 
them  with  a  heavy  discharge  of  their  missile  weapons.  The  Ro- 
mans, encumbered  by  their  heavy  baggage,  and  by  the  nature  of 
the  groiuid,  were  unable  to  form  in  any  regular  order  to  repel  the 
enemy  ;  they  thus  sustained  a  heavy  loss  without  being  able  to 
retaliate  ;  and  having  made  little  or  no  progress  in  their  march, 
they  encamped  for  the  night  on  one  of  the  most  open  and  level 

59  Tacitus,  Anna).  I.  55.     Velleius  Pa-        s"  Dion  Cassius,  LVI.  583,  et  seq. 
terculus,  118. 


THE  ARMY  IS  DESTROYED-VARUS  KILLS  HIMSELF.        471 

spots  that  they  could  find  amidst  the  forest.  Here  they  destroyed 
or  abandoned  a  great  part  of  their  heavy  baggage,  and  the  next 
morning  again  renewed  their  march.  But  they  still  had  to  con- 
tend with  the  same  natural  diliiculties  of  woods  and  bogs  ;  and 
while  their  own  numbers  were  decreasing  every  hour,  the  confi- 
dence of  success  was  swelling  the  force  of  the  Germans ;  and 
many,  who  had  at  first  dreaded  to  take  any  part  in  the  conspira- 
cy, came  now  to  share  in  the  anticipated  spoils  of  the  Roman 
army.  It  is  said  too,  that  the  weather  was  exceedingly  tempestu- 
ous, and  that  violent  squalls  of  wind  and  rain  impeded  the  move- 
ments of  the  Romans,  and  so  drenched  their  clothing  and  their 
wooden  shields,  that  they  could  not  stir  themselves  or  wield  their 
arms.  The  result  was  the  total  destruction  of  the  Roman  army. 
Varus  himself  and  his  principal  officers,  most  of  them  having  been 
already  wounded,  fell  upon  their  own  swords,  that  they  might  not 
be  taken  alive  by  the  enemy  ;^'  and  the  wreck  of  his  army,  hav- 
ing attempted  in  vain  to  secure  themselves  at  the  His army> destroyed, 
approach  of  night  by  forming  a  camp,  and  to  shel-  a'"i  iie  kub  himself. ' 
ler  themselves  behind  the  ditch  and  rampart,  were  persuaded  by 
one  of  their  surviving  commanders  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and 
to  try  the  mercy  of  the  conqueror.  But  there  is  little  humanity 
to  be  expected  from  barbarians  when  they  feel  that  the  moment 
is  arrived  for  taking  vengeance  for  a  long  series  of  insults  and  in- 
juries. The  military  tribunes  and  principal  centurions  among 
the  prisoners  were  slaughtered  by  the  Germans  as  victims  to  their 
gods,  before  some  altars  raised  in  the  adjoining  woods  ;  the  com- 
mon soldiers  were  hanged  upon  the  trees,  or  stifled  in  the  mo- 
rasses ;  and  the  heads  of  many  of  those  who  had  perished  were 
fastened  to  the  trunks  of  the  trees  as  a  trophy  of  the  victory. 
Above  all,  it  is  said,  the  Germans  felt  a  peculiar  delight  in  tortur- 
ing those  of  their  prisoners  who  had  practised  as  lawyers  in  the 
courts  established  by  Varus  ;^-  they  put  out  their  eyes,  or  cut  off" 
their  hands  ;  and  one  man,  we  are  told,  cut  out  the  tongue  of  his 
victim,  and  then  sewed  up  his  mouth,  exclaiming,  "  Now,  viper, 
cease  thy  hissing  !"  In  the  defeat  of  the  army,  the  standards  of 
the  legions  and  two  of  the  eagles  were  also  taken,  and  these  tro- 
phies were  exhibited  by  Herman  to  his  soldiers,  and  treated  with 
every  mark  of  contempt  and  mockery.  The  third  eagle  was 
saved  by  the  standard-bearer,  who  pulled  it  off"  from  its  staff',  and 
kept  it  concealed  under  his  girdle  ;  he  then  hid  himself  in  a  bog 
till  the  enemy  had  left  the  spot,  and  effected  his  escape  in  safety  to 
the  Rhine.  In  the  mean  time  other  detachments  of  The  Romans  are 
the  Roman  army  were  attacked  in  different  quar-  many! ""' °^  *^"' 
ters  ;  and  although  some  succeeded  in  cutting  their  way  through 
the  assailants  and  escaping  into  Gaul,  yet  the  triumph  of  the  Ger- 

«'  Tacitus,  Annal.  I.  61.  62  Florus,  IV.  12. 

31  1 


472  EXPEDITION  OF  TIBERIUS  INTO  GERMANY. 

mans  was  every  where  complete  ;"  the  Romans  fled  beyond  the 
Rhine,  and  all  the  conquests  which  they  had  made  between  the 
river  and  the  Elbe  were  totally  and  irrecoverably  lost." 

The  accounts  of  the  consternation  produced  at  Rome  by  the 
Consternation  felt  at  defeat  of  Varus  dcscribc  it  as  so  excessive,  that  unless 
f^otne.  jjjgy  came  from  the  Romans  themselves,  we  should 

regard  them  as  the  mere  exaggerations  of  national  pride  in  the 
conquerors,  exalting  the  effects  of  their  own  success.  We  are  told 
that  Augustus  posted  guards  in  different  parts  of  Rome  ;^^  that  he 
continued  all  the  governors  of  the  provinces  in  their  several  com- 
mands, as  if  the  crisis  required  only  officers  of  tried  ability  and 
experience  ;  and  that  he  followed  a  precedent  which  had  been  set 
during  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  the  Cimbri,  and  repeated  in  the 
war  with  the  Italian  allies,  of  vowing  solemn  games  to  Jupiter, 
"  if  he  would  be  pleased  to  bring  the  commonwealth  into  a  better 
condition."  Augustus  himself  is  said  to  have  felt  the  calamity  so 
deeply,  that  for  some  months  he  let  his  beard  and  hair  grow,  and 
would  strike  his  head  from  time  to  time  against  the  doors  of  his 
apartments,  exclaiming  aloud,  "  Quintilius  Varus  !  give  me  back 
my  legions."  Had  the  Germans,  indeed,  united  their  efforts  with 
those  of  the  Pannonians  and  Dalmatians,  and  formed  any  con- 
nected plan  for  the  invasion  of  the  Roman  frontiers,  the  danger 
of  an  invasion  of  Italy  might  not  have  been  imaginary.  But  the 
Expedition  of  Tiberiua  ^evolt  of  Paunouia  had  bccu  already  quelledj^s  and 
Nero  into  Germany.  Tibcrlus  Nero  was  at  lelsurc  to  march  with  his 
veteran  legions  towards  Germany,  and  to  maintain  the  usual  poli- 
cy of  Rome,  by  acting  at  once  on  the  offensive,  and  carrying  the 
war  into  the  enemy's  country.  The  Germans  were  unable  to 
meet  him  in  the  field,  and  his  caution  secured  him  against  every 
attempt  at  surprise;  he  accordingly  overran  and  laid  waste  a  dis- 
trict of  considerable  extent  beyond  the  Rhine,  and  led  back  his 
army  into  winter  quarters  on  the  banks  of  that  river,"  pretending 
to  have  retrieved  the  honour  of  the  Roman  arms,  and  to  have  re- 
stored them  to  their  accustomed  superiority.  But  the  frontier  had 
receded  to  the  Rhine,  and  Tiberius  could  not  again  advance  it. 
Four  years  afterwards  he  succeeded  to  the  sovereignity  of  the 
empire,  on  the  death  of  Augustus ;  and  his  jealous  temper  made 
him  by  no  means  inclined  to  see  any  of  his  officers  obtain  the 
glory  of  effectually  conquering  Germany.  The  Rhine  thus  be- 
came the  permanent  limit  of  the  Roman  dominions  ;  and  that 
great  river  formed  so  natural  a  boundary  line,  that  all  attempts  to 
penetrate  beyond  it  were  renounced  as  inexpedient ;  so  that  the 
Germans  remaining  unconquered,  had  leisure  to  grow  in  power 

63  Velleius  Paterculus,  120.  65  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  23. 

6*  Hac  clade  factum,  ut  Imperium  quod  66  Velleius  Paterculus,  114. 

in  litore  oceani  non  steterat,  in  ripa  Rheni  '^  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  120. 
fluminia  staret.    Florus,  IV.  12. 


DESPOTIC  TENDENCV  OP  TEIE  ROMAN  CONSTITUTION.      473 

and   numbers,  till  they  crossed  the  Rhine  in  their  turn  as  con- 
querors. 

We  have  said  that  Britain  was  not  subdued  by  the  Romans 
till  a  period  later  than  the  reisn  of  Anajustus.     But 

i^u  1     -^  ^         4.   ^  ■  ,.  il  State  of  Britain. 

although  It  was  not  yet  become  a  provmce,  yet  the 
petty  chiefs  of  the  island  were  glad  to  propitiate  the  favour  of 
Augustus,^'  by  sending  offerings  to  be  presented  to  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  in  the  capitol,  and  by  paying  a  small  tax  or  duty  on  all 
the  articles  which  they  imported  from  Gaul,  or  exported  thither 
in  return.  However,  as  these  duties  were  probably  only  levied 
in  the  ports  of  Gaul,  the  payment  of  them  did  not  necessarily 
imply  a  state  of  dependence,  inasmuch  as  it  was  only  a  volunta- 
ry compliance  with  the  terms  on  which  the  Roman  government 
chose  to  allow  them  to  trade  with  its  subjects.  But  the  eagerness 
of  the  Britons  for  the  toys  and  trinkets  which  they  procured  from 
the  Roman  empire,  made  them  purchase  them  without  complain- 
ing of  the  duty ;  and  Augustus  found  it  cheaper  and  easier  to 
levy  this  tax  upon  their  fondness  for  finery,  than  to  incur  the  ex- 
pense of  maintaining  an  army  in  the  island  in  order  to  reduce 
them  to  the  condition  of  tributaries. 

Having  thus  dwelt  somewhat  longer  than  we  are  accustomed 
to  do  on  the  foreign  relations  of  the  empire,  we  shall  now  return 
within  the  frontiers,  and  proceed  to  describe  the  nature  of  the  im- 
perial government,  and  the  general  condition  of  the  people  under 
its  dominion. 

Whoever  has  traced  the  character  of  the  Roman  constitution 
through  the  successive  periods  of  the  common-  Despotic  tendency 
wealth,  must  have  observed  in  it  a  number  of  ?he'Xman"'comf 
points  which  are  entirely  congenial  to  despotism.  mo"weaith. 
In  fact,  the  powers  of  the  magistrates  were  to  a  high  degree 
tyrannical ;  and  were  only  counteracted  by  the  mutual  check 
which  they  severally  found  in  the  equally  tyrannical  powers  of 
the  rest.  For  instance,  the  authority  of  the  consul  seems  in  it- 
self to  have  been  absolute,  although  its  exercise  was  restrained, 
within  the  walls  of  Rome,  by  the  protecting  power  of  the  tribunes 
and  by  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  people  ;  abroad,  by  the  particu- 
lar provisions  of  the  Porcian  law.  Till  that  law  was  enacted, 
the  consul,  when  without  the  city  comrnanding  the  armies  of  the 
commonwealth,  was  altogether  the  master  of  the  life  of  every 
citizen.  Nor  was  this  confined  to  points  of  military  discipline ; 
for  we  read  that  Q,.  Fabius  Maximus  threatened  with  death  a 
citizen  who  had  been  just  elected  to  the  consulship  for  the  ensuing 
year,  because  he  had  maintained  the  validity  of  his  own  election, 
which  Fabius  wished  to  overthrow,^^  and  to  recall  the  centuries 

68  Strabo,  IV.  5,  §  3,  edit.  Siebeiikees.     Lictores  ad  eum  accedere  Consul  jussit  ; 

69  Livy,  XXIV.  9.     Quum  T.  Otacilius     et,  quia  in  urbem  non  inierat,  admonuit, 
ferociter   vociferaretur  atque  obstreperet,    cum  securibus  sibi  fasces  prajferri. 


474      ELEMENTS  OF  DESPOTISM  UNDER,  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 

to  give  their  votes  over  again.     The  censors  might  degrade  any 
individual  from  his  rank  in  tlie  commonweaUh  at  their  sole  dis- 
cretion :  the  tribunes;  or  even  any  single  number  of  their  college^ 
might  stop  the  proceedings  of  every  department  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  seem  to  have  possessed  an  arbitrary  power  of  commit- 
ting any  one  to  prison  who  opposed  their  measures.     If  from  the 
ordinary  magistrates  of  the  commonwealth  we  turn  to  the  senate 
itself,  we  shall  see  that  body,  although  properly  only  a  single 
member  of  the  legislature,  assuming  to  itself  the  right  of  dis- 
pensing with   the  laws,   or  of  annulhng  them  aUogether,  and 
claiming   and   exercising   an   unlimited  despotism,  whenever  it 
thought  proper  to  declare  the  country  in  danger,  and  to  give  the- 
consuls  charge  to  provide  for  its  safety.     Above  all,  the  Romans 
were  familiarized  to  arbitrary  power  in  the  authority  possessed 
by  the  members  of  the  various  special  commissions  which  were 
from  time  to  time  appointed.     The  commission  of  ten  senators,, 
who  were  usually  empowered  to  settle  the  state  of  a  newly-con- 
quered country  at  the  close  of  a  war,  was  accustomed,  indeed,, 
to  act  only  in  the  provinces  •,  but  the  commissioners  for  planting 
colonies,  for  superintending  the  distribution  of  national  lands  un- 
der an  agrarian  law,  for  providing  for  the  supply  of  the  Roman 
markets,  or  for  instituting  an  inquiry  into  any  alleged  misdemean- 
ours and   malversations,  exercised  their  power  towards  citizensy 
and  seem  to  have  enjoyed  an  ample  discretion  which  might  be 
moderated  only  by  the  fear  of  future  impeachment  at  the  expira- 
tion of  their  office.     In  later  times  the  practice  of  appointing  ex- 
traordinary officers  had  become  almost  equivalent  to  the  forma- 
tion of  a  temporary  monarchy.     Twice  had  Pompey  been  in- 
vested with  sovereign  power  over  a  large  portion  of  the  empire  ;■. 
first,  when  he  was  intrusted  with  the  supreme  direction  of  the 
war  with  the  pirates,  and  again  when  he  was  sent  to  finish  the 
long-contested  struggle  with  Mithridates.     On  a   third  occasion, 
'  when  he  was  named  comptroller  of  the  markets,  allowed  to  ap- 
point his  lieutenants  to  act  under  him  in  the  dilferent  provinces, 
and  intrusted  with  the  discretionary  employment  of  a  large  suni' 
of  the  public  money,  his  power  seemed  far  to  exceed  the  level  of 
a  citizen  of  a  free  commonwealth.    When,  therefore,  that  atrocious 
Commission  of  Three  for  regulating  and  settling  the  affiiirs  of  the 
republic  was  instituted  in  the  persons  of  Augustus,  Antonius,  and 
Lepidus,  it  was  a  measure  not  altogether  unprecedented,  and 
certainly  analogous  to  the  less  absolute  but  yet  very  extensive 
powers   which    had  been  often  given  to  special  commissioners 
under  circumstances  of  less  general  diserder.     And  the  imperial 
power  of  Augustus  was  only  an  enlarged  special  commission  of 
the  same  nature.     It  was  limited  in  its  duration,  as  it  was  to  ex- 
pire at  the  end  of  ten  years ;  it  was  conferred  by  the  senate  on 
the  most  distinguished   citizen  in   the  commonwealth;  for   the 


AN  EMPEROR  NOT  A  KING.  475 

avowed  purpose  of  remedying  the  evils  which  had  grown  up  du- 
ring a  period  of  unparalled  confusion.  That  it  was  in  the  high- 
est degree  arbitrary,  was  conformable  to  the  general  spirit  of  sim- 
ilar commissions  which  had  been  conferred  by  the  senate  and 
people  in  former  times  ;  and  in  this  manner  the  government  was 
made  gradually  to  slide  into  a  monarchy,  merely  by  a  dexterous 
application  and  enlargement  of  precedents,  which  had  occurred 
repeatedly  through  the  successive  periods  of  the  duration  of  the 
commonwealth. 

The  people  have  in  every  age  tolerated  a  despotic  power  which 
has  professed  to  derive  itself  from  their  appointment,  and  to  be 
exercised  in  their  names  and  for  their  benefit.  Such  was  the 
power  of  the  Roman  emperors  ;  which,  therefore,  differed  most 
widely  in  its  avowed  principle  from  the  monarchies  of  Asia,  and 
from  those  also  which  have  been  established  on  its  ruins  among 
the  nations  of  modern  Europe,  It  is  true  that  in  the  eastern  prov- 
inces of  the  empire,  the  people,  unacqnainted  with  the  forms  of  the 
Roman  government,  and  regarding  only  the  absolute  authority 
with  which  the  emperors  were  invested,  early  began  to  bestow 
on  them  the  title  of  kings,  and  to  look  upon  them  in  the  same  light 
as  they  had  been  accustomed  to  view  the  successors  of  Alexander. 
But  in  Italy,  the  name  of  king,  or  sovereign  lord,  would  have 
seemed  a  degradation  which  the  Roman  people  could  not  endure ; 
and  the  gross  flattery  which  was  offered  to  the  Caesars,  was  by 
no  means  characteristic  of  the  new  state  of  the  commonwealth, 
but  arose  out  of  those  strongly  marked  distinctions  by  which  the 
aristocracy  were  separated  from  the  bulk  of  the  people.  It  is 
plain  from  many  passages  in  Cicero's  letters,  that  the  ordinary 
language  of  citizens  of  humble,  or  merely  of  inferior  rank,  when 
addressing  the  nobility,  was  in  a  tone  of  deference  approaching 
almost  to  servility.  Nay,  even  men  of  rank  themselves,  when 
writing  to  those  who  were  still  above  them  in  power  and  dignity, 
used  a  style  of  compliment  which  strikes  our  ears  as  offensive; 
so  that  it  was  no  sudden  influx  of  servility,  but  the  mere  opera- 
tion of  the  ordinary  feelings  of  the  people,  which  produced  that 
style  of  flattery  so  observable  in  the  writers  of  the  Augustan  age, 
as  well  as  in  the  decrees  of  the  senate  and  the  speeches  of  its 
members.  In  process  of  time,  as  the  imperial  power  became  more 
firmly  established,  and  as  the  families  of  the  old  aristocracy 
gradually  dropped  off,  this  servile  language  came  to  be  addressed 
more  exclusively  to  the  emperors  ;  and  as  the  government  con- 
tinued to  be  wielded  by  a  single  hand,  the  people  felt  more  and 
more  that  strong  distinction  between  themselves  and  their  ruler, 
which  marks  the  relation  of  sovereign  and  subject,  as  opposed 
to  that  of  citizens  and  their  chief  magistrate.  Hence,  in  later 
times,  the  Roman  government  became  a  monarchy  in  the  orien- 
tal and  modern  sense  of  the  term,  and  its  laws  and  titles  were 


476      AUGUSTUS  AT  ONCE  PROCONSUL,  IMPERATOR, 

transferred  with  perfect  fitness  to  the  kingdoms  of  Italy,  France, 
and  Germany. 

Augustus  possessed  a  power  entirely  despotic,  by  the  mere 
Extent  of  the  toperiai  uuiou  of  the  Ordinary  magistracies  of  the  common- 
po^-er-  wealth  in  his  person,  with  some  few  especial  en- 

largements of  their  privileges  and  authority.  He  was  invested 
with  proconsular  power  in  all  the  provinces  in  Italy,  and  even 
within  the  walls  of  Rome  ;  and  his  authority  in  the  provinces 
was  to  be  paramount  to  that  of  the  ordinary  governors.  In  the 
same  manner,  Pompey  the  Great  had  received  proconsular  power 
in  all  the  provinces  of  the  empire  within  fifty  miles  of  the  sea, 
when  he  was  intrusted  with  the  command  of  the  war  against  the 
Cilician  pirates  ;  and  still  more  recently,  when  Cicero  proposed  to 
confer  on  C.  Cassius  the  conduct  of  the  war  against  P.  Dolabella, 
the  tenor  of  his  commission  allowed  him  to  enter  any  province 
in  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  and  gave  him  superior  power  in  that 
province  to  the  magistrate  by  whom  it  was  actually  governed. 
The  authority  of  the  proconsuls  in  the  provinces  was  entirely 
absolute  under  the  old  constitution,  as  they  exercised  supreme 
control  over  the  military  force,  over  the  revenue,  and  over  the 
criminal  and  civil  jurisdiction ;  and  by  extending  this  power  to 
Italy,  and  even  to  Rome  itself,  a  virtual  sovereignty  was  in  fact 
bestowed.  Whatever  might  be  wanting  in  the  proconsular  power, 
was  at  all  events  given  in  the  title  of  "  imperator,"  which  was 
prefixed  to  the  name  of  Augustus,  as  it  had  been  to  that  of  his 
uncle,  and  seems  to  have  been  equivalent  to  the  name  of  "  General 
of  the  Forces  of  the  Commonwealth."'  By  attaching  a  perpetual 
military  command  to  the  person  of  the  emperor,  and  by  allowing 
him  to  hold  it  in  Rome  as  well  as  in  the  provinces,  all  the  people 
were  in  effect  subjected  to  martial  law  ;  and  it  is  well  known  that 
the  power  exercised  by  Roman  generals  over  their  soldiers  was 
ever  most  arbitrary,  insomuch,  that,  according  to  Cicero.  "  the  Ro- 
man people  in  war  obeyed  their  general  as  a  king.'""^  Yet  fur- 
ther, in  addition  to  the  powers  of  proconsul  and  imperator,  Au- 
gustus enjoyed  also  all  the  authority  formerly  possessed  by  the 
censors.  He  would  not,  indeed,  take  the  name  of  censor,  but  he 
received  a  title  and  power  similar  to  that  which  had  been  bestow- 
ed on  his  uncle,  and  which  Suetonius  calls,  "morum  legumque 
regimen,"  the  control  of  the  manners  and  laws  of  the  common- 
wealth. With  regard  to  his  control  of  the  laws,  it  must  be  un- 
derstood, probably,  to  regard  those  laws  which  concerned  the  ob- 
jects of  the  censor's  jurisdiction,  such  as  the  sumptuary  laws,  and 
those  which  related  to  marriage.  His  control  of  manners  ren- 
dered him  absolute  master  of  the  rank  of  eveiy  citizen,  as  it  ena- 
bled him  to  choose  members  into  the  senate,  and  to  degrade  them : 

'"  Noster  Fopulus  *  *  inbellosic  paretut  Regi.     Cicero,  de  Republic^,  I.  40. 


VIRTUAL  CENSOR,  AND  TRIBUNE,  FOR  LIFE.  477 

to  raise  any  plebeian  to  the  equestrian  order,  or  again  to  deprive 
him  even  of  the  political  privileges  of  a  simple  citizen,'''  There 
was  hardly  any  point  of  private  life  which  did  not  fall  under  the 
censor's  cognizance.  Not  only  might  a  man  be  questioned  for 
any  intemperance  in  eating  and  drinking,  or  for  any  scandalous 
irregularities  of  conduct,  but  any  excessive  sumptuousness  in  his 
establishment,  and  even,  it  is  said,  any  neglect  of  his  property, 
such  as  omitting  to  cultivate  or  improve  his  land,^^  subjected  him 
often  to  the  loss  of  the  most  distinguished  rights  of  citizenship. 
For  this  reason,  according  to  tradition,  the  duration  of  the  censor's 
power  had  been  reduced  from  five  years  to  eighteen  months,'^ 
as  so  great  an  authority  could  not  be  safely  intrusted  to  any  one 
for  more  than  a  very  limited  period  ;  and  now  that  it  was  confer- 
red on  Augustus  for  life,  it  was  by  no  means  one  of  the  least  of  his 
imperial  prerogatives.  To  the  powers  of  proconsul,  imperator, 
and  censor,  was  added,  moreover,  that  of  tribune.  By  this,  Au- 
gustus was  not  only  enabled  to  stop  at  once,  by  his  negative,  any 
measure  of  the  senate  or  people  which  he  disapproved,  but  his 
person  was  rendered  sacred  ;  and  any  violation  of  its  sacredness, 
either  in  word  or  deed,  exposed  the  offender  to  a  complete  religious 
and  political  excommunication,  in  which  state  he  was  devoted 
to  some  particular  god,'='^  as  if  peculiarly  marked  out  for  his  ven- 
geance, and  might  be  killed  by  any  man  with  impunity.  Last  of 
all  must  be  mentioned  the  exemption  from  the  authority  of  the 
laws,  which  Dion  Cassius  tells  was  bestowed  on  the  emperors.''^ 
According  to  his  account,  Augustus  was  rendered  abolutely  de- 
spotic, inasmuch  as  he  might  dispense  with  any  part  of  the  code 
at  his  pleasure  ;  and  this  prerogative  he  instances  as  one  of  those 
few  which  were  not  borrowed  from  the  usages  of  the  old  constitu- 
tion. But  it  has  been  reasonably  supposed,  that  the  Latin  expres- 
sion '-  legibus  solutus,"  which  was  applied  to  persons  enjoying  a 
dispensation  from  some  particular  laws,  combined  with  the  real 
exemption  from  all  the  laws  which  was  possessed  by  the  later 
emperors,  has  misled  Dion  Cassius  ;  and  that  the  exemption  was, 
in  fact,  less  comprehensive  than  he  imagined.  A  dispensing 
power  had  been  long  exercised  by  the  senate  ;  and  we  find  that 
it  was  one  of  the  measures  of  the  patriotic  tribune,  C.  Cornelius,''^ 
in  the  year  of  Rome  686,  to  remove  the  abuses  with  which  it  was 
attended,  and  to  enact  that  no  dispensation  should  pass  the  senate, 

71  The  "  jErarii,"  or  persons  expelled  ^2  Aulus  Gellius,  IV. 

by  the  censors  from  their    tribes,  lost  their  '^  Livy,  IV. 

right  of  voting  in  the  comitia,  because  it  ">*  Festus,  in  vocibus  "  Sacer,"  et  "  Sa 

could  only  be   exercised  by  those  who  be-  crata;  Leges." 

longed   to    some   one   of  the   thirty-five  75  LIII.  509. 

tribes.     Their  private  rights  and  personal  76  Asconius  Argumentum  in  Ciceronis 

liberties  were  not  at  all  affected   by  their  Orationem  pro  C.  Cornelio  primani. 
degradation.      See    Niebuhr's    Romische 
Geschichte,  L  384,  &c.,  and  II.  179. 


478  RIGHT  OF  APPEAL  TO  THE  PEOPLE 

or,  according  to  the  legal  phrase,  "  that  no  one  should  be  released 
from  the  laws,  legihus  solveretiir,^'  unless  two  hundred  senators 
were  present.  Still  later,  in  the  year  709,  M,  Brutus  had  been 
excused  by  the  senate  from  continually  residing  in  Rome  during 
his  praetorship,  as  required  by  law  ;  and  he  is  accordingly  said  by 
Cicero  to  have  been  "  legibus  solutus."'^  We  may  conclude  that 
the  same  exemption,  from  a  compliance  with  the  injunctions  of 
many  of  the  old  laws,  was  also  granted  to  Augustus  ;  and,  indeed, 
if  the  fragments  of  what  is  called  the  "  lex  regia"  are  to  be  con- 
sidered as  genuine  and  authentic,  it  is  evident  that  the  exemption 
was  not  universal.'^ 

It  becomes  here  a  natural  question  to  ask,  whether  the  right 
Right  of  appeal  to  ^^  appeal  to  thc  pooplc  was  not  altogether  extinct ; 
the  people.  ^ud  liow  the  provisious  of  the  Porcian  law  were 

evaded,  which  made  it  highly  criminal  to  scourge  or  put  to  death 
any  Roman  citizen  ?  With  regard  to  the  first,  we  will  endeavour 
to  give  the  reader  some  notion  of  its  nature,  and  of  the  cases  in 
which  it  was  allowed.  In  the  earliest  times  it  was  no  more  than 
a  part  of  the  wild  habits  of  savage  life,  where  government  being 
ill  understood,  and  therefore  apt  to  be  rudely  exercised,  each  man 
might  appeal  from  the  authority  of  the  chief  to  that  of  the  society 
at  large  ;  the  power  of  capital  punishment,  as  distinguished  from 
the  taking  away  life  in  a  quarrel  or  in  anger,  being  one  of  the 
rights  which  the  community  did  not  choose  to  intrust  out  of  their 
own  hands.  The  appeal  to  the  people  was  the  first  simple  form 
in  which  a  man  was  tried  by  his  country  ;  and  before  the  estab- 
lishment of  independent  judges,  it  was  the  only  security  against 
the  arbitrary  sentence  of  the  magistrate.  But  as  such  an  appeal 
could  not  be  made  on  every  occasion,  the  people  deputed  their 
power  to  judges  specially  appointed  by  themselves^^  (as  in  the 
case  of  the  quasstores  parricidii),  or  chosen  at  the  beginning  of 
every  year  by  the  praetors  out  of  a  whole  order  of  citizens,  some- 
times out  of  the  senate  alone,  and  sometimes  from  the  senate,  the 
equites,  and  the  richer  plebeians,  according  to  the  various  enact- 
ments successively  made  on  this  subject.  When  an  independent 
judicial  power  was  established,  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  people 
at  large,  could  only  be  needless  or  mischievous,  and  therefore  it 
gradually  fell  into  disuse  ;  nay,  we  doubt  whether  there  was 
legally  any  appeal  from  the  sentence  of  the  select  judges  who  sat 
with  the  praetor  in  criminal  causes;  for  Cicero  attacks  Antonius 
for  proposing  a  law  by  which  criminals  condemned  for  rioting  or 

'!''  Cicero,  Philippic.  IL  13.  ''^  Pomponius.de  Grig.  Juris,  quoted  by 

1^  Utique  quibus  legibus,  plebeive  scitis  Creuzer,  Romische  Antiquitatem,  I65,and 

scriptum  fuit  ne  Divus  Augustus,  ....  Heineccius,  IV.    tit.  18,  c.  11,  edit   Hau- 

teneretur,  iis  &c.     Imperator  Caesar  Ves-  bold.     See  also  the  expression  of  Cicero, 

pasianus  solutus  sit.      Apud  Heinecciuni,  de  Legibus,  III.  12.     Magistratibus  judi- 

Antiq.  Roman.  Syntagma,  I.  tit.  2,  67,  cia  dantur,  ut   esset   populi  potestas,  ad 

edit.  Haubold.  quam  provocaretur. 


GRADUALLY  NARROWED-FINALLY  LOST.  479 

treason  by  the  ordinary  tribunals  were  allowed  to  appeal  to  the 
people  ]^°  and  he  complains  that  such  an  appeal  was  equivalent  to 
the  total  subversion  of  all  justice.  Nor  do  we  remember  any  in- 
stance in  the  later  times  of  the  commonwealth  of  a  trial  removed 
by  appeal  from  the  regular  courts  to  the  popular  assembly, 
except  in  the  case  of  C.  Rabirius,  u.  c.  690  ;  and  Rabirius  appeal- 
ed not  from  the  decision  of  the  praetor  and  the  select  judges,  but 
from  that  of  two  special  commissioners,  appointed  by  the  praetor 
instead  of  the  people,  contrary  to  the  usual  practice,  to  try  the  case 
by  themselves.  The  right  of  appeal  was  thus  become  obsolete, 
if  were  not  actually  done  away ;  but  at  any  rate  it  was  rendered 
useless  by  the  military  power  which  the  title  of  imperator  confer- 
red on  Augustus.  It  was  an  old  maxim  of  the  Roman  law,  that 
from  the  sentence  of  a  general  in  the  actual  service  there  was  no 
appeal  ;®'  and  in  this  consisted  the  plenitude  of  his  power,  for 
even  if  he  might  be  questioned  afterwards  for  an  abuse  of  it,  yet 
at  the  time  there  was  nothing  to  check  or  limit  it,  and  there  is  a 
wide  difference  between  present  protection  and  contingent  future 
redress.  As  Augustus,  therefore,  was  invested  wiih  military 
power  both  within  and  without  the  city,  the  right  of  appeal  from 
his  authority  became  extinct  of  course.  Still,  however,  Roman 
citizens  in  the  provinces,  when  not  actually  serving  in  the  army, 
might  appeal  to  Rome  from  the  sentence  of  a  provincial  governor ; 
but  Augustus  himself,  if  we  may  believe  Dion  Cassius,*^^  was 
constituted  judge  of  all  such  appeals  ;  and  we  know,  from  a  much 
higher  authority,^^  that  in  the  reign  of  Claudius  they  were  regu- 
larly made  to  the  emperor,  without  any  allusion  to  the  old  consti- 
tutional power  of  the  people. 

A  remarkable  obscurity  hangs  over  the  origin  of  the  Porcian 
laws  ;  for  it  is  not  known  with  certainty  by  whom  of  the  pordan  laws, 
they  were  proposed,  nor  at  what  period  they  were  faitmilshmTntfundw 
enacted.  It  appears  from  Cicero  that  they  were  Augustus. 
three  in  number,  brought  forward  by  three  different  members  of 
the  Porcian  family  ;^^  but  whether  of  the  family  of  Porcius  Lseca, 
or  Porcius  Cato,  is  still  undecided.  However,  it  is  sufficiently 
known  that  these  laws  confirmed  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  peo- 
ple, and  forbade,  under  heavy  penalties,  that  any  Roman  citizen 
should  be  scourged  or  put  to  death,  of  whatever  crime  he  might 
have  been  guilty,  if  we  except,  perhaps,  the  wilful  murder  of  a 


80  Philippic.  L  9.  Altera  promulgata  Cicero  for  his  Utopian  Commonwealth,  yet 
lex  est,  ut  et  de  Vi  et  de  Majestate  dam-  this  code  is  confessedly  borrowed  almost 
nati  ad  populum  provocent,  si  velint.  entirely  from  that  which  actually  existed  al 

81  Cicero,  de  Legibus,  IIL  3,  4.     Mill-  Rome, — Omnium   Magistratuum   descrip- 
tise,  ab  eo,  qui  imperabit,  provocatio    ne  tio  ;  sed  ea  paene  noslrse  civitatis,  5. 
esto  ;  quodque  is,  qui  bellum  geret,  impe-  82  LL  457. 

rassit.jus  ratumque  esto.     Although  these  *3  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  XXV.  10,11. 

words  are  a  part  of  the  code  devised  by  ^1  De  Republics,  II.  31. 


480  OP  THE  PORCIAN  LAWS,  AND  THE  NATURE  OF 

parent.'^  Thus  the  greatest  punishment  that  could  be  legally  in- 
flicted at  Rome,  was  simple  banishment,  till  Caesar,  in  his  dicta- 
torship, added  the  forfeiture  of  all  property  in  the  case  of  those 
convicted  of  wilful  murder,  and  the  half  of  it  for  all  other  oifences.®^ 
Nay,  even  the  punishment  denounced  by  the  Pedian  law,  passed 
u.  c.  710,  against  the  assassins  of  Caesar  was  no  more  than  ban- 
ishment from  Italy ;  so  completely  were  Roman  citizens  ex- 
empted by  law  from  suffering  the  penalty  of  death.  It  is  gene- 
rally thought,  however,  that  the  provisions  of  the  Porcian  law 
did  not  extend  to  citizens  actually  serving  in  the  army  ;  but  this 
must  be  understood  with  considerable  limitations.  The  old  igno- 
minious method  of  punishment,  by  which  criminals  were  first 
scourged  with  rods,  and  then  beheaded  with  an  axe  (virgis  caesi 
et  securi  percussi),  could  never  be  inflicted  upon  a  Roman  citizen 
under  any  circumstances.  This  is  plain  from  the  fact  mentioned 
by  Sallust,^''  that  Q,.  Metellus  Numidicus,  in  the  Jugurthine  war, 
punished  one  of  his  officers  in  this  manner,  because,  adds  the 
historian,  the  offender  was  a  Latin  citizen :  that  is,  he  could  not 
have  so  punished  him  had  he  been  a  Roman.  We  believe  fur- 
ther,  that  a  Roman  soldier  could  not  even  be  flogged  on  actual 
service  ;  and  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  this  was  one  of  the 
provisions  of  the  Sempronian  law,  De  Militum  Commodis,  carried 
by  C.  Gracchus,  in  his  tribuneship  ;  for  we  are  told  by  Plutarch,^^ 
that  M.  Livius  Drusus,  one  of  his  colleagues,  in  order  to  outdo 
him  in  proposing  popular  measures,  brought  forward  a  law  to 
exempt  the  Latins  from  the  liability  to  be  flogged  when  serving 
as  soldiers  ;  and  although  the  passage  in  Sallust  already  quoted, 
shows  either  that  this  law  was  soon  after  repealed,  or  that  Plu- 
tarch, as  we  rather  believe,  has  assigned  to  it  a  wrong  date,  and 
ascribed  it  to  a  wrong  author,  yet  its  being  proposed  at  all  clearly 
proves  that  the  Roman  soldiers  already  enjoyed  a  similar  exemp- 
tion, as  no  one  would  ever  have  thought  of  granting  to  the  Latins 
immunities  which  were  not  possessed  by  the  Romans  themselves. 
Nor  is  our  position  refuted  by  the  instances  recorded  in  later 
times,  of  soldiers  suffering  death  by  running  the  gauntlet^'  (fuste 
csesi),  for  this  was  a  punishment  inflicted  not  by  the  general's 
lictors,  but  by  the  hands  of  the  soldiers  themselves,  and  was  ex- 
pressive of  the  feelings  of  the  army  at  large  towards  those  who 
were  guilty  of  cowardice,  or  of  any  other  flagrant  breach  of  mili- 
tary duty.  In  cases  of  mutiny,  or  any  other  crime  which  required 
an  instant  and  terrifying  example,  a  general  would  have  ordered 
the  offenders  to  be  executed ;  there  being  no  appeal  at  the  time 
from  his  sentence,  and  if  ever  he  was  afterwards  questioned  for 

83  See  Cicero,  pro  Roscio  Ameiino,  25.  ^^  Auctor   de   Bello  Hispaniensi    apud 

86  Suetonius,  in  Caesare,  42.  Ccesaris  Commentar.  27.     Velleius  Pater- 

87  De  Bello  Jugurthino,  69.  cuius,  II.  78. 
83  InC.  Graccho,  9. 


CAPITAL  PUNISHMENT  UNDER  AUGUSTUS.  431 

his  conduct,  he  would  have  urged  the  plea  of  necessity  or  pub- 
lic expediency,  which  was  ever  admitted  as  an  excuse  for  any 
departure  from  the  ordinary  laws.  And  thus  only  can  we  recon- 
cile the  extreme  bloodiness  of  the  proscriptions  and  occasional  ex- 
ecutions of  the  Romans,  with  the  excessive  mildness,  or  rather 
weakness,  of  the  letter  of  the  constitution.  When,  soon  after 
Caesar's  death,  a  disorderly  multitude  used  to  assemble  round  his 
altar  in  the  forum,  and  committed  several  outrages  on  the  proper- 
ty of  ditferent  citizens,  P.  Dolabella,  who  was  then  consul,  attaked 
the  rioters  in  a  summary  manner,  and  put  numbers  of  them  to 
death  without  any  sort  of  trial,  crucifying  the  slaves,  and  throw- 
ing the  free  citizens  from  the  Tarpeian  rock.  This  behaviour 
was  applauded  by  Cicero  as  an  act  of  salutary  vigour  ;^°  yet  had 
the  meanest  of  the  citizens  thus  executed  been  brought  to  a  legal 
trial  under  the  severest  of  the  existing  statutes  for  the  punishment 
of  riots,  he  could  have  received,  no  heavier  sentence  than  that  of 
exile, 

A  system  like  this,  in  which  the  laws  were  so  frequently  su- 
perseded by  acts  of  summary  violence,  was  admirably  calculated 
to^  serve  the  purposes  of  despotism.  The  Porcian  laws  existed 
unrepealed,  but  equally  unregarded  whenever  it  suited  the  inte- 
rest of  the  sovereign  to  violate  them.  How,  indeed,  could  they  be 
more  signally  violated  by  the  emperors  than  they  had  been  in 
innumerable  instances  under  the  old  constitution  ;  not  only  in  the 
proscriptions,  but  in  the  suppression  of  less  alarming  disorders,  in 
the  executions  ordered  by  the  senate  after  the  deaths  of  the  two 
Gracchi,  in  the  punishment  of  the  accomplices  of  Catiline,  and  in 
the  severity  which  we  have  just  noticed  of  P.  Dolabella '?  So 
much  respect  was  shown  to  the  forms  of  the  constitution,  while 
its  spirit  was  violated,  that  in  the  infliction  of  the  punishment  of 
death  some  pains  were  taken  to  deprive  it  of  the  appearance  of  an 
execution,  and  to  give  it  the  character  of  an  irregular  but  neces- 
sary act  of  policy  or  vengeance  ;  a  sort  of  capital  ostracism,  in 
which  the  sutferer  was  treated  more  as  an  enemy  than  a  crimi- 
nal, and  his  lifevwas  taken  without  any  accompanying  circum- 
stances of  degradation.  Hence  a  party  of  soldiers  were  so  often 
employed  as  the  ministers  of  death,  instead  of  a  regular  execu- 
tioner ;  and  the  sword  instead  of  the  axe  was  the  weapon  used, 
a  distinction  which  continued  to  exist  to  a  much  later  period, 
insomuch,  that  when  beheading  by  the  sword  was  recognized  as 
a  legal  punishment,  still  beheading  by  the  axe  was  looked  upon 
as  degrading  and  illegal.^'  Hence  the  sufferers  were  so  often  al- 
lowed to  choose  their  own  mode  of  death,  and  were  constantly 
permitted  to  be  their  own  executioners.     For  all  these  acts,  com- 

9"  Philippic.  I.  12.  epist.  ad  Atticunij         si  Heineccius.Antiquitat.  Roman.  Syn- 
XIV.  epist.  XV.  XVI.  XVII.  tagma,  IV.  tit.  18,  10.  edit.  Haubold. 


482     IMPERIAL  PREROGATIVES  OF  WAR  AND  PEACE. 

mitted  by  the  sovereign  power  on  the  alleged  ground  of  public 
expediency,  the  practice  of  the  old  constitution  furnished  prece- 
dent and  apology ;  and  the  Porcian  law  still  availed  to  save 
Roman  citizens  from  the  rods  and  axe  of  the  lictor,  from  those 
cruel  and  ignominious  scourgings  which  were  inflicted  so  often 
by  the  Roman  magistrates  in  the  provinces,^'  sometimes  as  a  pun- 
ishment and  at  other  times  as  an  instrument  of  torture  to  extort 
a  confession  from  a  prisoner  before  his  trial.  In  process  of  time, 
as  was  natural,  the  infliction  of  capital  punishment  grew  to  be 
considered  as  legal  and  regular  ;  it  began  to  assume  the  charac- 
ter of  an  execution  ;  and  as  the  government  became  more  de- 
cidedly monarchical,  the  cruel  and  degrading  punishments,  so 
congenial  to  tyranny,  were  engrafted  upon  the  law  of  the  empire. 
But.  for  the  period  with  which  we  are  now  engaged,  it  is  im- 
portant to  observe  how  an  excessive  mildness  in  the  laws  defeats 
its  own  object,  no  less  than  excessive  severity.  Because  the  Ro- 
man constitution  provided  no  adequate  legal  punishment  for 
enormous  crimes,  men  became  reconciled  to  irregular  inflictions  of 
vengeance  on  the  plea  of  necessity ;  and  thus  exemplified  the 
danger  of  looking  with  indifference  upon  any  departure  from  the 
written  law,  when  necessity  was  as  easily  pleaded  by  their  tyrants 
for  the  murder  of  Cicero,  as  for  those  of  Saturninus,  Cethegus,  or 
Lentulus. 

Amongst  the  prerogatives  possessed  by  Augustus,  Dion  Cas- 
imperiai  prerogatives  sius  mcntious  the  right  of  making  war  or  peace 
of  war  and  peace.  with  whatcvor  uatiou  he  thought  proper.^3  This 
arose  out  of  the  proconsular  power  which  had  been  conferred  on 
him,  and  from  the  immediate  command  which  he  exercised  in  all 
the  frontier  provinces  of  the  empire.  Wherever  the  dominions  of 
the  commonwealth  came  in  contact  with  any  foreign  nations, 
there  the  whole  civil  and  military  authority  belonged  to  Augustus 
as  proconsul ;  and  if  he  possessed  the  power  of  making  war  or 
peace  with  the  people  who  bordered  upon  his  provinces,  it  was 
no  more  than  had  been  commonly  practised  by  the  proconsuls  of 
former  times ;  nor  could  Augustus  act  with  a  less  restrained  dis- 
cretion than  his  uncle  had  done  in  Gaul  during  the  whole  term  of 
his  conmiand  there,  or  than  Crassus  had  exercised  in  his  govern- 
ment of  Syria,  when  he  commenced  his  unprovoked  attack  upon 
the  Parthian  empire. 

It  is  further  stated  by  Dion  Cassius,  that  Augustus  was  the 
absolute  master  of  the  revenue,  and  that  he  was  enabled  to  levy 
money  for  the  public  service  by  his  sole  authority.  And  here, 
perhaps,  we  may  fitly  lay  before  the  reader  some  notice  of  the 
pecuniary  resources  of  the  Roman  empire  :  of  the  taxes  paid  by 

92  St.  Matthew,  XXVII.  26.     Acts  of        93  LIII.  508. 
the  Apostles,  XXII.  24.  29. 


OF  THE  ROMAN  REVENUE.  4gg 

the  people  ;  and  of  the  general  administration  of  the  treasury.  In 
doing  this,  we  shall  frequently  go  back  to  the  history  of  an  earlier 
period  ;  but  the  calm  of  the  reign  of  Augustus  allows  us  to  turn 
our  attention  to  many  points  connected  with  the  internal  state  of 
Rome,  which  we  have  passed  over  amidst  the  press  of  wars  and 
internal  disturbances,  through  which  our  narrative  has  hitherto 
had  to  struggle.  Once  for  all,  however,  we  must  remind  the 
reader  of  the  extreme  difficulty  of  this  part  of  our  task,  and  re- 
quest his  indulgence  for  the  faults  or  omissions  which  we  fear  he 
will  not  fail  to  discover.  We  must  draw  our  facts  from  scattered 
and  scanty  sources  ;  and  it  may  often  happen  that  some  passage 
has  escaped  our  notice,  which,  had  we  known  it,  might  have 
taught  us  to  qualify  or  to  amend  much  that  we  had  advanced. 
We  have  said  this,  indeed,  nearly  in  the  same  words  on  a  former 
occasion  ;  but  we  deem  it  not  superfluous  to  repeat  it  again,  not 
only  to  disclaim  for  ourselves  pretension  to  a  more  perfect  know- 
ledge than  we  possess,  but  to  impress  upon  the  reader  the  unsat- 
isfactory nature  of  many  of  those  disquisitions  in  which  historians, 
endowed  with  more  eloquence  than  industry,  have  permitted 
themselves  to  indulge.  As  the  lessons  of  history  are  the  most 
valuable  part  of  that  wisdom  which  concerns  our  earthly  welfare, 
so  it  is  most  important  that  they  should  not  be  rashly  olfered,  but 
that  they  may  be  at  once  so  full  and  so  uncorrupted,  as  to  furnish 
us  with  a  trustworthy  guide.  And  he  who  feels  the  deficiencies 
of  his  own  performance  may  at  least  render  some  service  to  his 
readers,  if  he  shows  them  how  far  they  may  safely  rely  on  him, 
and  does  not  attempt  to  mislead  them  by  assuming  that  tone  of 
self-satisfied  confidence  which  will  always  impose  upon  the 
mass  of  mankind,  however  much  the  wiser  few  may  detect  and 
despise  it. 

The  revenue  of  the  Roman  people,  before  their  dominion  em- 
braced so  many  dependent  provinces,  arose  chiefly  out  q^  t^^  Roman 
of  three  sources  :^^  1st,  a  property  tax  (tributum)  levied  revenue. 
directly  upon  every  citizen,  and  proportioned  to  the  amount  of  the 
property  which  he  possessed  f^  2dly,  the  rents  or  payments  of  what- 
ever kind  which  were  received  from  the  national  domains,  using 
this  last  term  in  its  most  extensive  sense,  as  including  not  only 
lands  in  cultivation,  whether  arable  or  pasture,  but  also  forests, 
mines, and  buildings;  3dly,thecustoms,including  the  duties  levied 
at  the  different  ports  on  all  imported  goods,  and  the  tolls  paid  at 
all  public  ferries.  Of  these  three,  the  property  tax,  or  tributum,  is 
said  to  have  been  discontinued  after  the  conquest  of  Macedon  by 
L.  iEmilius  Paulus,  in  the  year  of  Rome  584  j-*^  that  is,  the  reve- 
nue which  the  state  received  thenceforward  from  its  conquered 

oi  But  see  Niebuhr,  I.  459.— Ed.  as  Cicero,  de  Officiis,  II.  22, 

»5  Livy,  I.  43. 


484  ^^  THE  NATURE  OF  THE  NATIONAL  DOMAINS. 

provinces,  enabled  it  to  relieve  its  own  citizens  from  that  species 
of  impost  which  is  ever  most  galling  to  the  popular  feeling.  The 
second  source  of  revenue,  namely,  the  national  domains,  cannot 
be  fully  understood,  without  touching  upon  a  field  of  inquiry,  at 
once  most  interesting  and  most  laborious,  and  which  neither  our 
limits  nor  our  ability  enable  us  fully  to  explore. ^^  All  lands  Con- 
or the  nature  of  the  quercd  in  War,  surrendered  by  the  inhabitants  or  ceded 
national  domains.  ]jy  treaty,  bccamc  the  property  of  the  conquering  peo- 
ple, who  thus  were  not  only  the  sovereign,  but  the  landlord  of  the 
territories  which  they  acquired.  Sometimes  this  right  was  so  far 
mitigated  in  practice,  that  the  old  inhabitants  were  allowed  to  retain 
their  lands,  as  tenants,  on  payment  of  a  rent  to  the  conquering  peo- 
ple as  their  landlord ;  but  sometimes,  also,  it  was  exercised  in  its 
widest  extent, — the  old  proprietors  were  expelled  altogether,  and 
the  land  was  disposed  of  according  to  the  pleasure  of  its  new  mas- 
ters. In  Grecian  history  there  is  an  instance  of  the  first  of  these 
methods  of  proceeding  in  the  behaviour  of  the  Athenians,  after  their 
conquest  of  Mitylene  in  the  Peloponnesian  war.  The  territory  of 
the  Mitylengeans  was  divided  into  a  certain  number  of  lots,  on 
each  of  which  a  certain  rent  was  levied,  and  the  former  proprietors 
continued  to  occupy  their  estates  as  before,  but  in  the  character 
of  tenants  instead  of  landlords.  On  the  other  hand,  when  jEgina 
was  conquered,  the  inhabitants  were  suffered  to  remain  undis- 
turbed for  a  time  in  their  old  homes  ;  but  on  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Peloponnesian  war,  the  Athenians  thought  proper  to  act  upon 
their  right  of  conquest  more  rigorously  ;  they  expelled  the  ^Egi- 
netans  accordingly,  altogether,  from  the  island,  and  divided  the 
lands  amongst  a  certain  number  of  Athenian  colonists,  who  be- 
came its  inhabitants  for  several  years,  till  they  were,  in  their 
turn,  driven  out  by  the  Lacedaemonians  after  the  battle  of  iEgos- 
potami.  The  Romans,  in  the  same  manner,  made  a  difference  in 
the  treatment  of  the  different  nations  whom  they  conquered ;  but 

9^  For  the  groundwork  of  what  follows  justness  of  the  views  which  they  commu- 
on  the  subject  of  the  national  domains,  the  nicate,  make  us  full  of  surprise  that  the 
writer  has  great  pleasure  in  acknowledging  same  discoveries  had  never  been  made  be- 
his  obligations  to  the  masterly  work  of  fore.  Niebuhr  carries  some  hypotheses 
Niebuhr,  and  particularly  to  the  excellent  perhaps  too  ,far,  and  in  some  of  his  opin- 
chapter  on  the  nature  of  the  agrarian  laws,  ions  may  be  led  away  by  a  fondness  for 
II.  349,etseq.  He  is  indebted  to  Niebuhr  novelty;  but  these  are  faults  which  sue- 
also  for  his  first  acquaintance  with  the  col-  ceeding  writers  may  easily  correct,  while 
lection  of  writers,  De  Re  Agrarici,  pub-  they  and  the  world  in  general  derive  per- 
lished  by  Goesius  at  Amsterdam,  in  1674,  petual  benefit  from  the  great  excellences  of 
and  which  is  so  little  known  in  England,  his  work;  its  surprising  knowledge,  and 
that  he  has  found  no  allusion  to  it  in  any  the  eminent  ability  with  which  detached 
English  writer  on  the  Roman  History  notices  of  facts  are  brought  together  and 
whose  works  have  fallen  under  his  notice,  made  to  illustrate  each  other,  and  the  pen- 
Niebuhr's  "  Roman  History"  is  one  of  etration  with  which  he  has  discovered 
those  great  works  of  genius  which  throw  principles  of  civil  and  religious-law  amidst 
at  once  a  blaze  of  light  over  subjects  before  an  apparent  chaos  of  anomalous  and  un- 
obscure,  and  which,  by  the  clearness  and  connected  particulars. 


MODES  OP  DISTRIBUTION  OF  NATIONAL  DOMAINS.  435 

in  all  cases  they  claimed  a  sovereignty  over  the  soil,  and  in  all 
cases,  therefore,  they  derived  from  it  a  revenue.  The  peculiar 
mark  of  this  sovereignty  was  the  reservation  of  a  right  to  a  certain 
portion  of  the  produce  of  the  land,  and  this  portion  was  generally 
the  tenth  or  tithe.  Even  when  the  lands  of  a  conquered  country 
were  restored,  as  it  was  expressed,  to  the  old  proprietors,  (for  by 
the  act  of  conquest  they  were  held  to  be  instantly  forfeited  to  the 
conquering  people,  and  the  right  of  the  old  inhabitants  was  im- 
mediately lost,)  still  the  tithe  of  the  produce  was  reserved.  When 
they  were  not  restored,  they  were  either  sold  by  the  quaestors  in 
lots  of  a  certain  size,  or  divided  out  among  a  certain  number  of 
the  citizens ;  or,  not  being  regularly  disposed  of  by  the  govern- 
ment, were  occupied  by  individuals  without  any  particular  title, 
as  they  severally  happened  to  take  possession;  or,  fourthly,  were 
let  on  leases  for  terms  of  diflerent  lengths  to  farmers,  who  had  the 
power  of  underletting  them  again  either  entire  or  in  lots.  In  the 
second  of  these  cases,  and  in  that  only,  the  full  sovereignty  of  the 
land  appears  to  have  been  granted,  together  with  the  occupation 
or  enjoyment  of  it.  When  a  colony  was  planted  in  a  conquered 
country,  and  a  division  of  lands  made  amongst  the  new  settlers, 
according  to  the  solemn  forms  transmitted  through  a  long  succes- 
sion of  ages  from  the  priests  of  Etruria,  then  the  state  resigned  all 
its  rights,  and  the  lots  thus  given  to  each  colonist  became,  in  the 
fullest  sense  of  the  word,  his  freehold. ^^  But  every  other  mode 
of  alienation  was  made  with  a  reservation  of  the  state's  sovereign- 
ty ;  a  tenure  more  or  less  favourable  was  granted  to  the  individ- 
ual, but  the  government  retained  its  right  to  the  tithes  of  the 
produce,  and  its  power  of  planting  colonies  at  a  future  period  in 
the  domains  over  which  it  did  not  think  proper  to  exercise  at  pre- 
sent its  full  authority.  Now,  as  the  whole  territory  of  Rome,  to 
to  speak  generally,  had  been  gained  by  conquest,  the  sovereignty 
of  it  was  vested  in  the  Roman  people ;  and  with  the  exception  of 
such  portions  as  had  been  divided  out  into  colonies,  it  was  all 
subject  to  the  payment  of  tithes.  In  process  of  time  the  whole  of 
Italy  became  exempted  from  this  burden  by  the  gradual  division 
of  every  part  of  the  public  land  amongst  the  inhabitants  of  its  va- 
rious colonies  ;  and  when  the  Italians  successively  acquired  the 

98  In  the  collection  of  writers,  De  Re  ritiam  vel  terrenam  Cupidinem,  Terminis 

Agraria,  to  which  we  have  before  alluded,  omnia  scita  esse  voluit,  quos  quandoque  ob 

there  is  a  very  remarkable  fragment,  as-  Avaritiam  prope  novissimi  octavi  Saeculi 

cribed  to  Vegoia,  and  which  is  evidently  datos  sibi  Homines  Dolo  male  violabunt, 

translated  from  an  Etruscan  original   of  contingentque  atque  movebunt.     Sed  qui 

the  highest  antiquity.     It  is  so    curious,  contigerit  moveritque   Possessionem,  pro- 

that  the  reader  may  not  be  displeased  to  movendo  suam,  alterius  minuendo,  ob  hoc 

see  a  part  of  it  here  transcribed  : —  Scelus  damnabitur  a  Diis,"  &c.  p.  258. 

"  Scias  Mare  ex  iEthere  remotum.  Cum         How  exactly  does  this  agree  with  the 

autem  Juppiter  Terram  Hetmriae  sibi  vin-  very  words  of  the  Mosaic  law,  that  "  cur- 

dicavit,  constituit  jussitque  metiri  Campos,  sed  is  he  who  removeth  his  neighbour's 

signarique  Agros,  sciens  Hoiuinum  Ava-  landmark." 


486  NO  PUBLIC  LAND  EXEMPT  FROM  TITHES. 

rights  of  Roman  citizens,  all  the  land  which  had  been  given  back 
after  conquest  to  its  old  possessors,^^  as  well  as  that  which  had 
been  sold  by  the  quaestors,  assumed  the  character  of  the  private 
property  of  Roman  citizens,  and  thus  was  placed  on  a  level  with 
that  divided  out  amongst  the  settlers  of  a  colony,  and  became  alto- 
gether freehold.  But  in  the  provinces  all  land,  except  that  which 
belonged  to  any  Roman  colony,  was  subject  to  some  payment  to 
the  government.  In  some  instances  a  general  land  tax  was  levied 
over  the  whole  province,  as  a  sort  of  fine  paid  by  the  inhabitants 
for  the  renewal  of  their  term  of  possession,  after  their  rights  as 
freehold  proprietors  had  been  forfeited  by  the  conquest  of  their 
country.  But  in  other  cases,  where  the  province  had  been  peace- 
ably ceded  or  bequeathed  to  the  Romans  by  its  former  sovereign, 
as  in  the  instance  of  the  province  of  Asia,  the  inhabitants  retained 
their  former  rights,  and  the  Roman  people  only  acquired  the 
sovereignty  or  superiority  over  the  country  (if  we  may  borrow  a 
nearly  analogous  term  from  the  Scottish  law),  which  was  signi- 
fied by  the  reservation  of  the  tenth  part  of  the  produce  as  the  in- 
variable property  of  the  government.  This  claim  upon  the  tithes 
existed,  we  believe,  quite  distinctly  from  the  general  land  tax  or 
fine  levied  upon  some  particular  provinces ;  and  where  that  land 
tax  was  paid,  the  tithes  were  nevertheless  paid  also.  In  some 
instances  we  find  that  the  provincial  lands  paid  a  seventh  and 
sometimes  a  fifth  part  of  their  produce  to  the  government  j'^"  and 
here  it  may  be  difficult  to  decide,  whether  this  payment  was  still 
independent  of  the  tithes,  or  whether  it  was  made  as  an  equiva- 
lent both  for  the  tithes  and  the  land  tax  or  tribute.  But  in  addi- 
tion to  all  these  burdens,  we  have  a  long  list  of  others  which  were 

^  Hyginus  says   expressly,  "  Agri  qui  II.  379.     It  is  with  the  utmost  diffidence 

redditi  sunt  non  obligantur  Vectigalibus,  that  we  differ  from  so  great  an  authority  ; 

quoniam  sciUcet  prioribus  Dominis  redditi  but  Hyginus  says,  that  tlie    tenure  of  the 

sunt,"  p.  205,  edit.    Goesii.     But  Cicero  "  agri  quaestorii  "  was   the  same  with  that 

says  as  positively,  that  the  conquered  lands  of  the  other  lands  of  the   Roman  people  ; 

in  Sicily,  which  had  been  restored  to  their  and  Siculus  Flaccus  gives  it  as  a  definition 

old  inliabitanls,  were  regularly  let  by  the  of '•  lands  belonging  to  the  Roman  people," 

censors  ;  that  is,  the  tithes  which  they  paid  that  its  revenue  belongs  to   the   treasury, 

were   regularly  farmed.     (Cicero,  in   Ver-  Edit.  Goesii,  p.  2.     However,  as  the  lands 

rem,  III.  6.)     And  Aggenus  Urbicus  lays  sold  by  the  quaestors  were  not  very  exten- 

it  down  as  a  general  rule,  that  in  the  pro-  sive,  it  is  of  the  less  consequence  to  ascer- 

vinces,  "  omnesctiam  privati  Agri  Tributa  tain  minutely  whether  it  was  a  sale  of  the 

atque   Vectigalia   persolvunt."     Comnien-  sovereignty,   or  only  of  the   possession   of 

tar.  in  Frontin.  p.  47,  edit.  Goesii.     We  the  land  forever,  subject  to  the  payment  of 

suppose,  therefore,  that  so  long  as  the  Ital-  its  tithes  to  the  government, 
ians  were  foreigners  to  Rome,  the  lands         '""  Hyginus,   de    Limitib.   constituend. 

CTiven   back  to   them  were  subject  to  the  198,   edit.    Goesii.     Creuzer  distinguishes 

same  burden  as  those  which  were  restored  these  payments  of  the  fifth  or  seventh  parts 

to   the   states  of  Sicily.     With  regard   to  of  the  produce    both  from  the  tithes  and 

the  lands  sold    by  the   qusestors,  Niebuhr  from  the  land  tax,  Romische  Antiquitatem, 

classes  them  with  those  divided   amongst  265.     But  we  know  not  on  what  authority 

the  settlers  of  a  colony,  and  considers  them  this  statement  arose,  and  it  seems  to  U8 

as  entirely  freehold.  Romische  Geschichte,  somewhat  doubtful. 


THE  PUBLICANl.  487 

imposed  by  the  provincial  governors  when  their  own  avarice  or 
the  alleged  exigencies  of  the  public  service  required  any  extraor- 
dinary resources.""  First,  tliere  was  a  general  levy  of  money 
enforced  over  the  whole  province/"'^  corresponding  perhaps  to  the 
feudal  aids,  and  raised,  we  may  suppose,  by  a  per  centage  upon 
property.  Then  followed  the  most  odious  of  all  imposts,  a  poll 
tax,  demanded  alike  of  slaves  and  freemen  ;  and,  besides  this, 
other  taxes  upon  houses  or  house-doors,  ^"^  and  upon  the  columns 
which  were  so  much  used  in  the  more  expensive  architecture  of 
the  ancients.  Finally,  there  was  a  general  impressment  of  sol- 
diers, seamen,  and  carriages,  for  the  military  and  naval  service, 
additional  requisitions  of  corn  for  the  maintenance  of  the  troops, 
and  of  arms  and  military  engines.  Under  these  multiplied  exac- 
tions, besides  a  charge  altogether  indefinite  made  by  the  proconsul 
or  proprcetor  for  the  maintenance  of  himself  and  all  his  inferior 
officers,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  provinces  were  overwhelmed 
with  debt ;  for  the  necessity  of  paying  the  taxes  being  immediate, 
the  people  were  reduced  to  borrow  money  at  an  exorbitant  inte- 
rest, and  there  were  always  wealthy  Romans  of  the  equestrian 
order  at  hand,  who  carried  on  a  regular  traffic  in  the  distress  of  the 
provinces,  and  who  were  accustomed  to  lay  out  their  money  in 
loans  of  this  kind,  as  they  thus  gained  not  only  a  very  high  rate 
of  interest,  but  also  an  extensive  influence  over  the  individuals  or 
communities  who  were  indebted  to  them. 

In  the  dealings  between  the  government  and  its  subjects,  the 
intervention  of  a  third  party  was  generally  em- 

1  J  n^^  c  °         .  ■'  Of  the  Publicani. 

ployed.  The  revenues  ot  every  provmce  were 
commonly  farmed  by  wealthy  individuals  of  the  equestrian  order, 
called  by  the  well-known  name  of  Publicani.  As  the  senators 
were  not  allowed  to  engage  in  any  sort  of  traffic,  the  equestrian 
order,  consisting  of  all  citizens  not  being  senators,  who  possessed 
property  beyond  a  certain  amount,  embraced  almost  the  whole 
commercial  interests  of  the  empire  ;  and  a  favourite  branch  of 
their  speculations  was  that  of  farming  the  revenues.  As  soon  as 
a  provmce  fell  under  the  dominion  of  Rome,  a  number  of  these 
adventurers  proceeded  to  settle  themselves  in  it,  and  to  acquaint 
themselves  with  the  extent  of  its  resources.  They  then  purchased 
of  the  censors  the  different  taxes  claimed  by  the  government, — 
the  land  tax,  the  tithes,  the  poll  tax,  and  the  other  subordinate 
imposts,  and  thus  took  upon  themselves  the  whole  risk  and  trouble 
of  collecting  them.     In  doing  this  they  were  armed  with  the  full 

101  Csesar,  de  Bello  Civili,  III.  31,32.  ro  as  haivng  been  levied   in  Ciliciain  the 

i''2  Imperatae  Pecuniae.  year  701 :  and  by  the  manner  in  which 

'"^  Ostiaria,  Columnaria.     The  poll  tax  they  are  spoken    of,  they  appear  to  have 

and  house  tax  seem  not  to  have  been  pe-  been  ordinarily  levied  there.  Epist.  ad  Fa- 

culiarly  confined  to  periods  of  great  public  miliares.  III.  epist.  VIII. 

exigency  ;  for  both  are  mentioned  by  Cice- 

32 


488  AUGUSTUS  ESTABLISHES  PROCURATORES. 

authority  of  the  government  by  the  officer  who  commanded  in 
the  province,  unless  he  happened  to  have  some  quarrel  with  their 
order,  in  which  case  they  probably  found  their  business  sufficiently 
difficult,  and  were  losers  rather  than  gainers  by  their  contracts.'"^ 
But  in  ordinary  cases  the  governor  of  the  province  and  the  publi- 
cani  were  well  disposed  to  gratify  one  another  ;  for  the  equestrian 
order,  after  the  Sempronian  law  had  placed  the  whole  judicial 
power  in  their  hands,  was  a  body  not  lightly  to  be  offended  ;  and 
the  condemnation  of  P.  Rutilius,  whose  upright  administration 
had  checked  the  exactions  of  the  publicani  in  Asia,  was  a  lesson 
to  future  magistrates  rather  to  share  in  the  plunder  of  the  farmers 
of  the  revenue  than  to  endeavour  to  repress  it. 

Under  the  old  constitution  the  revenues  were  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  senate,  to  which  body  the  quaestors,  who  acted  as 
treasurers  both  at  Rome  and  in  the  provinces,  were  obliged  to 
submit  their  accounts.  But  the  civil  wars  had  created  so  large  a 
military  force  throughout  the  empire,  and  had  so  dangerously 
taught  the  soldiers  to  know  their  own  power,  that  it  became  most 
important  to  provide  for  them  by  regular  means,  lest  they  should 
again  be  tempted  to  listen  to  some  new  adventurer,  and  to  renew 
the  disorders  which  had  prevailed  for  the  last  twenty  years. 
Augustus  therefore  instituted  a  military  treasury, '"^  over  which  he 
possessed  supreme  authority,  as  imperator  or  commander  in  chief 
of  the  army  ;  and  for  the  support  of  this  treasury  he  invented 
some  new  taxes,  particularly  a  sort  of  excise  duty  of  one  per 
cent,  on  all  articles  exposed  to  sale."^  He  enjoyed  also  the  entire 
revenues  of  those  provinces  which  were  immediately  subjected  to 
his  jurisdiction  ;  and  even  in  those  which  were  under  the  control 
of  the  senate,  he  had  a  treasury  of  his  own,  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  fiscus  from  the  aerarium  or  treasury  of  the  people,  into 
which  probably  were  paid  those  taxes  which  had  been  created 
for  the  especial  support  of  the  eerarium  militare.  In  all  the  pro- 
vinces alike,  the  revenues  which  belonged  to  Augustus  were  re- 
ceived in  his  name  by  officers  called  procuratores  ;'"'■  a  class  of  per- 
sons who  at  first  were  hardly  considered  as  more  than  the  agents 
or  stewards  of  a  wealthy  individual,  and  who  were  accordingly 
selected  not  only  from  the  equestrian  order,  but  also  from  among 
the  freedmen  ;  while  the  regular  governors  of  the  provinces, 
v/hether  proconsuls  or  lieutenants  of  the  emperor,  were,  with  the 
sole  exception  of  the  governor  of  Egypt,  appointed  exclusively 
from  the  senate. 

We  here  propose  to  notice,  separately,  the  state  of  Italy  and  of  the 
state  of  Italy  and  the  diftcrent  provlnccs  of  the  empire,  under  the  govern- 
provinces.  mcut  of  Augustus,  as  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  col- 

lo*  Cicero,  de  ProvinciisConsularibus,  5.         '"^     Dion    Cassius,  LITI.  506.     Conf. 
'"5  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  49.  Creuzer,  Romische  Antiquitaten,218, 219. 

'»^'  Tacitus,  Annal.  I.  78. 


STATE  OF  ITALY  AND  THE  PROVINCES.  489 

lect  materials  for  the  picture.  The  name  of  Italy  was 
now  at  last  applied  to  the  whole  peninsula  from  the  "  '' 

Alps  to  the  Straits  of  Messina  ;"^  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  whole 
of  this  district  had  obtained  the  rights  of  Roman  citizens.  Their 
votes, however,  were  no  longer  to  be  given  in  the  comitia  at  Rome,"" 
but  the  magistrates  of  the  difierent  Italian  colonies  were  to  collect 
the  votes  of  their  fellow-citizens  in  their  respective  towns,  and 
send  them  sealed  up  to  Rome,  there  to  be  opened  on  the  day  of 
election  in  the  Campus  Martins.  These  colonies,  it  must  be  re- 
membered, occupied  at  this  time  nearly  all  the  surface  of  Italy. 
It  was  the  boast  of  Augustus  that  he  had  himself  planted  no 
fewer  than  eight  and  twenty  ;  a  strange  subject  of  exultation, 
when  we  consider  that  they  were  formed  out  of  the  soldiers  of 
his  army,  and  were  planted  in  spots  left  desolate  by  the  extirpation 
of  their  old  inhabitants,  who  had  suffered  either  under  the  first 
proscription  of  the  Triumvirs,  or  under  that  fatal  establishment 
of  military  tyranny  which  was  created  by  the  reduction  of  Peru- 
sia.  The  soldiers  of  a  mercenary  army  are  miserable  elements 
out  of  which  to  form  a  civil  society  ;  and  thus,  instead  of  a  people 
inheriting  the  soil  from  time  immemorial,  and  blending,  in  one 
well-organized  commonwealth,  nobility  and  wealth  and  honest 
industry,  the  new  possessors  of  Italy  were  an  ill-cemented  horde 
of  dissolute  adventurers,  with  no  natural  connexion  with  the  spots 
on  which  they  were  settled,  and  with  habits  the  most  alien  from 
those  of  good  husbands,  good  fathers,  or  good  citizens.  We  are 
told  accordingly,  that  the  free  population  of  many  parts  of  Italy 
was  reduced  to  a  very  low  point,^'"  whilst  the  slaves  were  numer- 
ous, and  the  capital  itself  was  overburthened  with  the  crowd  of 
needy  citizens  whom  each  successive  civil  war  threw  upon  that 
common  shore  of  nations.  The  north  of  Italy,  however,  was  in 
a  more  flourishing  condition  ;  there  the  military  colonies  had  been 
far  less  numerous,  and  the  inhabitants  having  lately  acquired  the 
rights  of  Roman  citizens,  and  possessing  natural  advantages  of 
the  highest  order  in  their  soil  and  climate,  were  perhaps  the  most 
fortunately  circumstanced  of  any  people  throughout  the  empire. 
In  Patavium  or  Padua  there  were  five  hundred  citizens  rich 
enough  to  be  ranked  among  the  equestrian  order. "^  The  town 
carried  on  a  great  trade  with  Rome,  supplying  the  capital  with 
clothing,  with  the  finest  carpets,  and  with  other  articles  of  similar 
kinds  to  an  immense  amount,  probably  from  its  own  manufac- 
tories. The  woods  of  this  part  of  Italy  maintained  also  large 
droves  of  swine, '^^  which  supplied  the  population  of  Rome  with 
the  largest  proportion  of  their  food  ;  and  the  vine  was  cultivated 
with  great  success,  in  proof  of  which  Strabo  instances  the  pro- 

108  Strabo,  V.  I.  m  Strabo,  V.  1,§  7. 

•"9  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  46.  "2  Strabo,  1,  §  12. 

"0  Livy,  VI.  12. 


490  SICILY,  SARDINIA,  AND  CORSICA, 

digious  size  of  the  wine  vats,  rivalling,  it  seems,  those  of  our 
London  brewers,  for  they  are  described  as  being  larger  than  houses. 
The  coarser  woollen  cloths,  which  formed  the  dress  of  the  house- 
holds of  most  of  the  people  of  Italy,  were  chiefly  manufactured 
in  Liguria  and  its  neighbourhood  ;  whilst  the  sofest  and  finest 
W"ool  was  produced  by  the  pastures  of  Mutina  and  Scultenna. 
Above  all,  it  is  said,  that  here  was  to  be  found  a  numerous  free 
population,  Avhich  provided  the  state  with  its  best  supply  of  sol- 
diers, whilst  the  rest  of  Italy  was  left  exhausted  and  desolate,  and 
Augustus  was  endeavouring  to  force  its  inhabitants  to  marry  and 
rear  families  by  the  penalties  and  encouragements  of  the  law. 

The  island  of  Sicily  had  been  the  seat  of  one  of  the  latest 
sicuy,  Sardinia, and  c^^^^^^  wars,  that  bctwceu  Augustus  and  Sex.  Pom- 
<^°"''=''-  peius,  and  it  is  said  to  have  suffered  not  only  during 

the  contest,  but  during  its  previous  occupation  by  Pompeius  ;  the 
plundering  and  disorderly  habits  of  his  numerous  seamen  having 
proved,  we  may  suppose,  very  mischievous  to  the  inhabitants.^'^ 
Since  that  time  Augustus  had  sent  a  colony  of  veterans  to  Syra- 
cuse, and  a  small  portion  of  the  former  site  of  that  famous  city  was 
again  occupied  and  fortified.  But  the  cities  of  Sicily  were  now 
become  few  and  inconsiderable ;  its  population  was  small ;  and 
almost  the  whole  of  its  abundant  produce  was  regularly  sent  to 
Rome  for  the  maintenance  of  the  people  of  the  capital.  A  great 
part  of  the  surface  of  the  island  was  devoted  to  pasture  for  sheep, 
oxen,  and  horses  ;^'^  and  the  slaves,  who  were  employed  in  taking 
care  of  them,  had  formerly,  as  we  have  seen,  carried  on  a  long 
and  obstinate  struggle  against  the  Roman  power.  In  the  reign  of 
Augustus  they  still  infested  the  country,  and  particularly  the 
neighbourhood  of  ^Etna,  with  their  robberies  ;  and  Strabo  men- 
tions a  robber  chief  whom  he  himself  saw  torn  to  pieces  by  v/ild 
beasts  in  the  amphitheatre  at  Rome,  and  who,  before  he  was  taken, 
had  been  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force.  The  mountains  of 
Corsica  and  Sardinia  were  in  like  manner  occupied  by  wild  tribes 
of  barbarians,  who  kept  up  a  constant  system  of  plunder  against 
the  inhabitants  of  the  more  level  country ;  those  of  Corsica  are 
described  as  so  inveterately  brutish,"^  that  when  taken  and  carried 
to  the  Roman  slave  market,  their  purchasers  always  repented  of 
their  bargain,  however  trifling  the  price  they  had  paid  for  them; 
while  the  Sardinian  robbers  did  not  confine  their  depredations  to 
their  own  island,  but  frequently  made  excursions  to  the  opposite 
coast  of  Italy,  and  were  enabled,  in  great  measure,  to  defy  the 
Roman  governors,  in  their  own  haunts,  from  the  impossibility  of 
keeping  a  military  force  exposed  to  the  pestilential  atmosphere  of 
the  wilder  parts  of  the  country.     Amongst  the  Alpine  tribes,  to 

<i3  Strabo,  VI.  2,  §  4.  "5  Strabo,  V.  2,  §  7. 

"«  Strabo,  2,  6  6. 


GAUL;  ITS  QUIET  SETTLEMENT.  49 1 

the  north  of  Italy,  the  same  plundering  habits  had  formerly  pre- 
vailed, and  even  the  Roman  armies,  which  were  stationed  in  their 
neighbourhood,  had  frequently  suffered  from  their  desultory  at- 
tacks|;"^  but  Augustus,  judging  it  most  important  to  keep  up  a 
secure  communication  between  Italy  and  the  Transalpine  pro- 
vinces, and  having  himself,  on  one  occasion,  lost  his  baggage  and 
several  of  his  soldiers  when  crossing  the  mountains  which  they 
inhabited,  determined  to  put  an  effectual  stop  to  their  incursions. 
He  accordingly  employed  such  vigorous  measures  against  them, 
that  he  extirpated  the  nation  of  the  Salassi  altogether,  selling  no 
fewer  than  forty-four  thousand  of  them  for  slaves,  eight  thousand 
of  whom  were  the  warriors  of  the  tribe.  Three  thousand  Roman 
settlers  were  then  sent  to  colonize  the  town  of  Augusta,  or  Aosta, 
at  the  very  head  of  the  valley  of  the  Dorea  Baltea,  from  which 
place  two  roads  were  carried  across  the  Alps,  the  one  over  the 
Little  Saint  Bernard,  which  was  made  practicable  for  carriages, 
and  the  other  over  the  Great  Saint  Bernard,  which  could  be  tra- 
velled only  by  mules.  In  consequence  of  these  exertions,  the 
whole  neighbourhood  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  perfect  tran- 
quillity, and  the  communication  with  Gaul  was  carried  on  without 
molestation."'' 

The  condition  of  the  important  province  of  Gaul  itself  will  be 
regarded  with  more  curiosity.  Its  "  Cicatrice  "  must 
still  "have  looked  raw  and  red  after  the  Roman 
sword,"  when  Augustus  first  became  the  sovereign  of  the  empire  ; 
for  scarcely  more  than  twenty  years  had  elapsed  since  his  uncle 
had  for  the  first  time  completed  its  conquest.  Yet  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius,  Strabo  describes  the  inhabitants  as  already  settled  into 
habits  of  peaceful  submission  to  the  Roman  power  ;"^  and 
he  attributes  it  to  their  national  character,  which  long  retained 
the  remembrance  of  a  defeat,  and  if  vanquished  in  one  general 
contest,  was  cowed  for  ever.  But  the  fact  is,  that  the  Gauls, 
when  first  attacked  by  Cassar,  were  by  no  means  a  nation  of 
savages.  They  had  regular  governments,'"  were  perfectly  fa- 
miliar with  agriculture,  and  were  accustomed  to  pay  the  greatest 
veneration  to  their  Druids,  who  professed,  with  whatever  success, 
the  study  of  moral  and  natural  philosophy.  Such  a  state  of  so- 
ciety, combined  with  the  natural  features  of  the  country,  which 
then,  as  now,  was  by  no  means  favourable  to  the  maintenance  of 
a  desultory  and  harassing  warfare,  insured  the  permanence  of  the 
conquest  of  Gaul  as  soon  as  it  was  once  effected.  The  people 
were  able  to  appreciate  the  value  of  the  arts,  and  the  commercial 
advantages  which  they  derived  from  their  conquerors.  Even  be- 
fore the  invasion  of  Ca3sar,  traders  were  in  the  habit  of  visiting 

116  Strabo,  IV.  6,  §  7.  "s  IV.  1,  §  2  ;  4,  §  2. 

117  Strabo,  IV.  6,  §  7  ;  and  Pliny,  His-        "9  Cffisar,  de  Bello  Gallico,  VI.  11,  &c. 
tor.  Natural.  III.  20. 


492  ROMAN  COLONIES  IN  GAUL. 

almost  every  part  of  the  country,  and  had  familiarized  the  people 
with  many  even  of  the  luxuries  of  civilized  life.  But  the  Roman 
conquest  must  have  greatly  increased  this  traffic,  by  enabling 
merchants  to  transport  their  goods  from  one  end  of  Gaul  to  the 
other  with  perfect  security,  and  by  bringing  the  whole  country 
into  direct  communication  with  the  wealth  and  commercial  enter- 
terprise  of  the  Roman  empire.  The  great  rivers  with  which 
France  abounds  were  successfully  employed  to  expedite  this  in- 
tercourse ;'^"  and  goods  from  all  parts  of  the  Mediterranean  were 
conveyed  by  water  up  the  Rhone  and  Saone,  and  from  thence, 
after  a  short  interval  of  land  carriage,  were  again  embarked  on 
the  Seine,  and  thus  transported  either  to  Britain  or  to  all  the  dis- 
tricts on  the  northern  coast  of  Gaul,  bordering  on  the  British 
Channel ;  while  the  Loire  and  the  Garonne  afforded  an  equally 
convenient  communication  with  the  western  parts  of  Gaul,  and 
with  the  shores  of  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  In  another  point,  also,  the 
Gauls  felt  the  benefit  of  their  connexion  with  Rome.  Great  quan- 
tities of  oxen,  sheep,  and  pigs,  were  reared  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  j'^'  and  we  are  told  that  not  only  Rome  itself,  but  most 
other  districts  of  Italy,  were  supplied  with  coarse  cloaks  manu- 
factured of  Gaulish  wool,  and  with  Gaulish  bacon  of  most  excel- 
lent quality,  particularly  from  the  hogs  fed  in  Burgundy,  Franche 
Comte,  and  Lorraine.  There  were  also  some  favoured  spots  in 
Gaul,  to  which  the  Romans  had  communicated  their  own  politi- 
cal privileges.  Narbo,  Vienne,  and  Lugdunum  were  Roman 
colonies,  and  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the  "jus  Italicum"  in  its 
full  extent  ;'^^  that  is,  they  were  governed  by  their  own  laws  and 
magistrates,  and  were  not  subject  to  the  authority  of  the  procon- 
sul of  the  province,  and  their  land  was  considered  private  and 
freehold  property  in  the  full  Roman  sense  of  the  term ;  it  was, 
therefore,  not  liable  to  pay  land-tax  or  tithes  ;  and  it  might  be 
alienated  by  "  mancipatio,"  that  is,  it  might  be  sold  in  full  sove- 
reignty, and  with  an  indisputable  title,  a  privilege  which  was  pe- 
culiarly confined  to  the  soil  of  Italy,''^^  and  to  those  places  in  the 
provinces  which,  by  possessing  the  "jus  Italicum,"  were  placed 
on  the  same  footing  as  if  they  were  situated  in  Italy.  The  lower 
privilege  of  the  "jus  Latii"  was  conferred  on  the  inhabitants  of 
Nemansus,  or  Nismes,"^^  and  on  the  Convenae  and  Ausci  in  Aqui- 
tania,  by  which  they  also  enjoyed  an  exemption  from  the  autho- 
rity of  the  proconsul  of  the  province ;  and  those  who  held  any 
magistracy  among  them  became  ipso  facto  entitled  to  the  full 

120  Strabo,  IV.  1,  §  14.  in  his  Dissertation  "  Ueber  das  Jus  Itali- 

121  Strabo,  1,  §  2;  4,  §3.     Csesar  de     cum"  published  among  the  Memoirs,  and 
Bello  Gallico,  IV.  2.  read  by  him  before  the  Academy  of  Ber- 

'22  See  Haubold,  Epicrisis  Heineccii,  I.  lin  in  1814  and  1815. 
Adpend.  §  97,  98  ;  andCreuzer,  Romische         '23  gee  Liber  Simplicii,  apud  Scriptores 

Antiquitaten,  263.     This  account  of  the  de  Re  Agraria,  76,  edit.  Goesii. 
"jus  Italicum"  was  first  given  by  Savigny,         '24  Strabo,  IV.  1,  ^  12  ;  and  2,  §  2. 


CHANGE  OF  LANGUAGE.  493 

rights  of  Roman  citizens.  These,  however,  were  in  the  time  of 
Augustus  rare  exceptions ;  and  the  great  majority  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Gaul  shared  largely  in  the  miseries  as  well  as  in  the 
benefits  of  subjection  to  the  Roman  empire.  They  were  oppressed 
by  all  the  burdens  ordinarily  imposed  on  the  provinces,  and  suf- 
fered not  only  from  direct  taxation,  but  from  that  still  heavier 
evil,  to  which  we  have  before  alluded,  the  frequent  necessity  of  bor- 
rowing money  at  an  exorbitant  interest  from  the  wealthy  Roman 
citizens  who  were  settled  amongst  them.  Accordingly  we  find,  as 
early  as  the  reign  of  Tiberius, ^'^^  that  the  whole  of  Gaul  was  over- 
whelmed with  debt,  and  their  sufferings  from  this  cause  led  to  the 
unsuccessful  insurrection  against  the  Roman  power,  which  took 
place,  about  eight  years  after  the  death  of  Augustus,  under  Julius 
Floras  and  Julius  Sacrovir. 

The  total  extirpation  of  the  Celtic  language,  which  was  eifected 
throughout  the  whole  of  Gaul,  during  the  continu- 
ance of  the  Roman  dominion,  could  not  have  taken  '^"°^°  anguage 
place  till  long  after  the  reign  of  Augustus.  But  an  earnest  of  the 
change  was  already  exhibited  in  Gallia  Narbonensis,  which  had 
been  now  a  Roman  province  for  more  than  a  century ;  for  Strabo 
tells  us,^^^  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  left  or  eastern  bank  of  the 
Rhone  were  even  in  his  time  no  longer  to  be  considered  barba- 
rians, but  were  become  Romans,  both  in  their  customs  and  in 
their  language.  Several  important  steps  had  also  been  taken 
towards  the  civilization  of  the  more  recently  conquered  provinces. 
Human  sacrifices,'^''  and  all  rites  of  the  Celtic  worship  which 
were  at  variance  with  the  practices  of  the  Roman  religion,  were 
strictly  prohibited  ;  nor  was  more  toleration  shown  to  the  barba- 
rous custom  of  carrying  about  the  skulls  of  their  enemies  whom 
they  liad  slain,  and  fastening  them  up  as  a  trophy  over  their 
gates.  Besides,  the  Romans  found  the  Gauls  already  disposed, 
in  some  measure,  to  adopt  their  institutions,  from  the  popularity 
which  the  arts  and  literature  of  Greece  had  obtained  amongst 
them.  Their  knowledge  of  these  was  derived  from  th6  famous 
Ionian  colony  of  Massilia,  or  Marseilles,  a  city  which  was  at  this 
time  the  Athens  of  the  western  part  of  the  empire, '^^  and  not  only 
served  as  a  school  of  instruction  to  the  Gauls,  but  was  frequented 
by  many  Romans  of  the  highest  distinction,  who  resorted  thither, 
instead  of  to  Greece,  to  devote  themselves  to  literature  and  phi- 
losophy. So  strong  an  effect  had  been  produced  by  the  Mas- 
silians  upon  the  Gauls  in  general,  that  the  Greek  sophists  found 
in  most  parts  of  Gaul  a  liberal  reception,  and  were  often  engaged, 
by  particular  cities,  to  open  schools  of  public  instruction  for  their 
citizens,  while  the  Greek  character  began  to  be  adopted  wherever 

125  Tacitus,  Annal.  III.  40.     Galliarum         >2S  IV.  1,§  12. 
Civitates,  ob  magnitudinem  .^ris  alieni,         ^'"^  IV.  4,  §  5. 
rebellionem  coeptavere.  '23  iy_  1,^5. 


494  SPAIN ;  ITS  THREE  PROVINCES. 

there  was  occasion  for  writing. '^^  The  Cehic,  it  appears,  was 
not  a  written  language ;  and  the  Druids  refused  to  commit  to 
writing  any  of  the  learning  which  they  possessed  and  taught, 
giving  their  instructions  only  by  word  of  mouth,  and  obliging 
their  scholars  to  trust  to  their  memories  alone  for  retaining 
them.  This  circumstance,  doubtless,  contributed  to  the  gradual 
adoption  of  the  Roman  language  throughout  Gaul.  As  soon  as  a 
fondness  for  literature  was  introduced,  the  Gauls,  finding  nothing 
to  gratify  it  in  their  own  language,  applied  themselves  of  neces- 
sity to  that  of  their  conquerors.  This  co-operating  with  the  influ- 
ence which  Latin  necessarily  enjoyed  from  political  causes,  intro- 
duced it  universally,  in  time,  amongst  the  higher  classes  ;  while 
the  existence  of  domestic  slavery  made  it  much  more  necessary 
for  the  lower  orders  to  acquire  the  language  of  the  higher,  than  is 
the  case  in  modern  Europe.  Thus  the  negroes  in  the  West  In- 
dies learn,  universally,  the  language  of  their  masters  ;  whilst  in 
Wales  and  Ireland  the  gentleman  often  accommodates  himself  to 
his  poorer  neighbours,  and  consents  to  address  them  in  Welsh  or 
in  Erse,  because  they  choose  to  continue  ignorant  of  the  English. 
The  different  parts  of  the  neighbouring  country  of  Spain  pre- 
sented a  striking  contrast  to  each  other.  The  whole 
*"*"'■  Peninsula  was  at  this  time  divided  into   three  pro- 

vinces,*^" known  by  the  names  of  Baetica,  Lusitania,  and  Hispa- 
nia  Tarraconensis  ;  the  first  of  which  was  governed  by  a  procon- 
sul appointed  by  the  senate,  and  the  two  latter  by  the  lieutenants 
of  Augustus.  Bastica  comprised  nearly  the  same 
^*^"^'  extent  of  country   which   is   at   present  included 

within  the  limits  of  Andalusia  and  Grenada.  It  had  been  already 
conquered  by  the  Carthaginians  before  the  second  Punic  war, 
and  in  the  course  of  that  war  was  made  a  part  of  the  Roman 
dominion  by  P.  Scipio  Africanus,  after  the  expulsion  of  its  former 
masters.  The  Romans  had  thus  possessed  it  for  about  two  hun- 
dred years,  and  it  was  now  one  of  the  most  flourishing  portions 
of  their  empire.  Its  inhabitants  had  almost  lost  their  original  lan- 
guage,*^' and  in  their  speech,  and  diess,  and  manners,  were  be- 
come assimilated  to  their  conquerors.  The  valley  of  the  Baetis, 
or  Guadalquivir,  is  described  by  Strabo  as  rivalling  in  richness 
and  fertility  the  most  favoured  countries  in  the  empire ;  its  trade 
with  Rome  was  exceedingly  great,  and  carried  on  directly  with 
Ostia  and  Puteoli,  the  ports  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
the  capital ;  the  ships  employed  in  this  commerce  were  of  the 
largest  size  of  any  that  frequented  the  Mediterranean ;  and  the 
articles  exported  in  them  were  numerous  and  valuable,  consisting 
of  corn,  wine,  oil,  of  the  finest  quality,  wax,  honey,  salt   fish  in 

129  Cffisar,  de  Bello  Gallico,  VI.  13.  "i  Sirabo,  III.  2.  p.  404.  380,  389,  &e. 

130  Dion  Cassius  LIII.  503.  Strabo,  III. 
4,  p.  444,  edit.  Siebenkeee. 


B.ET1CA.  495 

immense  quantities,  pitch,  minium  or  cinnabar, '^2  r^^^^  coccus 
ilicis,  an  insect  of  the  cochineal  species,  and  used  by  the  ancients 
for  their  best  scarlet  dyes,  as  we  now  use  the  cochineal  of  Mexico. 
The  Spanish  wool  then  enjoyed  the  same  high  reputation  which 
it  still  does  to  this  day  ;  great  quantities  of  it,  both  in  the  raw  and 
manufactured  state,  were  exported  to  Rome  ;  and  so  highly  was 
the  Spanish  breed  of  sheep  esteemed,  that  the  rams  were  ordina- 
rily sold  for  a  talent,'"  or  193/,  I5s.  of  our  money.  Above  all, 
we  should  notice  the  mineral  riches  of  Spain,  which  exceeded, 
in  value  and  in  quantity,  all  that  were  known  to  exist  in  any  part 
of  the  world.  We  read  of  gold  obtained  partly  from  the  mines, 
but  more  brought  down  in  small  particles  by  the  streams  from 
the  mountains,  and  extracted  by  carefully  washing  the  sand  and 
gravel  in  which  it  was  contained  ;  and  mention  is  made  also  of 
mines  of  silver,  lead,  tin,  iron,  and  copper.  Of  the  towns  of  Bae- 
tica,  the  most  distinguished  were  the  Roman  colonies  of  Corduba 
and  Hispalis  (Cordova  and  Seville),  and  Gades,  or  Cadiz.  This 
place  had  been  founded  at  a  very  remote  period,  by  a  colony  from 
rpyj.g.134  tiieir  Phoenician  extraction  however  did  not  induce  the 
inhabitants  to  bear  the  Carthaginian  dominion  with  willingness  ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  they  took  an  early  opportunity  to  conclude 
an  alliance  with  Rome,'^^  even  before  the  downfall  of  the  Cartha- 
ginian power  in  Spain,  and  became  thus,  according  to  the  usual 
nature  of  alliances  between  a  stronger  and  a  weaker  state  in  the 
ancient  world,  a  dependency  of  the  Roman  people.  In  the  civil 
war  provoked  by  Caesar's  rebellion,  the  people  of  Gades  espoused 
his  cause  with  zeal,  and  expelled  Pompey's  officer  from  their 
town  ;'^«  in  return  for  which,  if  we  may  believe  Dion  Cassius,*" 
Caesar  bestowed  upon  them  the  privileges  of  Roman  citizenship. 
They  found  at  any  rate  an  effectual  patron  in  their  countryman 
L.  Cornelius  Balbus,  the  nephew  of  that  Balbus  who  had  been 
presented  with  the  freedom  of  Rome  by  Pompey,  for  his  services 
in  the  contest  with  Sertorius,  and  wlio  has  been  mentioned  before 
as  one  of  the  most  confidential  friends  of  Caesar,  and  as  one  of  the 
first  instances  of  a  man,  by  birth  a  foreigner,  rising  to  the  rank 
of  consul  at  Rome.     Balbus  enlarged  the  city  of  Gades, '^^  and 

132  The  minium  (sulphuret  of  quicksil-  See  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural.  XVI.  8  ;  and 

ver)  belonged  to  the  government,  and,  with  XXXIII.  7. 

other  productions  of  the  mines,  was  farm-  133  Strabo,  ibid, 

ed  by  the  publicani.     The  price,  however,  134  Velleius  Paterculus,  I.  2. 

at  which  it  was  to  be  sold  was  fixed  by  i35  Cicero,  pro  Balbo,  15,  16.     The  lan- 

the    government   at  15s.   8d.   the    pound  guage    of   the    treaty    ran,  "  Majestatera 

avoirdupois ;    but    the    publicani    made  a  populi  Romani  comiter   conservato"   (soil, 

large  profit  by  adulterating  it.     The  coc-  populus  Gaditanus). 

cus  ilicis  was  found   so  plentifully  on  the  i36  Caesar,  de  Bello  Civili,  II.  20. 

evergreen    oak,   (quercus  coccifera,)   that  i37  XLI.  164,  edit.  Leunclavii. 

Pliny  says  the  poorer  Spaniards  were  ena-  i33  Strabo,  III.  5,  p,  451,  edit.  Sieben- 

bled  to  pay  half  their  tribute  by  the  money  kees. 
which  they  got  from  the  sale  of  this  insect. 


496  LUSITANIA  AND  HISPANIA  TARRACONENSIS. 

built  a  dock-yard  on  the  main  land  immediately  opposite  to  the 
island  in  which  the  town  is  situated.  In  the  reign  of  Tiberius, 
Gades  was  one  of  the  most  flourishing  cities  in  the  empire  ;  and 
it  is  said  to  have  rivalled  Patavium  or  Padua,  in  containing  five 
hundred  citizens,  rich  enough  to  be  reckoned  amongst  the  eques- 
trian order.  It  carried  on  an  extensive  trade  both  in  the  Medi- 
terranean and  in  the  Atlantic,  and  the  size  and  number  of  its 
merchant  vessels  are  both  especially  noticed. 

The  two  remaining  provices  of  Spain  were  far  from  being  in 
Lusitank  and  Hispa-  ^^  advauccd  a  statc  as  Baetica.  The  Celtiberians 
niaTarraoonensis.  indeed,  wlio  inhabited  the  central  and  eastern  parts 
of  the  Peninsula,  were  partially  becoming  more  civilized  ;'^*and 
some  of  them,  like  the  people  of  Baetica,  had  learnt  to  wear  the 
Roman  dress,  and  to  adopt  the  Roman  manner  of  living.  But 
the  tribes  which  bordered  on  the  Atlantic  and  on  the  Bay  of  Bis- 
cay still  retained  in  great  measure  their  original  wildness.  The 
Cantabri,  whose  territory  corresponded  with  the  modern  provinces 
of  Biscay  and  Asturias,  had  been  only  lately  attacked  by  Augus- 
tus in  person,'"  in  the  year  728 ;  and  being  then  partially  con- 
quered, had  soon  afterwards  renewed  the  contest,  and  had  been 
more  effectually  subdued  by  L.  ^Emilius,  in  the  year  following, 
and  again  by  M.  Agrippa,  in  the  year  734.  In  the  reign  of  Tibe- 
rius,'^' the  continued  presence  of  a  large  Roman  army  in  their 
country  (for  out  of  three  Roman  legions  stationed  in  Spain,  two 
were  quartered  amongst  the  Asturians  and  Cantabrians),  had 
produced  a  partial  effect  upon  them  :  some  of  them  had  entered 
into  the  service  of  Rome,  and  some  of  the  tribes  were  learning  the 
first  elements  of  civil  society.  But  the  existence  of  the  Basque 
language  to  this  very  day,  undestroyed  by  the  revolutions  of  eigh- 
teen centuries,  sufficiently  proves  that  in  these  remote  districts 
the  language  and  manners  of  Rome  were  unable  to  take  deep 
root ;  and  therefore,  at  the  period  of  which  we  are  writing,  no 
more  had  probably  been  done  than  to  reduce  the  hostilities  of  the 
natives  to  mere  acts  of  robbery  in  the  mountains  and  forests,  and 
by  quartering  Roman  soldiers  among  them  to  set  before  them  a 
view  of  more  civilized  institutions.  The  coast  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean presented  naturally  a  different  picture. '^^  Here  were  culti- 
vated the  vine,  the  fig,  and  the  olive ;  and  here  were  the  famous 
cities  of  Carthago,  or  Carthagena,  and  Tarraco,  or  Tarragona, 
both  Roman  colonies.  On  this  coast  also  there  grew  in  great 
luxuriance  a  species  of  broom,  which  was  largely  used  in  rope- 
making,  and  which  was  exported  for  that  purpose  to  all  parts  of 

139  Strabo,  III.   2,  p.  404  ;  and  4,   p.         »'  Strabo,  III.    3,  p.    416;  4,  p.  445, 
446.  Tacitus,  Annal.  IV.  5. 

1"  Dion  Cassius,   LIII.  513.   516.  528.         i«  Strabo,  III.  4,  p.  437.  429. 
Horace,  Carm.  III.  ode   14 ;  and  Episto- 
lar.  I.  epist.  12. 


MAURITANIA.  497 

the  empire.  In  the  interior  may  be  noticed  the  recently-planted 
colonies  of  Augusta  Emerita  or  Merida,  Pax  Augusta  or  Badajoz, 
and  Coesar-augusta  or  Zaragoza,  which  Strabo  instances  as  a 
proof  of  the  improved  condition  of  the  countries  in  which  they 
were  situated."^ 

The  northern  coast  of  Africa  from  the  Atlantic  ocean  to  the 
harbour  of  Saldas/^^  which  lies  a  few  miles  to  the 
eastward  of  Algiers,  was  known  by  the  general 
name  of  Mauritania,  and  was  at  this  time  governed  by  an  African 
prince,  on  whom  Augustus  had  conferred  the  sovereignty ;  this 
was  Juba,  the  son  of  that  Juba  who  had  so  zealously  supported 
the  constitutional  party  in  the  civil  Avar  between  Caesar  and  Pom- 
pey,  and  the  husband  of  one  of  the  daughters  of  Antonius  and 
Cleopatra.  But  notwithstanding  these  connexions,  Juba  had 
served  Augustus  in  the  civil  wars,"^  and  had  acquired  his  favour; 
and  as  the  greatest  part  of  his  father's  dominions  now  formed 
part  of  the  Roman  province  of  Africa,  he  received  the  sovereignty 
of  Mauritania  as  a  sort  of  compensation.  From  the  port  of  Sal- 
das  to  the  borders  of  Cyrenaica,  the  whole  country  which  had 
been  formerly  possessed  by  the  kings  of  Numidia  and  the  repub- 
lic of  Carthage,  was  now  united  under  one  government,  and  was 
called  the  province  of  Africa. "«  It  was  one  of  the  provinces 
assigned  to  the  senate  and  people,  and  was  governed  by  a  pro- 
consul, with  a  military  establishment  of  two  legions  ;'"  and  it  is 
known  to  have  been  one  of  the  countries  which  sent  the  greatest 
quantity  of  corn  to  the  Roman  market. '^^  But  of  the  details  of 
its  condition  very  little  is  recorded.  We  find  by  the  Fasti  Tri- 
umphales,  that  the  proconsuls  of  this  province  frequently  laid 
claim  to  the  insignia  of  a  triumph,  on  account  of  victories  gained 
over  the  barbarians  of  the  interior :  we  hear  of  a  Roman  colony, '^^ 
lately  founded  by  Augustus,  close  to  the  site  of  the  ancient  Car- 
thage ;  and  we  are  told  that  private  individuals  possessed  here 
immense  estates, '5°  chiefly  woodland  and  pasture,  on  which  many 
villages  were  built,  and  a  numerous  population  was  maintained 
around  the  villa  of  the  proprietor  or  lord.  Perhaps  from  this  very 
cause  the  towns  in  Africa  were  few  and  unimportant ;  the  old 
ones  had  been  mostly  destroyed,  either  in  the  Jugurthine  war,  or 
in  the  contest  between  Cajsar  and  the  constitutional  party,  under 
Scipio  and  Cato :  and  as  the  land  seems  mostly  to  have  been 
granted  or  sold  away  to  individuals,  there  was  less  room  for  those 

'«  III.  2,  p.  404.  Sat.  II. ;  Sat.    III.  87.     Carm.  I.  ode  I. 

'"Strabo,     XVII.      Tacitus,    Annal.  10.  III.  ode  XVI.  30. 

IV.  5.      .  149  Strabo,   XVII.   3,  §  15.      Appian, 

'45  Dion  Cassius,  LI.  454  ;  LIII.  514.  Punica,  136. 

i-is  Strabo,  XVII.  3,  §  25.  iso  Aggenus  Urbicus,  de  Controversiis 

1"  Tacitus,  Annal.  IV.  5.  Agrorum,  apud  Scriptores  de  Re  Agraria, 

'«  Tacitus,  Annal.  XII.  43.     See  also  edit.  Goesii,  71. 
several  passages  in  Horace  ;  for  instance. 


498  OP  THE  EASTERN  OR  GREEK  PROVINCES. 

military  colonies,  which  in  other  parts  of  the  empire  were  laying 
the  foundations  of  so  many  cities,  famous  in  after  generations. 
Still  we  know  that  Africa  carried  on  a  considerable  trade,  for 
Strabo,^^' when  wishing  to  represent  the  great  number  of  the 
merchant  vessels  employed  in  the  commerce  between  Italy  and 
the  south  of  Spain,  observes  that  it  almost  rivalled  the  number  of 
the  vessels  engaged  in  the  commerce  of  Africa. 

In  proceeding  eastward  to  the  small  provmce  of  Cyrenaica,  we 
Of  the  eastern  or       Gutcr  upou  a  ncw  divislou  of  the  empire,  and  one 
Greek  provinces.        most  strongly  distinguished  from  all   the  countries 
which  we  have  hitherto  noticed,  by  the  general  use 
cyrena.ea.  ^^  ^^^  Greek  language.     The  Greek  provinces,  if 

we  may  so  call  them,  were  in  a  very  different  condition  from  those 
in  the  west,  which,  owing  their  civilization  to  the  Romans,  bor- 
rowed from  them  alone  their  language  and  their  institutions.  But 
in  the  east,  society  had  long  since  assumed  a  settled  form,  which 
in  its  internal  details  was  but  little  affected  by  the  conquests  of 
Rome.  Cyrene,  originally  a  colony  from  the  little  island  of  Thera, 
in  the  iEggean,'^'^  after  enjoying  some  centuries  of  independence 
and  prosperity,  was  conquered  by  Ptolemy,'"  the  son  of  Lagus, 
the  first  of  the  Macedonian  kings  of  Egypt,  about  the  year  of 
Rome  430.  It  was  afterwards,  like  Cyprus,  conferred  from  time 
to  time,  as  a  separate  principality,  on  some  member  of  the  royal 
family  ;  and  a  prince,  named  Ptolemy  Apion,'*^  who  had  obtained 
it  in  this  manner,  bequeathed  it  by  his  will  to  the  Roman  people, 
in  the  year  of  Rome  657.  The  lands  which  had  belonged  to 
him  as  king, '^^  thus  became  the  demesne  of  the  Roman  people, 
and  not  being  divided  out  amongst  a  certain  number  of  citizens, 
as  was  the  case  when  a  colony  was  planted,  they  were  farmed  in 
the  mass  by  the  publicani,  mostly  as  grazing  lands,  and  were  en- 
croached upon  from  time  to  time,  like  the  other  national  lands 
throughout  the  empire,  by  the  proprietors  of  the  surrounding 
estates.  In  the  lime  of  Augustus,  Cyrenaica  was  united  with 
Crete,^^^  under  the  government  of  the  same  officer,  and  the  two 
countries  together  formed  one  of  the  praetorian  provinces  which 
had  been  assigned  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  senate  and  people. 
It  may  be  remarked,  as  a  proof  that  Cyrenaica  was  the  western 
limit  of  the  Greek  provinces,  that  the  Jews,  who  had  spread 
themselves  over  all  the  eastern  part  of  the  empire,  are  known  to 
have  been  very  numerous  at  Cyrene,'^''  but  are  not  mentioned  as 
having  established  themselves  in  the  adjacent  provinces  of  Afri- 

151  III.  2,  p.  387.  Histor.   Natural.    XIX.   3.     Hyginus,  de 

152  Herodotus,  Melpomene,  145,  et  seq.     Limitibus   constituend.  210.     Script.  Rei 

153  Diodorus   Siculus,   XVIII.    602,   et     Agrar.  edit.  Goesii. 

seq.  edit.  Rhodoman.  i5s  Strabo,  XVII.  2,  §  25. 

15*  Livy,  Epitome,  LXX.  is^  Acts   of  the  Apostles,  II.  10 ;  VI. 

155  Tacitus,  Annal.   XIV.   18.     Pliny,    9.     Dion  Cassius,  LXVIII.  786. 


EGYPT.  499 

ca,  or  in  any  of  the  provinces  westward  of  Italy.  To  Cyrene 
itself  its  connection  with  Egypt  would  naturally  have  led  them ; 
and  they  formed  there  a  body  so  considerable  as  to  have  a  syna- 
gogue specially  appropriated  to  them  in  Jerusalem. 

We  have  already  mentioned  some  of  the  precautions  taken  by 
Augustus  to  prevent  the  great  resources  of  Egypt 
from  being  placed  at  the  disposal  of  any  one  who  ^^^' 

might  use  them  for  the  views  of  his  own  ambition.  The  gov- 
ernor of  Egypt  was  always  selected  from  the  equestrian  order, 
that  is,  from  a  class  of  citizens  who  enjoyed  the  comforts  of  an 
affluent  private  station,  without  taking  any  part  in  civil  or  mili- 
tary offices.  Next  under  the  governor  was  an  officer  invested 
with  the  administration  of  justice  ;'^*  and  after  him  came  the  pro- 
curator of  the  emperor,  whose  business  was  simply  to  receive  and 
collect  all  sums  which  were  due  to  the  imperial  treasury.  The 
military  establishment  consisted  at  first  of  three  legions,  besides 
nine  cohorts,  employed  on  permanent  garrison  duty  at  particular 
points  of  the  country  ;  but  as  it  was  soon  found  that  nothing  was 
to  be  dreaded  either  from  any  disposition  to  revolt  in  the  Egyp- 
tians themselves,  or  from  the  power  of  the  yet  unconquered  neigh- 
bouring nations,  it  was  thought  safer  to  intrust  the  governor  of  so 
wealthy  a  province  with  the  least  possible  military  force,  and  the 
army  in  Egypt  was  consequently  reduced  to  two  legions. '^9  g^ 
wretched  had  been  the  condition  of  the  country  under  some  of 
its  recent  kings,  that  the  Romans  are  said  to  have  introduced 
many  beneficial  reforms ;  and  the  trade  with  India,  which  was 
carried  on  by  way  of  the  Red  Sea,  increased  prodigiously  under 
their  dominion,  notwithstanding  the  heavy  duties  which  they 
took  care  to  impose  on  all  articles  imported  into,  or  exported  from, 
Alexandria.'*"  There  were  two  modes  of  communication  be- 
tween Egypt  and  the  Red  Sea ;  one  was  by  that  famous  canal, 
which  had  been  begun  in  the  remotest  times  by  Pharaoh  Necho, 
again  resumed  by  Darius,  the  son  of  Hystaspes,  and  finally  com- 
pleted under  the  government  of  the  Ptolemies  ;  and  which  leav- 
ing the  Nile  near  the  southern  point  of  the  Delta,  after  a  some- 
what  circuitous   course,  joined   the   Red   Sea   at   the   town   of 

158  Strabo,  XVII.  1,  §  12.  b  iiKaioSorrn.  three  legions  and  nine  cohorts,  (XVII.  1, 
The  procurator  was  called  Miof  \6yoi,  or  §  12,)  and  of  Tacitus,  who  rates  them 
"private  account,"  which  seems  almost  only  at  two  legions  (Annal.  IV.  5).  Un- 
like a  cant  term  bestowed  on  him  by  the  less  indeed  Tacitus  spoke  only  of  the 
Egyptians.  The  separation  of  the  judicial  number  of  Roman  soldiers,  and  Strabo 
power  from  the  supreme  civil  and  military  meant  to  include  the  auxiliaries  ;  a  suppo- 
administration  of  the  province,  appears  to  sition  which  seems  supported  by  his  dis- 
be  another  proof  of  the  excessive'' jealousy  tinguishing  the  nine  cohorts  which  were 
with  which  the  power  and  wealth  of  Epypt  employed  in  garrison  duty,  by  the  epithet 
were  regarded  by  the  emperor.  "  Roman,"  as  if  all  the  troops  of  the  three 

159  We  thus  attempt  to  reconcile  the  legions  were  not  entitled  to  that  appella- 
different  statements  of  Strabo,  who  states  tion. 

the  troops  in  Egypt  to  have  consisted  of        '6"  Strabo,  XVII.  1,  §  13.  25.  45. 


500 


EGYPT. 


Arsinoe,  close  to  the  modern  town  of  Suez.  The  other  was  by 
land,  across  the  Desert,  from  Coptos  on  the  Nile,  situated  a  few 
miles  to  the  north  of  Thebes,  to  the  ports  of  Berenice  and  Myos 
Hormos  ;  and  the  route  was  now  supplied  with  water,  partly  by 
digging  wells,  and  partly  by  reservoirs,  which  preserved  the 
occasional  supply  from  the  clouds.  All  the  goods  which  were 
introduced  into  Egypt  from  the  east  by  either  of  these  channels, 
were  necessarily  conveyed  to  Alexandria,  where  they  were  again 
reshipped  and  exported  to  Italy  and  the  rest  of  the  empire.  It 
may  be  observed,  that  two  out  of  the  three  ships  in  which  the 
apostle  Paul  performed  his  voyage  from  Palestine  to  Rome,'«' 
were  ships  of  Alexandria,  which  seems  to  indicate  that  vessels 
from  that  place  sailing  direct  to  Italy  were  more  easily  to  be 
found  than  from  any  other  port  in  the  eastern  provinces.  Besides 
the  various  commodities  of  the  east,  Egypt  exported  to  Rome 
great  quantities  of  corn,'^^  together  with  the  best  writing  mate- 
rials then  known  in  the  world,  the  famous  papyrus,  the  two  finest 
sorts  of  which  were  named  the  Augustan  and  the  Livian,'"  in 
compliment  to  the  emperor  and  his  wife.  Alexandria  having 
been  long  the  capital  of  a  great  monarchy,  and  now  becoming  the 
seat  of  a  commerce  so  extensive,  was  probably  the  second  city 
in  the  Roman  empire.  But  of  all  its  buildings  and  institutions, 
the  Museum  deserves  most  particular  notice.  It  formed  a  part  of 
that  large  division  of  the  city  which  the  successive  kings  of 
Egypt  had  inclused  within  Avhat  may  be  called  the  precincts  of 
their  court  ;^^^  a  space  equal  to  nearly  a  third  of  the  whole  of 
Alexandria  ;  and  which  may  be  compared  to  the  parks  of  Lon- 
don, and  to  that  quarter  of  the  town  in  which  our  palaces,  our 
public  offices,  and  our  courts  of  justice,  are  concentred  together. 
The  museum  comprised  within  it  the  great  library  of  Alexandria, 
an  ornamented  walk,  and  a  large  building,  which  served  as  a 
refectory  or  college  hall  to  the  literary  men  who  belonged  to  the 
institution.  It  may  perhaps  surprise  some  of  our  readers  to  hear 
that  there  was  a  society  at  Alexandria  which  very  closely  resem- 
bled the  colleges  of  our  English  universities.  There  was  a  head 
or  master  of  the  museum,  who  was  also  a  priest,  appointed  by 
the  government ;  and  there  was  an  endowment  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  members  of  the  college,  who  lived  at  the  museum, 
and  were  accustomed  to  have  their  meals  together,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  their  common  hall.  A  similar  assemblage  of  literary 
and  scientific  men  had  formerly  existed  at  Heliopolis  ;  and  Strabo 
was  shown  the  apartments  in  which,  according  to  the  tradition 
of  the  guides,  Plato  and  Eudoxus  had  resided  for  several  years, 
to  learn  wisdom  from  the  sages  of  Egypt.'^^     g^t  this  institution 

"61  Acts,  XXVII.  6 ;  XXVIII.  11.  '^^  pjjny^  Histor.  Natural.  XIII.  12. 

162  Tacitus,  Annal.  XII.  43.      Histor.         •"  Strabo,  XVII.  1,§8. 
III.  8.  48.  '"'  XVII.  1,  §  29. 


SYRIA  AND  ASIA.  501 

was  gone  to  decay  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  and  the  buildings 
were  occupied  only  by  the  persons  engaged  in  the  care  of  the 
sacrifices,  and  by  those  who  instructed  strangers  in  the  forms 
which  they  were  to  observe  when  they  came  there  to  worship. 
In  another  point  however  Egypt  had  undergone  little  change  since 
the  days  of  Herodotus.  The  scandalous  licentiousness  of  some 
of  the  festivals  was  still  faithfully  preserved  ;  and  the  canals 
which  led  from  Alexandria  to  the  famous  temple  of  Serapis,  at 
Canopus,'*^  were  thronged  day  and  night  during  the  period  of 
the  festival  with  an  innumerable  concourse  of  people,  indulging 
themselves  without  restraint  in  the  worst  excesses  of  debauchery. 
From  Egypt  to  the  iEgaBan  Sea,  the  countries  included  luidcr  the 
general  names  of  Asia  Minor  and  Syria,  were  in  the 
time  of  Augustus  portioned  out  into  a  number  of  divi-  synaan 

sions  and  subdivisions,  which  it  would  be  of  little  importance  to 
enumerate  minutely.  The  principal  of  these  were  the  two  great 
provinces  of  Syria  and  Asia  ;  the  former  governed  by  the  lieu- 
tenants of  the  emperor,i«^  the  latter  by  proconsuls,  in  the  name  of 
the  senate  and  people.  Next  to  these  in  importance  were  the 
united  provinces  of  Pontus  and  Bithynia,  which  also  belonged  to 
the  senate  and  people:  Galatia  with  Pisidia  and  Lycaonia,'68 
which  belonged  to  Augustus,  and  Cilicia,  which  also  was  gov- 
erned by  a  lieutenant  of  the  emperor.  Cappadocia  still  retained 
a  nominal  independence,*^^  under  its  king  Archelaus,  till  about 
four  years  after  the  death  of  Augustus ;  as  did  Judasa  under 
Herod,  till  a  somewhat  later  period.  Lycia  enjoyed  its  own 
laws'''"  and  a  free  municipal  government;  and  there  were  a 
great  many  detached  and  subordinate  districts,  which  were  gov- 
erned by  petty  kings,  dynasts,  tetrarchs,  and  rulers  of  various  de- 
signations, but  which  were  all  subject  in  fact  to  the  control  of 
the  Romans,  and  the  condition  of  which  was  altered  from  time  to 
time  at  the  pleasure  of  the  emperor,  as  it  was  understood  that  all 
countries  of  this  description  were  under  his  especial  authority.*^' 
Throughout  the  whole  of  this  part  of  the  empire,  Greek  was  com- 
monly spoken  and  understood  by  the  higher  orders  in  all  the 
large  towns;  but  there  was  a  great  variety  of  native  languages 
and  dialects  which  still  maintained  their  ground,'"  and  an  almost 
equal  variety  of  manners  prevailing  amongst  the  different  people 
and  tribes.  Many  of  the  mountain  districts  were  infested  by  rob- 
bers, who  made  frequent  inroads  upon  the  lowland  country  in 
their  neighbourhood  ;  while  many  of  the  cities,  such  as  Antioch, 
Tyre,  and  Tarsus,  in  Syria  and  Cilicia,  together  with  most  of 

166  Strabo.XVn.  1,  §  16, 17.  i69  Tacitus,  Annal.  II.  42. 

167  Dion  Cassius,  LIII.    504.  Strabo,         i'"  Strabo,  XIV.  2,  §  3. 
XVII.  3,  §  25.  m  Strabo,  XVII.  3,  §  25. 

168  Dion   Cassius,  LIII.  514.  Strabo,         "2  See  Acts  II.  9,  &c. 
XII.  5,  §  1. 


502  GREECE— MACEDONIA  AND  ACHAIA. 

those  in  the  province  of  Asia,  were  in  a  state  of  high  civihzation, 
cuhivating  the  arts  of  peace  successfully.  But  the  Roman  colo- 
nies were  few,  and  few  of  the  cities,  in  comparison  with  the  west- 
ern provinces,  enjoyed  the  rights  of  Roman  or  of  Latin  citizenship. 
The  burden  of  taxation  was  moreover  great,''^  and  much  was 
often  suffered  besides  from  the  tyranny  and  exactions  of  the  pro- 
vincial governors.  On  the  other  hand,  the  evils  of  war  were  no 
longer  felt  or  dreaded  ;  four  legions  only  were  stationed  in  the 
whole  of  Asia  Minor  and  Syria, '^^  and  most  of  these  were  placed 
near  the  Euphrates,  to  guard  the  frontiers  on  the  side  of  Parthia. 
The  internal  communications  between  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try were  mostly  become  secure  and  easy ;  and  the  piracy,  which 
had  been  once  so  great  an  evil  on  the  coasts  of  Cilicia  and  Pam- 
phylia,  was  now  so  reduced  as  to  offer  no  obstacles  to  the  trade 
or  general  intercourse  which  was  carried  on  by  sea. 

The  condition  of  Greece  was  apparently  one  of  great  desola- 
Greece-MacedoDia  ^lou  and  distrcss.  It  was  divided  in  its  widest  ex- 
andAchaia.  ^cut   into    the    two  provinces    of  Macedonia  and 

Achaia,  both  belonging  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  senate  and  peo- 
ple. Both  had  suffered  severely  by  being  the  seat  of  the  succes- 
sive civil  wars  between  Caesar  and  Pompey,  between  the  Trium- 
virs and  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  lastly  between  Augustus  and 
Antonius.  Besides,  the  country  had  never  recovered  the  long 
series  of  miseries  which  had  preceded  and  accompanied  its  con- 
quest by  the  Romans ;  and  between  those  times  and  the  civil 
contest  been  Pompey  and  CsGsar,  it  had  again  been  exposed  to  all 
the  evils  of  war  when  Sylla  was  disputing  the  possession  of  it 
with  the  generals  of  Mithridates.  In  the  time  of  Augustus  there- 
fore it  presented  a  mournful  picture  of  ruin.  If  we  go  through 
Peloponnesus,  and  inquire  what  was  now  the  fate  of  cities  and 
states  once  so  memorable,  we  shall  find  that  Messenia  and  Arca- 
dia'''^ were  almost  reduced  to  a  desert,  and  that  Laconia  was 
greatly  decreased  in  population,  although  its  capital,  Lacedsemon, 
enjoyed  the  title  of  a  free  state, ^"«  and  the  Laconians,  or  inhabit- 
ants of  the  country,  and  even  the  helots,  had  been  long  relieved 
from  that  abject  dependence  upon  the  Spartans  to  which  they 
were  in  the  old  times  subjected.  The  most  flourishing  towns 
were  Corinth  and  Patra,^"''  both  of  them  Roman  colonies,  recently 
founded  ;  the  former  by  Caesar,  who  peopled  it  with  a  number  of 
freedmen  ;  and  the  latter,  one  of  the  military  colonies  of  Augus- 
tus, planted  after  the  battle  of  Actium.  Northward  of  the  Isthmus 
the  scene  was  equally  melancholy.  It  was  from  a  view  of  the 
ruins  of  the  once  famous  cities  of  the  Saronic  Gulf,  of  jEgina,  and 
Piraeus,  and  Megara,  that  Ser.  Sulpicius  derived  that  lesson  of 

"3  Tacitus,  Annal.  II.  42.  54.  "«  Strabo,  5,  §  5. 

"*  Tacitus,  Annal.  IV.  5.  '"  Strabo,  6,  §  23  ;  7,  §  5. 

'"  Strabo,  VIII.  4,  §  11  ;  8,H- 


MACEDONIA  AND  ACHAlA. 


503 


patience  under  domestic  calamities  with  which  he  attempted  to 
console  Cicero  for  the  loss  of  his  daughter  Tullia.'"^  iEtolia  and 
Acarnania  were  become  wastes,'"'  and  the  soil  was  devoted  to 
pasture  for  the  rearing  of  horses.  Thebes  was  hardly  better  than 
a  village/^"  and  all  the  other  towns  of  Bceotia,  except  Tanagra 
and  Thespige,  were  leduced  to  the  same  condition.  Epirus  was 
depopulated, '8 '  and  occupied  by  Roman  soldiers;  Macedonia  had 
lost  the  benefit  of  its  mines,  which  the  Roman  government  had 
appropriated  to  itself,  and  was  suffering  from  the  weight  of  its 
taxation  ;  but  it  appears  not  to  have  undergone  so  great  a  deso- 
lation as  the  neighbouring  province  of  Achaia.  Of  the  burden  of 
taxation  imposed  on  this  part  of  the  empire,  there  are  two  re- 
markable proofs  on  record.  Strabo  himself  happened  once  to 
touch  at  the  little  island  of  Gyarus,'^^  which  he  describes  as  a 
place  containing  no  town,  and  inhabited  merely  by  fishermen. 
When  the  vessel  was  again  putting  to  sea,  one  of  the  fishermen 
came  on  board,  and  took  his  passage  to  Corinth,  telling  Strabo 
and  his  fellow-passengers  that  he  was  going  on  a  deputation  from 
his  countrymen  to  Augustus,  who  happened  to  be  in  Greece  at 
that  time,  to  request  some  relief  from  taxation  ;  for  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Gyarus  paid,  he  said,  an  hundred  and  fifty  drachma)  (4/. 
I6s.  lO^d.)  annually,  one  hundred  of  which  would  be  more  than 
they  were  able  to  spare.  It  appears  also  that  the  provinces  of 
Macedonia  and  Achaia,'^^  when  they  petitioned  for  a  diminution 
of  their  burdens,  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  were 
considered  so  deserving  of  compassion,  that  they  were  transferred 
for  a  time  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  senate  to  that  of  the  empe- 
ror ;  a  change  which  tended  to  relieve  them,  by  subjecting  them 
only  to  the  exactions  of  the  imperial  procurator,  instead  of  the 
joint  demands  of  the  procurator  and  proconsul ;  for  the  emperor's 
fiscus  or  private  treasury  received  a  portion  of  the  revenues  in 
the  provinces  belonging  to  the  senate,  but  in  those  which  were 
particularly  under  himself,  there  was  no  officer  employed  by  the 
senate  to  collect  taxes  for  the  public  treasury  or  asrarium.  Mean- 
while the  change  of  circumstances  had  rendered  Greece  far  less 
capable  of  affording  a  large  revenue  than  in  the  days  of  her  early 
greatness.  Then  the  naval  power  of  the  Greeks,  the  uncommer- 
cial habits  of  the  Persians,  and  the  general  barbarism  of  the  west 
of  Europe,  bestowed  upon  Greece  an  extensive  trade  with  all 
parts  of  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  vessels  from  the  coasts  of  Ionia 
found  their  way  not  only  to  the  Adriatic, '^^  to  Sicily,  and  to  Italy, 
but  also  to  the  ports  of  Gaul  and  Spain,  and  even  through  the 
Straits  of  Gibraltar  to  the  riches  of  Tartessus  and  Gades.     Be- 

»T8  Cicero,  ad  Familiares,  IV.  epist.  V.  '**«  X.  5,  §  3. 

"9  Strabo,  VIII.  8,  §  1.  '83  Tacitus,  Annal.  I.  76. 

'SO  Strabo,  IX.  2,  §  5.  '84  Herodotus,  Clio,  163.     Melpomene, 

«»'  Strabo,  VII.  7,  §  3.  152. 

33 


504  GENERAL  STATE  OP  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

sides,  the  high  military  character  of  the  Greeks  procured  them 
constant  employment  in  the  service  of  the  Persian  satraps  of 
Asia ;  and  there  were  many  officers  who  there  amassed,  like 
Xenophon,  a  considerable  fortune,  and  returned  with  it  in  the  de- 
cline of  life  to  settle  in  their  own  country.  This  was  particularly 
a  resource  for  the  Arcadians  ;'^5  and  money  was  thus  poured  into 
that  wild  and  barren  district  of  Peloponnesus,  which  the  poverty 
of  its  soil  and  its  inland  situation  would  never  have  allowed  it  to 
gain  from  agriculture  or  trade.  But  now  the  commerce  of  the 
Mediterranean  had  passed  into  other  hands,  and  the  power  of 
Rome  had  transferred  to  Italy  the  reputation  of  being  the  best 
school  of  soldiers.  In  literature  and  philosophy  Greece,  it  is 
true,  still  retained  her  pre-eminence ;  and  in  these  respects  her 
excellence  was  appreciated  over  a  greater  portion  of  the  world 
than  ever,  as  we  have  seen  the  cities  of  Gaul  eager  to  secure  the 
services  of  Greek  philosophers  for  the  education  of  their  people. 
But  although  the  honour  of  this  general  celebrity  was  reflected 
chiefly  upon  Greece  properly  so  called,  yet  it  was  far  otherwise 
with  the  profit  of  it.  Massilia,  Tarsus,  and  Alexandria,  sent  out 
over  the  Roman  world  as  many  public  and  private  instructors  as 
proceeded  from  the  schools  of  Athens  ;  and  if  we  run  over  the  list 
of  Greek  writers  of  the  times  of  the  early  emperors,'»«  we  shall 
find  very  few  of  them  to  have  been  natives  of  Greece  itself.  In 
this  manner  Greece  was  left  without  any  adequate  means  of  re- 
pairing the  devastations  of  war,  or  the  exactions  of  the  Roman 
government,  and  was  thus  already  fallen  into  decay,  while  most 
other  parts  of  the  empire  were  as  yet  flourishing  in  unbroken 
vigour. 

While  we  have  thus  attempted  to  lead  our  readers  step  by 
General  state  of  the  stcp  through  most  of  the  couutrios  which  were  now 
Roman  Empire.  subject  to  Romc,  our  task  has  been  little  else  than 
to  collect  together  some  of  the  scattered  notices  of  their  condition 
preserved  by  the  writers  of  the  times,  and  to  repeat  them  as  we 
have  found  them  recorded.  But  we  naturally  aspire  to  something 
more  than  this ;  the  Augustan  age  is  so  famous  in  the  history  of 
mankind,  that  we  wish  to  form  to  ourselves  some  general  impres- 
sion of  it ;  we  would  fain  compare  it  with  that  state  of  society 
which  we  ourselves  are  witnessing,  and  examine  to  what  degree 
of  physical  and  moral  improvement  it  had  attained.  It  requires 
also  our  especial  attention,  because  this  splendid  period  was  sue- 

'8*  Thucydides,  VII.  57.  Of  the  Greeks  '^®  Strabo  was  a  native  of  Amisus,  in 

who  served  under  the  younger  Cyms,  in  Pontus  ;  Dionysius  was  of  Halicarnassus, 

his  attempt  to  dethrone  his  brother,  more  in  Caria  ;  Appian,  of  Alexandria  ;  Lucian, 

than  half  were  Arcadians  and  Achaians;  of  Samosata,  in  Coniagene  ;  Diodorus,  of 

and  of  these  the  Arcadians  formed  by  far  Sicily.     We  hardly  remember,  indeed,  any 

the  greatest  portion.     Xenophon,  Anaba-  of  the  later  Greek  writers,  except  Plutarch, 

sis,  V.  10  ;  I.  1,  2.  who  was  properly  a  native  of  Greece, 


STATE  OF  PROPERTY.  5Q5 

ceeded  in  the  course  of  a  few  generations  by  a  very  general  and 
remarkable  decline ;  and  many  centuries  elapsed  before  the  tide 
of  civilization  began  again  steadily  to  flow,  after  having  been  so 
long  upon  the  ebb.  It  can  be  only  by  an  attentive  observation  of 
the  Augustan  age  itself,  that  we  can  at  all  hope  to  discover  the 
causes  of  the  phenomena  which  followed  it ;  and  so,  perhaps,  to 
learn  whether  there  is  any  just  reason  to  dread  their  recurrence ; 
whether  the  great  improvements  of  our  own  days  may  at  some 
future  period  be  again  cut  short,  and  the  full  stream  of  knowledge 
forced  back  once  more  to  its  original  and  scanty  channel. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  any  just  notions  of  the  physical  condition 
of  a  people,  our  attention  must  mainly  be  directed 
to  the  state  of  property.  Where  the  means  of  ere-  '^"p'^^^"^ '=°"'^''"'"- 
ating  wealth  are  wanting,  there  must  be  general  wretchedness ; 
where  it  is  inadequately  secured,  the  means  of  creating  it  are 
crippled ;  where  it  is  very  unequally  divided,  the  splendour  of 
individual  fortunes  may  often  make  us  forget  the  poverty  of  the 
great  bulk  of  the  people.  The  physical  means  of  creating  wealth 
were  abundantly  enjoyed  in  the  Roman  empire,  as  it  possessed 
some  of  the  most  productive  soils  and  favourable  climates  known 
in  the  world,  with  excellent  water  communication  from  one  ex- 
tremity of  it  to  the  other.  The  moral  means  of  industry  and  skill 
were  to  be  found  in  very  different  perfection  in  different  parts  of 
the  empire  ;  but  we  know  that  all  the  useful  arts  were  successfully 
cultivated,  and  that  the  luxuries  as  well  as  the  comforts  of  life 
were  to  be  procured  by  any  one  who  was  rich  enough  to  purchase 
them.  In  some  districts,  in  several  provinces,  property  was  lia- 
ble to  very  frequent  assaults  from  the  robber  tribes  who  inhabited 
the  neighbouring  mountains ;  and  in  most  of  the  provinces,  per- 
haps, the  weight  of  taxation  was  felt  as  a  serious  evil ;  but  on  the 
other  hand,  the  miseries  of  war  were  removed  :  and  although  the 
government  and  its  officers  interfered  greatly  with  the  profits  of 
property,  yet  the  actual  right  of  possession  was  secured  by  regu- 
lar laws,  and  was  rarely  disturbed  by  the  violence  of  power.  But 
the  great  misfortune  of  the  Roman  empire  was  the  excessive  ine- 
quality with  which  wealth  was  divided.  We  know  enough  of 
the  splendid  villas  and  magnificent  establishments  of  the  nobility, 
and  of  the  wealthier  members  of  the  equestrian  order;  but  the 
lower  classes  of  free  citizens  at  Rome  were  in  the  mean  time  sup- 
ported, in  great  measure,  by  the  largesses  of  the  emperor  ;'^'^  and 
after  all,  from  the  decay  of  agriculture  in  Italy,  any  continuance 
of  stormy  weather  which  detained  the  usual  supplies  of  corn  from 
Africa,  Spain,  or  Egypt,  threatened  the  capital  with  a  scarcity  of 
bread.  The  fortune  necessary  to  qualify  a  man  for  the  equestrian 
order,  was  400  sestertia  '^^  (3229Z.),  and  in  the  time  of  Augustus 

>"  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  41,  42.    Ta-         ^s"  Pliny,  Histor.  Natural  XXXIII.  1, 
citus,  Annal.  II.  87  ;  IV.  6  ;  Histor.  IV.     2.     Horace,  Epist.  I.  i.  58. 
38. 


506       STATE  OF  PROPERTY  IN  ROME  AND  IN  THE  PROVINCES- 

there  were  not  four  thousand  citizens  in  Rome,  exclusive  of  the 
senators,  whose  property  amounted  to  this  sum  ;  and  there  were 
only  two  towns  in  the  empire,  Gades  and  Patavium,  which  could 
produce  five  hundred  citizens  who  possessed  it.  And  this  is  ren- 
dered credible  by  a  speech  ascribed  to  L.  Philippus,  who  was 
consul  in  the  year  of  Rome  662,  and  who  declared  that  there 
were  not,  at  that  time,  two  thousand  citizens  in  the  common- 
wealth worth  any  thing.'*"  In  fact,  when  we  read  of  the  enor- 
mous riches  possessed  by  some  individuals  in  ancient  history,  by 
the  kings  of  Babylon  and  Persia  at  an  earlier  period,  and  after- 
wards by  the  emperors  and  some  of  the  great  nobility  of  Rome, 
we  could  not  reasonably  credit  the  statements  which  are  given, 
if  we  did  not  consider  that  this  splendour  was  produced  by  the 
vast  concentration  of  wealth  in  a  few  hands,  and  that  it  is  in  no 
respect  an  index  of  the  general  prosperity  of  the  people  at  large. 
The  great  number  of  slaves  kept  in  opulent  families,  and  the 
practice  of  employing  them  in  various  trades  for  the  supply  of 
many  of  the  common  articles  of  life,  was  a  great  injury  to  the 
class  of  shopkeepers ;  and  even  in  the  liberal  arts  and  profes- 
sions, such  as  architecture  and  medicine,  the  high  nobility  were 
so  much  in  the  habit  of  having  architects  and  physicians  among 
their  own  slaves,  that  the  respectability  as  well  as  the  profits  of 
the  free  citizens  of  those  and  similar  professions  were  necessarily 
lessened.  The  miseries  of  one  immense  portion  of  the  whole 
population,  the  slaves  themselves,  need  not  to  be  particularly 
dwelt  upon.  When  the  slave  market  was  so  abundantly  sup- 
plied as  it  was  in  R,ome,  the  value  of  a  slave,  as  an  article  of 
property,  could  not  be  considered  very  highly  ;  and  nothing  but 
this  selfish  motive  was  likely  to  restrain  masters  in  general  from 
ill  usage  and  cruelty :  for  the  tendency  of  our  nature  to  abuse 
absolute  power,  was  aggravated  in  Rome  by  the  utter  indifference 
felt  with  regard  to  the  fate  of  a  slave,  and  by  the  want  of  some 
restraining  and  humanizing  principles  of  morals.  Something  of 
this  same  indifference  extended  itself  also  to  the  condition  of  the 
people  of  the  provinces,  and  subjected  them  often  to  a  tyranny  as 
insulting  as  it  was  oppressive.  It  is  mentioned  indeed,  to  the 
praise  of  Augustus,  and  of  tho  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Tibe- 
rius,'^" that  the  cruelties  and  exactions  of  the  provincial  magis- 
trates were  greatly  cheqked  by  them  ;  that  the  subjects  of  Rome 
were  protected  from  the  rods  of  the  lictors,  and  from  confiscations 
of  their  property.  And  Augustus  was  the  author  of  one  most  im- 
portant reform,  by  assigning  to  the  governors  of  provinces  a  cer- 
tain fixed  salary,'*'  instead  of  allowing  them,  according  to  the  old 
practice,  to  lay  an  arbitrary  charge  npon  the  inhabitants  for  the 

'89  Cicero,  de  Officiis,  II.  21  '»'  Dion  Cassias,  LIII.  506. 

'80  Tacitus,  Annal.  TV.  6. 


OF  THE  INTELLECTUAL  STATE  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  507 

maintenance  of  themselves  and  their  estabhshment.  Yet  the 
mere  ordinary  administration  of  justice  towards  the  provincials 
was,  at  the  best,  harsh  and  summary  ;'^'^  and  it  was,  perhaps,  ren- 
dered more  so  by  the  strong  contrast  between  their  condition  and 
that  of  a  Roman  citizen,  whose  liberty  even  yet  was  fenced  round 
against  all  subordinate  tyranny  by  the  jealous  laws  of  the  old 
commonwealth. 

If  we  regard  the  effects  of  the  political  constitution  of  the  em- 
pire in  another  light,  it  will  lead  us  by  an  easy  transition  from 
the  physical  to  the  moral  condition  of  the  people.  It  may  be 
doubted,  whether  all  the  improvements  of  modern  civilization 
could  diffuse  life  and  activity  through  so  vast  a  body  as  was  now 
united  under  the  government  of  Augustus.  Much  less  was  this 
actually  accomplished,  without  an  established  conveyance  for  let- 
ters, without  public  carriages  for  travellers,  and  without  circula- 
tion of  newspapers.  The  Romans  had  excellent  roads,  it  is  true, 
as  the  Persians  had  had  before  them  ;  and  like  the  Persians,  they 
had  relays  of  horses  placed  at  certain  distances,  for  the  conve- 
nience of  forwarding  couriers,  or  other  officers  of  the  government. 
But  these  were  of  no  benefit  to  the  common  traveller,  who  was 
obliged  to  find  the  means  of  conveyance  for  himself,'^^  and  who 
was  forced  to  limit  his  day's  journey  b/  the  distance  which  could 
be  performed  by  the  same  horses.  Add  to  this,  that  the  difference 
of  language  between  the  eastern  and  western  provinces  created  a 
barrier  between  them,  which  at  all  times  was  an  obstacle  to  their 
perfect  union,  and  at  a  later  period  rendered  their  separation  easy 
and  natural.  Those  countries  which  were  most  remote  from 
the  capital,  lost  all  the  advantages  of  independent  government, 
and  their  inhabitants  were  brought  up  to  a  condition  of  unavoid- 
able helplessness ;  while  at  the  same  time  their  imperfect  inter- 
course with  the  heart  of  the  empire,  prevented  Ihem  from  deriving 
from  it  their  due  portion  of  nourishment,  or  from  receiving  any 
adequate  return  for  the  wealth  and  industry  which  were  continu- 
ally drawn  from  them  to  Rome. 

Meanwhile  a  taste  for  literature  was  becoming  fashionable  in 
the  western  provinces,  as  it  had  been  long  in  the  or  the  intellectual 
eastern;  and  we  have  seen  that  the  cities'of  Gaul  state  of  the  empire. 
were  in  the  habit  of  hiring  Greek  sophists  for  the  public  instruc- 
tion of  their  people.  But  the  expensiveness  and  consequent 
rarity  of  books  was  an  invincible  obstacle  to  the  general  diffusion 

'»''  See  Acts  XVL  22.  37  ;  XX.  24. 
'"  Nunc  mihi  curto 

Ire  licet  mulo,  vel,  si  libet,  usque  Tarentum, 
Mantica  cui  lumbos  onere  ulceret,  atque  eques  armos. 
Horace,  Sat.  I.  vi.  104. 
No  man  would  have  talked  of  going  to  Tarentum  on  his  dock-tailed  mule,  carry- 
ing saddle-bags,  if  he  could  have  had   the    convenience  of  a  good   coach,  to  transport 
him  in  half  the  time,  and  with  infinitely  greater  ease  and  comfort. 


508  OF  THE  INTELLECTUAL  STATE 

of  knowledge.  It  is  mentioned  of  one  of  the  literary  men  of  these 
times, ^^^  that  he  had  read  in  the  province  of  Syria  a  great  number 
of  the  works  of  an  earlier  period,  which  continued  to  be  known 
there,  because  they  were  not  superseded,  as  at  Rome,  by  the  mul- 
titude of  modern  publications.  And  Horace  speaks  of  his  works 
being  carried  into  Spain  and  Africa  only  as  wrapping-paper  for 
merchandise, '=5  when  they  had  lost  their  popularity  at  Rome. 
The  consequence  of  this  state  of  things  was,  that  men  of  litera- 
ture formed  a  distinct  profession  in  the  empire,  which  was  follow- 
ed for  the  sake  of  deriving  from  it  a  means  of  subsistence,  but 
that  the  bulk  of  the  people  were  left  in  a  very  general  ignorance. 
What  has  been  preserved  to  us  of  the  writings  of  these  times, 
has  proceeded  mostly  from  men  who  lived  by  their  pen,  or  by 
giving  instructions  to  their  pupils,  not  from  persons  conversant 
with  the  business  of  actual  life,  from  statesmen  and  soldiers,  or 
men  of  independent  fortune,  such  as  were  Cicero,  Caesar,  and  the 
elder  Cato,  or  such  as  was  Tacitus  a  few  generations  later. 
Hence  the  total  want  of  intelligent  books  of  travels,  and  the  low 
state  of  experimental  philosophy  and  political  economy.  The 
study  of  words,  however  dignified  by  the  titles  of  Grammatica 
and  Rhetorica,  was  but  a  poor  education  for  any  man  ;  yet  to  this 
an  excessive  attention  was  directed,  and  youth  were  taught  to 
admire  the  purity  of  a  writer's  style,  or  the  musical  arrangement 
of  his  sentences,  instead  of  observing  the  value  of  his  facts,  or 
the  wisdom  of  his  opinions.  Oratory  in  particular,  which  in  the 
best  days  of  Greece  and  Rome  had  been  far  too  highly  apprecia- 
ted, was  now  become  a  worthless  study,  and  a  mere  waste  of  time 
and  ingenuity,  since  the  practical  occasions  for  its  exercise  were  at 
an  end.  It  is,  therefore,  to  us  no  wonder  at  all,  that  when  all 
kinds  of  public  disasters  assailed  the  empire,  the  fair  show  of 
knowledge  which  had  just  gilded  the  surface  of  the  Augustan 
age,  should  have  been  utterly  worn  away.  Separated  as  it  was 
from  the  habits  and  concerns  of  the  practical  part  of  the  commu- 
nity, it  died  away  with  the  patronage  and  general  tranquillity 
which  had  fostered  it.  It  was  but  a  rich  man's  luxury,  which 
they  who  were  hourly  trembling  for  their  lives  had  no  leisure  to 
care  for.  For  after  all,  if  we  look  at  the  most  famous  writers  of 
the  Augustan  age,  of  what  description  shall  we  find  them?  The 
highest  eminence  which  they  attained  was  in  poetry  ;  yet  even 
in  this  it  is  an  excellence  most  suited  to  an  artificial  age,  and  not, 
perhaps,  the  best  suited  to  win  the  ears  of  the  people  at  large 
when  literatme  was  no  longer  in  fashion.  In  history  the  famous 
work  of  Livy  is  below  mediocrity  ;'^^  and  the  reputation  which  it 

•**  Marcus  Valerius  Probus,  of  Berytus.  ifold  deficiencies,  arranged  under  the  sev- 

Suetonius,  de  lUustrtbus  Grammaticis,  24.  eral  heads  of  "  Ignorance  of  the  old  Con- 

■    '®^  Epist.  I.  epist.  XX.  13.  stitution,"  "  Ignorance  of  Military  Topo- 

'^^  A  tolerable  specimen  of  Livy's  man-  graphy,"  "  Want  of  Judgment,"   "Care- 


OP  THE  EMPIRE.  5O9 

has  enjoyed  is  the  best  proof  of  the  long  continued  and  pernicious 
influence  of  the  schools  of  grammar  and  rhetoric,  whicli  taught 
men  to  admire  eloquent  language,  and  to  consider  it  as  a  com- 
pensation for  ignorance  and  shallowness  of  judgment.  In  morals, 
in  political  science,  in  all  the  various  branches  of  experimental 
philosophy,  what  do  we  owe  to  the  Augustan  age  ?  But  happily 
for  mankind,  the  wisdom  of  Providence  was  now  preparing  a 
knowledge  the  very  opposite  to  that  which  we  have  been  consider- 
ing, a  knowledge  as  unpretending  and  generally  useful  as  the 
other  was  ostentatious  and  trifling :  which  was  fitted  for  ihe  real 
business  of  life,  and  was  received  by  persons  of  every  condition  ; 
which  struck  root  as  deeply  as  the  literature  of  the  Augustan  age 
had  been  scattered  superficially  ;  which  continued  its  substantial 
benefits  through  revolutions  which  laid  every  thing  else  in  ruins,  ' 
and  which  preserves  to  this  day  its  indestructible  power  of  bene- 
ficent activity. 

But  the  mere  intellectual  advancement  of  a  people  is  of  little 
importance  in  comparison  with  their  moral  knowledge  of  right 
and  wrong ;  and  whether  the  literature  of  the  Augustan  age  was 
generally  valuable  or  not,  the  Romans  might  still  have  possessed 
a  good  state  of  public  and  private  morals,  and  therefore  might 
have  been  happily  circumstanced  with  regard  to  the  grand  con- 
cern of  human  life.  The  great  questions  of  the  end  of  all  our 
actions,  and  the  nature  of  our  several  duties,  were  canvassed  by 
the  philosophers  of  every  sect ;  and  in  the  public  lectures  of  those 
philosophers,  such  subjects  formed  the  principal  part.  When  a 
parent,  well  versed  in  these  inquiries,  became  himself  the  instruc- 
tor of  his  son,  he  was  enabled  to  give  him  a  moral  education  of 
no  mean  excellence  ;  and  the  young  man  who,  in  addition  to  the 
conversation  and  example  of  his  father,  received  from  him  such  a 
guide  as  the  great  work  of  Cicero,  de  Ofliciis,  addressed  by  him  to  his 
son,  possessed,  in  many  respects,  a  rule  of  conduct  which  required 
Uttle  further  improvement.  But  neither  were  all  parents  philoso- 
phers, nor  were  philosophers  the  ordinary  teachers  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  community.  The  common  elementary  schools  of 
Rome,  from  which  the  majority  of  the  people  derived  their  whole 
education,  were  schools  of  reading  and  of  arithmetic,'*''  and  of 
nothing  else ;  for  the  masters  were  men  of  humble  station,  unac- 
quainted with  the  writings  of  the  philosophers,  and  quite  unable  to 
venture  by  themselves  into  all  the  difficulties  with  which  the  chief 
good  of  man,  and  the  nature  of  his  duties,  v/ere  then  enveloped. 
Under  such  circumstances  men's  characters  are  formed  partly  by 
the  influence  of  the  society  in  which  they  live,  and  partly  by 

iessness,"    &c.   witli  numerous  instances         '*'  Korat.  Sat.  I.  iv.  72.     De  Arte  Po- 
of each,  is  given  by  Wachsmuth,  in   his     etica,  325. 
Early  History  of  the  Roman  State,  33,  et 
seq. 


510     OF  THE  INTELLECTUAL  STATE  OF  THE  EMPIRE. 

themselves.  Some  virtues  are  always  congenial  to  human  nature 
in  theory,  however  much  selfishness  may  obstruct  the  practice  of 
them  ;  and  these  were  often  beautifully  displayed  in  the  lives  of 
men  of  amiable  dispositions,  who  wished  to  live  up  to  the  best  of 
their  knowledge.  But  unfortunately  there  are  many  vices  also, 
of  which  the  practice  is  far  more  natural  to  man  than  the  theory 
is  repugnant ;  and  into  these  the  force  of  inclination  and  the 
sanction  of  universal  custom  draw  almost  every  one.  It  is  in 
such  points  especially  that  an  authoritative  rule  of  life  is  wanted, 
which  being  once  acknowledged,  may  save  common  men  the 
trouble  of  making  out  their  duty  for  themselves,  and  may  lead 
them  at  once  to  the  true  practical  conclusion,  without  the  risks  or 
the  difficulties  of  the  previous  inquiry.  But  in  the  greater  parts 
of  the  Roman  empire  no  such  authority  was  to  be  found.  In  this 
respect  the  popular  religion  had  utterly  failed ;  superstition,  ac- 
cording to  the  necessary  course  of  things,  was  closely  connected 
with  and  encouraged  a  complete  moral  carelessness  ;  and  whilst 
the  high  and  pure  doctrines  so  often  inculcated  by  the  oracles  and 
choral  songs  of  an  earlier  period  were  neglected  or  scorned,  the 
follies  and  sensualities  of  polytheism  continued  to  flourish  even 
with  increased  vigour.  The  oracles  had  lost  all  their  authority,'" 
a  loss  which  Strabo  ascribes  to  the  influence  of  the  Romans,  who 
preferred  their  own  natural  modes  of  inquiry  into  futurity,  by 
consulting  the  Sibylline  books,  the  entrails  of  victims,  the  flight 
of  birds,  and  the  phenomena  of  the  atmosphere.  But  the  change 
probably  was  greatly  for  the  worse  ;  for  when  the  oracles  were 
in  vogue,  they  were  consulted  not  only  as  prophets  but  as  prac- 
tical directors  ;  and  however  much  we  may  be  resolved  to  charge 
their  predictions  with  collusion  and  imposture,  there  are  yet  speci- 
mens of  their  moral  doctrine  preserved,'"  which  exhibit  a  purity 
and  a  wisdom  scarcely  to  be  surpassed.  Nor  did  the  philosophers 
retain  and  communicate  these  sparks  of  true  religion  when  they 
were  become  extinct  elsewhere.  On  the  contrary,  notwithstand- 
ing their  many  and  great  excellences  as  expounders  of  the  duties 
of  man  to  man,  they  were  all  agreed  in  one  maxim,  which  amounts 
to  a  complete  practical  atheism  f'^''  the  opinion,  namely,  that  noth- 
ing was  to  be  feared  from  the  anger  of  God,  because  it  was  con- 
trary to  the  divine  attributes  that  He  should  be  the  cause  of  pain 
to  any  one.  By  this  doctrine  they  removed  the  greatest  check 
upon  wickedness  which  has  been  ever  devised  for  it ;  for  to  the 
mass  of  mankind  to  say  that  God  could  not  or  would  not  punish, 
was  the  same  thing  as  to  say  that  He  did  not  exist.  It  was  a 
virtual  denial  of  his  moral  government,  the  only  point  in  his 
nature  which  it  greatly  concerns  his  creatures  to  be  acquainted 

"9  Strabo,  XVII.  1,  §  43.  200  Cicero,  de  Officiis,  III.  28,  29. 

'"  See    particularly,  Herodotus,    Clio, 
158,  159,  and  Erato,  86. 


OF  THE  EFFECT  PRODUCED  IN  THE  EAST  BY  THE  JEWS.   51 1 

with.  Thus  while  philosophy  took  away  the  best  sanction  of 
human  conduct,  and  while  those  who  could  not  be  taught  by 
philosophers  were  left  to  form  their  principles  for  themselves,  or  to 
pick  them  up  from  the  opinions  of  the  world,  the  morals  of  the 
people  were  in  a  state  of  great  corruption.  Of  the  sensualities 
which  were  universally  practised,  and  of  the  excessive  grossness 
of  manners  which  naturally  flowed  from  them,  the  writings  of 
every  author  of  the  times,  and  still  more  strikingly,  perhaps,  the 
paintings  and  other  embellishments  of  the  houses  which  have 
been  discovered  at  Herculaneum,  ofler  proofs  the  most  incontesta- 
ble. But  it  is  equally  instructive  and  less  disgusting  to  dwell 
rather  on  the  entire  absence  of  those  virtues  and  feelings  which 
operate  with  such  extensive  usefulness  in  the  countries  of  modern 
Europe.  Charity  and  general  philanthropy  were  so  little  regard- 
ed as  duties,  that  it  requires  a  very  extensive  acquaintance  with 
the  literature  of  the  times  to  find  any  allusion  to  them.  There 
were  no  public  hospitals,  no  institutions  for  the  relief  of  the  infirm 
and  poor,  no  societies  for  the  removal  of  abuses,  or  the  improve- 
ment of  the  condition  of  mankind  from  motives  of  charity. 
Nothing  \vas  done  to  promote  the  instruction  or  the  lower  classes, 
nothing  to  mitigate  the  miseries  of  domestic  slavery,  and  far  less 
to  stop  altogether  the  perpetual  atrocities  of  the  kidnapper  and  the 
slave  market.  The  selfishness  of  human  nature  was  thus  spared 
its  most  painful  sacrifice  ;  and  he  who  was  most  largely  endowed 
with  the  gifts  of  fortune,  was  taught  only  to  abstain  from  doing 
active  injury,  and  to  enjoy  the  good  things  which  he  possessed  in 
a  life  of  social  and  intellectual  gratification. 

But  there  was  one  part  of  the  empire  in  which  a  better  know- 
ledge had  been  slowly  working  its  way,  and  must  of  the  effect  produced 

1.  in  the  Bflst  by  the  tgsI" 

by  this  time   have   produced   considerable   effect,  denceofthejews.and 

■\\T        I  1  J  1  J      ii       ^     xi  T  the  Greek  translation 

We  have  already  observed  that  the  Jews  were  of  the  ow  Testament. 
widely  scattered  over  the  eastern  provinces  ;  and  as  they  adopted 
the  language  which  was  most  prevalent  around  them,  the  Greek 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament,  commonly  known  by  the  name 
of  the  Septuagint,  was  the  form  in  which  they  were  most  familiar 
with  their  Scriptures.  Intercourse  with  the  Jews,  and  an  acquaint- 
ance thus  gained  with  the  contents  of  their  law  and  of  the 
writings  of  their  prophets,  gave  birth,  throughout  Syria  and  Asia 
Minor,  to  a  class  of  persons  who  are  called  in  our  translation  of 
the  Acts  by  the  name  of  "  the  devout,'"^"'  and  who,  without  think- 
ing themselves  bound  to  conform  to  the  national  peculiarities  of 
the  Jewish  worship,  had  yet  acquired  those  true  notions  of  the 
divine  nature  and  attributes,  and  of  the  duties  which  God  de- 
mands of  man,  which  are  so  largely  contained  in  the  Old  Testa- 

2"  XVII.  4.  17.     See  also  X.  2 ;  XIII.     in  our  version,  XIII.  43  ;  XVI.  14  ;  XVIIl" 
50.     And  the  same  word  is   used  in  the     7. 
Greek,  although  it  is  differently  translated 


512  OF  THE  FAMILY  OF  AUGUSTUS. 

ment.  The  effect  of  this  knowledge  on  those  who  profited  by  it, 
was  to  produce  the  very  virtues  in  which  the  world  was  general- 
ly most  deficient — devotion  and  charity  f^"^  and  by  these  means 
a  large  portion  of  the  people  was  in  some  degree  prepared  for  the 
doctrines  of  a  still  more  perfect  law,  which  were  a  few  years 
afterwards  introduced  among  them  by  the  Christian  apostles. 

Here  then  our  review  of  the  state  of  the  Roman  world  must 
terminate.  Deficient  as  we  well  know  it  to  be  from  the  imperfec- 
tion of  our  own  knowledge,  it  will  yet  serve,  perhaps,  to  show 
what  were  the  most  striking  differences  between  the  condition  of 
society  in  those  times  and  in  ours,  and  to  point  out  on  how  much 
less  firm  a  foundation  civilization  was  then  built  than  we  may 
hope  is  the  case  now.  When,  however,  we  reflect  on  the  point 
of  time  at  which  this  sketch  terminates,  other  thoughts,  we  con- 
fess, arc  foremost  in  our  minds,  the  expression  of  which  we  do 
not  feel  called  upon  entirely  to  restrain.  About  fourteen  years 
before  the  death  of  Augustus,  Jesus  Christ  was  born  into  the 
world,  and  in  less  than  twenty  years  afterwards  the  first  founda- 
tions of  the  Christian  society  were  laid.  Henceforward  the 
Roman  empire  acquires,  in  our  eyes,  a  nearer  interest ;  as  a  coun- 
try to  which  we  were  before  indifferent  becomes  at  once  endeared 
to  us,  when  we  know  it  to  be  the  abode  of  those  whom  we  love. 
In  pursuing  the  story  of  political  crimes  and  miseries,  there  will 
be  henceforth  a  resting  place  for  our  imaginations,  a  conscious- 
ness that,  amidst  all  the  evil  which  is  most  prominent  on  the  re- 
cords of  history,  a  power  of  good  was  silently  at  work,  with  an 
influence  continually  increasing ;  and  that  virtue  and  happiness 
were  daily  more  and  more  visiting  a  portion  of  mankind,  which 
till  now  seemed  to  be  in  a  condition  of  hopeless  suffering.  The 
reader  who  has  accompanied  us  through  all  the  painful  details 
presented  by  the  last  century  of  the  Roman  commonwealth,  will 
be  inclined,  perhaps,  with  us,  to  rejoice  in  the  momentary  con- 
templation of  such  a  scene  of  moral  beauty. 

It  now  only  remains  that  we  give  some  account  of  the  family 
ofthe  family  of  o^  Augustus,  and  coucludc  this  memoir  with  some 
Augustus.  particulars  of  his  own  private  life.     We  have  al- 

ready mentioned  his  marriage  with  Livia,  the  wife  of  Tib.  Nero, 
in  the  year  716 ;  and  that  he  had  at  that  time  one  daughter, 
named  Julia,  the  child  of  his  former  marriage  with  Scribonia. 
As  he  had  no  children  by  Livia,  Julia  remained  his  only  heiress, 
and  the  choice  of  her  husband  became  a  matter  of  great  import- 
ance. She  was  first  married  to  her  cousin  Claudius  Marcellus, 
the  nephew  of  Augustus  by  his  sister  Octavia,*^"^  and  the  person 
celebrated  by  Virgil  in  those  famous  lines  of  the  sixth  .^iieid,  for 

202  See    the  character  of  the  centurion         -"^  Tacitus,  Annul.  I.  3.     Suetonius,  in 
Cornelius,  Acts  X.  2.  Augusto,  63,  et  seq. 


OP  THE  FAMILY  OF  AUGUSTUS.  5I3 

which  Octavia  so  largely  rewarded  him.  But  Marcellus  dying 
young,  and  without  children,  Augustus  selected  for  the  second 
husband  of  his  daughter  his  oldest  friend  and  most  useful  adhe- 
rent, M.  Vipsanius  Agrippa.  This  marriage  seemed  to  answer 
all  his  wishes,  for  Julia  became  the  mother  of  five  children,  Caius, 
Lucius,  Julia,  Agrippina,  and  Agrippa  Postumus,  so  called  be- 
cause he  was  born  after  his  father's  death,  which  took  place  in 
the  year  741.  Caius  and  Lucius  were  immediately  adopted  by 
their  grandfather,  and  assumed  the  name  of  Cassar ;  before  they 
arrived  at  the  age  of  manhood  they  were  distinguished  by  the 
title  of  "  principes  juventutis,"  or  "  chiefs  of  the  youth ;"  they 
were  marked  out  as  consuls  elect,  to  enter  upon  that  office  as 
soon  as  they  arrived  at  a  fit  age ;  they  were  sent  to  the  different 
provinces  and  presented  to  the  armies,  as  the  heirs  of  the  emperor ; 
their  education  was  conducted  in  a  great  measure  by  Augustus 
himself,  and  they  were  his  constant  companions  at  table  and  on 
his  journeys.  But  all  his  hopes  in  them  were  marred  by  their 
successive  premature  deaths.  Lucius  Csesar,  when  on  his  way 
to  take  the  command  of  the  army  in  Spain,  was  taken  ill  and 
died  at  Massilia,  about  the  year  754 ;  and  Caius  Csesar,  who 
commanded  the  army  on  the  frontiers  of  Parthia,  having  been 
wounded  in  Armenia,  and  returning  slowly  homewards  towards 
Italy,  died  about  eighteen  months  after  his  brother,  at  the  town 
of  Limyra,  in  Lycia.*^"^  Meanwhile  their  mother,  Julia,  had  been 
married,  for  the  third  time,  by  her  father,  after  the  death  of 
Agrippa,  to  Tiberius  Claudius  Nero,  the  son  of  Livia  ;  but  when 
Caius  and  Lucius  Cassar  were  grown  up  to  manhood,  and  were 
in  thd  height  of  their  favour  with  their  grandfather,  Tiberius,  for 
whatever  reasons,  thought  proper  to  withdraw  from  Rome  to  the 
island  of  Rhodes,  where  he  lived  in  the  greatest  retirement,  and 
during  a  part  of  the  time  in  a  sort  of  disgrace,  for  the  space  of 
more  than  seven  years.  During  his  absence,  his  wife,  Julia,  was 
guilty  of  such  gross  infidelities  to  him,  that  Augustus  himself 
divorced  her  in  the  name  of  his  son-in-law,  and  banished  her  to 
the  island  of  Pandataria,  off"  the  coast  of  Campania,'^"^  where  she 
was  closely  confined  for  some  time,  and  treated  with  the  greatest 
rigour ;  nor  would  Augustus  ever  forgive  her,  or  receive  her  into 
his  presence,  although  he  afterwards  removed  her  from  Panda- 
taria to  Rhegium,  and  somewhat  softened  the  severity  of  her 
treatment.  After  the  deaths  of  Caius  and  Lucius  Caesar,  Tiberi- 
us was  adopted  by  Augustus  as  his  son,  in  the  year  756,^°^  and 
with  him  M.  Agrippa  Postumus,  now  the  only  surviving  son  of 
M.  Agrippa.  But  Agrippa  Postumus  is  represented  as  a  youth 
of  a  brutal  and  intractable  temper ;«"  and  Livia,  to  favour  her 

204  Velleius  Paterculus.II.  102.  206  Velleius  Paterculus,  II.  103,  104. 

205  Tacitus,  Annal.  I.  53.  2"7  Tacitus,  Annal.  I.  3.  Suetonius,  65. 


514  ANECDOTES  OF  AUGUSTUS. 

son's  interests,  so  exaggerated  his  faults,  and  so  prejudiced  his 
grandfather  against  him,  that  he,  too,  like  his  mother,  was 
banished  from  Rome,  and  confined  in  the  island  of  Planasia  : 
Tiberius  thus  remained  the  sole  heir  to  the  greatness  of  his  father- 
in-law  ;  but  in  order  to  point  out  the  succession  even  for  a  more 
remote  period,  he  was  obliged,  by  Augustus,  to  adopt  as  his  son 
his  nephew,  Germanicus,  the  only  surviving  child  of  his  brother 
Drusus,  although  he  had  at  the  same  time  a  son  of  his  own.  Ac- 
cordingly, during  the  last  ten  years  of  the  life  of  Augustus,  Ti- 
berius was  associated  with  him  in  the  tribunician  power,  and  in 
the  general  administration  of  the  empire,  and  was  clearly  marked 
out  as  his  successor ;  while  Drusus  and  Germanicus,  the  two  sons 
of  Tiberius  by  birth  and  by  adoption,  seemed  to  insure  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  sovereign  power  in  his  family  to  the  third  genera- 
tion. 

We  have  said  that  M.  Yipsanius  Agrippa  died  in  the  year 
Anecdotes  of  his  cha-  '^^^-  ^our  ycars  aftcrwards  Augustus  lost  his 
meter  and  behaviour.  Qfi-jgj.  chief  coiuisellor  aud  falthful  friend,  C.  Cilnius 
Mascenas,  by  whose  advice  he  is  said  to  have  been  greatly  assist- 
ed in  the  arrangement  of  his  government.  But  his  power  was 
now  securely  settled,  and  the  various  conspiracies  which  were 
formed  against  him  at  different  times  after  the  battle  of  Actium, 
were  the  mere  efforts  of  individual  revenge  or  ambition,  and  were 
all  easily  discovered  and  punished.  In  the  case  of  L.  Cinna,'"'* 
who  had  intended  to  assassinate  him  when  sacrificing  at  the 
altar,  he  not  only  forgave  his  intended  murderer,  but  offered  him 
his  friendship,  and  afterwards  raised  him  to  the  consulship,  being 
resolved,  it  is  said,  to  try  the  effect  of  clemency  after  having  in- 
dulged so  largely  in  cruelty,  or  being  anxious  rather  to  preserve 
that  character  of  magnanimity  which,  since  the  overthrow  of 
every  enemy  whom  he  dreaded,  he  might  counterfeit  with  little 
danger.  Various  other  stories  of  his  moderation  are  recorded ; 
his  manners  were  affable  and  courteous  to  all ;  he  forbade,  and 
probably  in  sincerity,  that  any  one  should  address  him  by  the 
name  of  "dominus,"  or  master  ;'^"5  and  when  the  people  wished 
to  force  upon  him  the  ominous  title  of  dictator,  he  threw  himself 
on  his  knees,  and  casting  off  his  robe,  and  baring  his  breast,  in- 
treated  them  rather  to  kill  him,  than  to  oblige  him  to  accept  it. 
In  these  points  the  example  of  his  uncle  always  served  as  a  use- 
ful warning  to  him  ;  and  he  also  learned  from  it  to  avoid  every 
display  of  state  in  the  appearance  and  manners  of  his  family,  in 
the  size  of  his  house,  and  in  the  regulation  of  his  establishment. 
Yet  it  would  be  unjust  to  ascribe  to  a  politic  premeditation  all  the 
popular  actions  of  his  reign.  Good  is  in  itself  so  much  more 
delightful  than  evil,  that  he  was  doubtless  not  insensible  to  the 

208  Seneca  de  Clementi^,  I.  9,  &c  2»  Suetonius,  53,  et  seq. 


HIS  LAST  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH.  r  i  c- 

pleasure  of  kind  and  beneficent  actions,  and,  perhaps,  sincerely- 
rejoiced  that  they  were  no  longer  incompatible  with  his  interest- 
When  Valerius  Messala  was  sent  to  him  by  the  senate,  to  confer 
on  him,  in  the  name  of  the  senate,  and  people  of  Rome,  the  title 
of  "  father  of  his  country,""!"  he  was  atiected  even  to  tears,  and 
replied,  "  I  have  now  gained  all  that  I  desired,  conscript  fathers  • 
and  what  have  I  left  to  pray  for  from  the  gods,  but  that  I  may 
preserve  to  the  latest  day  of  my  life  this  same  unanimous  love  of 
my  countrymen?"  He  did  preserve  it,  and  even  with  an  in- 
creased affection,  in  proportion  as  the  remembrance  of  his  former 
cruelties  became  less  lively,  and  the  period  of  general  tranquillity 
which  had  commenced  under  his  auspices  was  continually  length- 
ening. At  last,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age,  when  he 
was  going  to  accompany  Tiberius  as  far  as  Bene- 
ventum,  on  the  way  to  Illyricum,  he  was  seized  "'^ '"s' sickness. 
with  a  dysentery,  which  at  first  attacked  him  but  slightly,  and 
did  not  prevent  him  from  fulfilling  the  object  of  his  journey, 'after 
having  spent  some  days  on  the  coast  of  Campania,  in  the'  hope 
of  recruiting  his  strength.  But  on  his  return  from  Beneventuni 
his  complaint  grew  more  serious;  he  stopped  at  Nola,  at  the 
house  which  had  belonged  to  his  father,  and  in  which  his  father 
had  died;  and  as  he  became  visibly  worse,  his  wife  Livia  sent 
hasty  messengers  after  Tiberius,  to  recall  him  instantly  to  the 
death-bed  of  the  emperor.  Meantime  every  thing  that  passed 
within  the  walls  was  concealed  by  Livia  with  the  utmost  care  • 
insomuch,  that  although  it  was  given  out  that  Tiberius  found  his 
adopted  father  still  alive,*^!'  and  had  a  long  and  affectionate  inter- 
view with  him,  yet  Tacitus  informs  us  that  it  was  never  clearly 
ascertained  whether  these  stories  were  not  mere  fabrications  ^^^ 
and  whether  Augustus  was  not  in  reality  already  dead  when  Ti- 
berius arrived  at  Nola.  The  same  authority  which  His  death 
related  the  conversation  of  the  dying  emperor  with  "'C-  766,'a.d.  u. 
his  successor,  pretended  also  that  he  actually  expired  in  the  arms 
of  his  wife,  and  that  his  last  words  were,  "  Farewell,  Livia  and 
ever  be  mindful  of  our  long  union."  It  was  said  that  he 'died 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  on  the  nineteenth  of  Auo^ust 
in  the  year  of  Rome  766,2' 3  and  ^^j-^gjj  |^g  j-^^^j  ^^  ^^^^  ^  U^^j^  ^^^,^ 

than  completed  his  seventy-sixth  year. 

Augustus  was  in  his  stature  something  below  the  middle  size 
but  extremely  well  proportioned;-'^  his  hair  was  a 
little  inclined  to  curl,  and  of  a  yellowish  brown ;  Hischaracter. 

his  eyes  were  bright  and  lively,  but  the  general  expression  of  his 

sio  Suetonius,  58.  of  September,  u.  c.  690,  but  owing  to  the 

2"  Suetonius,9G,et  seq.  disordered  state  of  the  calendar,  it  was  in 

"•2  See  Suetonius,  and  Velleius  Pater-  reality  more  nearly  the  23d  of  July, 
cuius.  214  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  79. 

"3  He  was  nominally  born  on  the  23d 


516  CHARACTER  OF  AUGUSTUS. 

countenance  was  remarkably  calm  and  mild.  His  health  was 
throughout  his  life  delicate,  yet  the  constant  attention  which  he 
paid  to  it,  and  his  strict  temperance  in  eating  and  drinking, 
enabled  him,  as  we  have  seen,  to  reach  the  full  age  of  man.  As 
a  seducer  and  adulterer,^'^  and  a  man  of  low  sensuality,. his 
character  was  as  profligate  as  that  of  his  uncle  ;  it  is  mentioned, 
also,  that  he  was  extremely  fond  of  gaming,  a  propensity  which 
he  indulged  even  when  he  was  advanced  in  years.  In  his  literary 
qualifications,  without  at  all  rivalling  the  attainments  of  Cassar, 
he  was  on  a  level  with  most  Romans  of  distinction  of  his  time  ; 
and  it  is  said,  that  both  in  speaking  and  writing,  his  style  was 
eminent  for  its  perfect  plainness  and  propriety.'^ '^  His  speeches 
on  any  public  occasion  were  composed  beforehand,  and  recited 
from  memory  ;  nay,  so  careful  was  he  not  to  commit  himself  by 
any  inconsiderate  expression,  that  even  when  discussing  any  im- 
portant subject  with  his  own  wife,  he  wrote  down  what  he  had 
to  say,  and  read  it  before  her.  Like  his  uncle,  he  was  strongly 
tinged  with  superstition ;  he  was  very  much  afraid  of  thunder 
and  lightning, ''1''  and  always  carried  about  with  him  a  seal  skin, 
as  a  charm  against  its  power;  notwithstanding  which,  in  any 
severe  storm,  he  was  accustomed  to  hide  himself  in  a  chamber  in 
the  centre  of  his  house,  to  be  as  much  out  of  the  way  of  it  as 
possible  ;  add  to  which,  he  was  a  great  observer  of  dreams,  and 
of  lucky  and  unlucky  days.  He  was  totally  destitute  of  military 
talent ;  but  in  every  species  of  artful  policy,  in  clearly  seeing, 
and  steadily  and  dispassionately  following  his  own  interest,  and 
in  turning  to  his  own  advantage  all  the  weaknesses  of  others, 
his  ability,  if  so  it  may  be  called,  has  been  rarely  equalled.  His 
deliberate  cruelty,  his  repeated  treachery,  and  sacrifice  of  every 
duty  and  eveiy  feeling  to  the  purposes  of  his  ambition,  have  been 
sufficiently  shown  in  the  course  of  this  narrative.  But  it  was 
his  good  fortune,  for  the  last  forty  years  of  his  life,  to  be  placed  in 
circumstances  in  which  he  had  no  longer  any  temptation  to  the 
same  kind  of  wickedness ;  and  thus  it  has  happened  that  he 
whose  crimes  fitted  him  to  rank  with  Marius  or  Sylla,  with  Nero 
or  with  Domitian,  has  been  loaded  with  praises  as  a  benefactor 
to  his  species,  and  his  name  has  passed  into  a  proverb  as  a  pro- 
moter of  peace,  and  a  general  patron  of  literature  and  of  civili- 
zation. 

215  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  69.  7).  2i7  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  90. 

216  SuetoniuSj  in  Augusto,  84,  et  seq. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

M.  ULPIUS  TRAJANUS  CRINITUS— FROM  A.  D.  98  TO  117. 

Between  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Augustus  Caesar  and  the  ac- 
cession of  Trajanus,  there  elapsed  a  period  of  eighty-four  years. 
During  this  period  the  Roman  empire,  notwithstanding  the  crimes 
of  almost  all  its  sovereigns,  and  the  disturbances  to  which  it  had 
been  occasionally  exposed,  had  consolidated  its  widely  scattered 
possessions,  and  its  different  provinces  had  learned  to  consider 
themselves  as  members  of  one  great  body.  It  was  well  prepared 
to  feel  the  full  blessing  of  an  able  and  upright  government,  and 
such  a  blessing  it  was  now  going  to  experience  for  a  term  of  equal 
length  with  the  period  of  tyranny  which  had  preceded  it.  The 
first  eighty  years,  then,  of  the  second  century  of  the  Christian 
asra  may  be  regarded  as  the  prime  of  manhood  in  the  Roman  em- 
pire, during  which  its  excellences  were  most  fully  developed, 
while  at  the  same  time  there  were  visible,  even  then,  those  evils 
which  threw  so  dark  a  shade  over  its  decline  and  fall.  It  is  of 
this  period  that  we  wish  to  offer,  not  a  picture,  but  such  a  sketch 
as  our  imperfect  information  will  enable  us  to  execute  ;  connect- 
ing it  with  those  particulars  which  we  formerly  gave  of  the  state 
of  the  empire  under  Augustus,  in  order  to  show  more  clearly  the 
changes  which  it  had  undergone  since  the  first  establishment  of 
the  imperial  government. 

The  reign  of  Trajanus  is  in  one  respect  peculiarly  well  fitted 
to  be  made  the  occasion  of  such  a  survey,  as  we  are  absolutely 
unable  to  offer  a  detailed  account  of  its  events.  A  few  pages  of 
an  abridgment  of  the  original  history  of  Dion  Cassius,  and  a  few 
lines  of  Eutropius  and  Aurelius  Victor,  are  all  that  we  possess  in 
the  shape  of  a  direct  historical  narrative  of  it.  Of  these  scanty 
materials,  by  far  the  greatest  part  relates  to  the  military  expeditions 
of  the  emperor,  and  to  those  conquests  of  which  he  himself  lived 
long  enough  to  see  the  instability,  and  which  his  successor  quietly 
abandoned.  It  were  indeed  a  waste  of  our  own  time  and  that  of 
our  readers  to  dwell  upon  the  events  of  the  Dacian  war,  or  the 
triumphs  of  Trajanus  over  the  Parthians  and  Armenians.  Un- 
profitable as  is  the  detail  of  almost  every  war,  there  is  none  more 


518  ACCESSION  OF  TRAJ ANUS. 

Utterly  worthless  than  that  which  relates  to  the  contest  between 
a  civilized  and  a  barbarian  people,  which  repeats  the  story  of 
fancied  provocations,  of  easy  victories,  and  of  sweeping  conquests. 
Yet  if  we  exclude  the  military  operations  of  Trajanus  from  our 
account  of  his  life,  his  historians  and  biographers  furnish  us 
with  scarcely  any  materials.  We  shall  first,  therefore,  give  only 
a  mere  outline  of  the  events  of  his  reign  in  chronological  order, 
and  then,  adopting  a  ditierent  arrangement,  we  shall  regard  the 
nature  of  the  facts  related,  rather  than  the  time  of  their  occur- 
rence. 

At  the  moment  of  Nerva's  death,  Trajanus  was  still  with  the 
Accession  of  army  lu  Germany.'     He  had  been  named  consul 

Trajanus.  i\iq  socoud  time  for  that  year,  together  with  the  em- 

peror ;  and  as  Nerva  died  about  the  27th  of  January,^  almost  the 
whole  term  of  his  consulship  remained  unexpired  when  he  suc- 
ceeded to  the  sovereignty  of  the  empire.  He  did  not  return  to 
Rome  till  the  beginning  of  the  following  year,  having  passed  his 
consulship  in  Germany,  where  he  was  employed  in  coniirming 
discipline  among  the  soldiers,  and  in  the  civil  administration  of 
those  important  provinces.  A  third  consulship  was  offered  him 
as  soon  as  his  second  was  expired,  as  the  emperors  usually 
marked  the  first  year  of  their  reign  by  receiving  that  title  and 
office ;  but  Trajanus  positively  refused  it.  On  his  way  home  from 
Germany,  he  travelled  in  the  quietest  and  most  moderate  manner  •,^ 
his  attendants  were  restrained  from  committing  those  excesses 
upon  the  persons  and  property  of  the  people  who  lived  near  the 
line  of  his  journey,  which  it  seems  were  commonly  practised  by 
the  train  of  the  emperors.  The  expenses  of  his  table  were  de- 
frayed by  the  inhabitants  of  the  provinces  through  which  he 
travelled,  according  to  the  constant  practice  of  the  Roman  ma- 
gistrates ;  but  this  tax  of  purveyance,  which  the  sovereigns  of 
modern  Europe  exercised  after  the  example  of  the  Romans,  was 
imposed  by  Trajanus  with  great  moderation ;  and  he  could  not 
forbear  publishing  a  statement  of  the  sums  demanded  by  himself, 
contrasted  with  those  which  Domitianus  had  exacted  when  he 
returned  to  Rome  from  the  same  part  of  the  empire.  His  entrance 
into  his  capital^  was  in  a  similar  spirit.  Instead  of  being  borne 
on  a  litter,  according  to  the  practice  of  former  emperors,  it  was  re- 
marked that  he  walked  behind  his  lictors,  surrounded  not  by 
guards,  but  by  the  flower  of  the  senate  and  the  equestrian  order  ; 
and  that  he  bore  with  patience  the  frequent  interruptions  to  his 
progress  occasioned  by  the  eageiness  of  the  multitude  thronging 
to  behold  him.     He  ascended  the  capitol  to  offer  his  prayers  in 

'  Pliny,  Panegyric.   9.   56.    59.     Sex.         3  Pliny,  Panegyric.  20. 
Aurel.  Victor,  in  Trajano.  ■•  Pliny,  Panegyric.  22,  et  seq. 

-  Compare    Suetonius,   Domitian.    17 ; 
and  Dion  Cassiua,  LXVIII.  771. 


FIRST  MEASURES  OF  HIS  GOVERNMENT.  5I9 

the  temple  of  the  Capitoline  Jupiter,  on  the  same  spot  whereon 
Nerva,  a  short  time  before,  had  solemnly  adopted  him  as  his  son 
and  successor  in  the  empire.  Thence  he  retired  to  the  palace, 
which  he  entered  in  the  same  unostentatious  manner  that  had 
marked  his  behaviour  through  the  day.  It  is  added  by  Dion 
Cassius,^  that  his  wife  Plotina  had  displayed  a  like  temper  when 
she  first  entered  the  imperial  residence,  for  she  stopped  on  the 
steps,  and  turning  round  to  the  multitude,  said  aloud,  "  I  go  into 
this  house  with  the  same  mind  that  1  should  wish  to  bear  in 
leaving  it." 

The  popularity  which  Trajanus  had  gained  by  his  former 
character,  and  by  this  fair  commencement  of  his  First  measure,  of  hu 
reign,  was  confirmed  by  some  of  his  earliest  mea-  government. 
sures,  when  he  took  into  his  hands  the  administration  of  govern- 
ment. His  justice  and  firmness,  his  liberality,  and  his  regard  for 
the  public  morals,  are  all  made  the  theme  of  his  panegyrist's  ad- 
miration. Caspinus  iElianus,^  the  prefect  of  the  praetorian  guards, 
who  had  headed  a  mutiny  of  his  soldiers  in  the  reign  of  Nerva, 
and  obliged  the  emperor  to  give  up  to  their  vengeance  the  assas- 
sins of  Domitianus,  had  been  sent  for  by  Trajanus,  previously  to 
his  entrance  into  Rome,  and  had  been  put  to  death.  The  delators, 
or  informers,  a  race  of  men  as  numerous  imder  the  tyranny  of 
the  Roman  emperors  as  ever  the  sycophants  had  been  under  that 
of  the  Athenian  democracy,  were  banished  to  different  islands, 
and  their  property  confiscated  ;  and  if  we  may  interpret  literally 
the  language  of  Pliny's  Panegyric,  they  were  sent  otf  to  their  re- 
spective places  of  exile  with  so  little  delay,  that  the  ships  which 
carried  them  were  obliged  to  put  to  sea  before  the  end  of  the  win- 
ter season,  and  the  people  enjoyed  the  thought  that  som.e  of  them 
were  likely  to  perish  on  their  voyage.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
liberality  of  Trajanus  was  shown  both  by  that  which  he  gave^ 
and  by  that  which  he  resigned.  The  donative  to  the  soldiers, 
and  the  congiarium,  or  largess  to  the  people,  as  well  as  the  shows 
of  the  circus,  which  he  exhibited  on  his  accession,  were  so  much 
according  to  the  common  practice  of  other  emperors,  that  they 
do  not  deserve  any  particular  notice.  But  he  obtained  a  peculiar 
and  well-earned  glory,  by  providing  for  the  maintenance  of  nearly 
five  thousand  children  of  free  parents,'^  in  the  different  cities  of 
Italy ;  and  the  example  which  he  thus  set  was  imitated  by  pri- 
vate individuals,  as  Pliny  mentions*  that  he  had  settled  an  annu- 
al income  of  300,000  sestertii  on  the  town  of  Gomum,  for  the 
maintenance  of  free-born  children.  The  object  of  these  liberali- 
ties was  to  encourage  population  amongst  the  free  inhabitants  of 
Italy ;  and  there  can  be  no  better  proof  of  the  general  corruption 

5  LXVIII.  771,  edit.  Leunclav.  ^  pnny,  Panegyric.  26.  28. 

•  Dion  Cassius,  LXVIII,  771  »  Epist.  VII.  18 

34 


520  FIRST  MEASURES  OF  HIS  GOVERNMENT. 

of  manners,  than  that  any  snch  encouragement  should  have  been 
needed.  With  these  acts  of  munificence  was  combined,  at  the 
same  time,  the  modification  of  one  of  the  most  obnoxious,  but 
most  productive  taxes,^  the  duty  of  five  per  cent,  which  was 
levied  on  all  legacies,  and  even  on  the  successions  of  the  nearest 
relations,  when  entered  upon  by  persons  who  had  become  citizens 
of  Rome  otherwise  than  by  the  right  of  birth.  By  the  decree  of 
Trajanus,  those  nearest  in  consanguinity,  whether  in  the  direct 
or  collateral  line,  were  exempted  altogether  from  this  tax  ;  and  no 
person  whatever  was  liable  to  it,  if  the  property  to  which  he  had 
succeeded  was  below  a  certain  value.  And  while  he  provided 
for  the  future,  he  endeavoured  also  to  remedy  the  oppressions  of 
past  reigns,  by  enacting  that  no  arrears  should  be  demanded  in 
those  cases  in  which  the  parties  should  be  exempted  for  the  future 
under  the  law  as  now  mitigated.  But  besides  the  direct  taxes, 
the  public  treasury  and  the  imperial  fiscus  had  been  long  enrich- 
ed by  the  irregular  exactions  of  the  officers  of  the  government, 
and  by  the  frequent  confiscations  of  the  property  of  individuals 
condemned  under  the  imperial  law  of  treasons.  The  first  of  these 
sources  of  unjust  gain  Trajanus  stopped,  by  allowing  justice  to 
take  its  free  course,  and  leaving  the  officers  of  the  revenue  to  the 
punishments  of  the  laws,  if  they  exceeded  the  limits  of  their  law- 
ful authority ;  the  other  was  destroyed  by  the  banishment  of  the 
delators,  and  by  the  discouragement  shown  to  all  prosecutions  for 
treasons,  and  particularly  to  the  informations  of  slaves  against 
their  masters.  These  deductions  from  the  revenue  were  made 
up  for  partly  by  a  severe  economy,  and  partly  by  the  sale  of  a 
great  number  of  lands  and  villas,'"  which  the  rapacity  and  tyran- 
ny of  former  emperors  had  annexed  to  the  imperial  demesnes.  By 
these  means  Trajanus  was  enabled  to  promote  the  execution  of 
many  public  works  in  different  parts  of  the  empire,  and  to  add 
to  the  magnificence  of  Rome,  and  to  the  comforts  or  pleasures  of 
its  inhabitants,  by  completing  the  forum"  which  Domitianus  had 
begun,  and  by  erecting  or  finishing  several  other  buildings,  a  cir- 
cus, some  temples,  and  a  colonnade  or  porticus.  But  while  thus 
gratifying  some  of  the  prevailing  tastes  of  the  people,  there  were 
others  which  he  strove  to  repress,  as  became  him.  The  exhibition 
of  the  pantomimes  was  prohibited  i''^  an  entertainment  very  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  is  now  known  by  the  same  name,  and  an 
outrage  upon  all  decency,  more  shameless  than  any  thing  to  be 
found  in  the  obscurest  scenes  of  profligacy  in  the  capitals  of  mod- 
ern Europe.  According  to  Pliny,  this  prohibition  was  highly 
popular  ;  and  so  it  was,  doubtless,  with  the  most  respectable  part 
of  the  community :  but  there  was  always  a  vast  multitude  at 

9  Panegyric.  37.  ''  Sex.  Aurel.  Victor,  de  Caesaribus,  in 

"*  Panegyric.  36.  Trajano.     Pliny,  Panegyric.  51. 

'*  Panegyric.  46. 


THE  DACIAN  WAR. 


521 


Rome  who  forgave  the  cruelties -of  the  most  tyrannical  emperors 
in  consideration  of  their  toleration  of  licentiousness,  and  to  whom 
no  government  was  so  unwelcome  as  that  which  attempted  to  re- 
form their  vices. 

But  whatever  were  the  virtues  of  Trajanus,  he  had  not  learnt 
to  appreciate  the  misery  and  wickedness  of  war,  nor 
to  shrink  with  disgust  from  the  reputation  of  aeon-  The  Daeian  «ar. 
queror.  Since  the  reign  of  Augustus,  the  conquests  of  the  Romans 
in  Dalmatia  and  Paunonia  hud  made  them  acquainted  with  the 
name  of  the  Dacians,  a  people  \vho  occupied  both  banks  of  the 
Danube,  in  that  part  of  its  course  where  it  forms  at  present  the 
southern  boundary  of  Hungary.  They  were  reputed  to  be  of  the 
same  stock  with  the  tribes  who  lived  nearer  the  mouth  of  that  river, 
and  who,  under  the  name  of  Gets,  were  known  to  the  earliest  of 
the  Greek  historians.  But  the  more  inland  situation  of  the  Da- 
cians kept  them  longer  in  obscurity,  nor  do  we  find  them  men- 
tioned by  any  writer  earlier  than  those  of  the  Augustan  age.  It 
is  said  indeed  by  Suetonius,'^  that  C.  Julius  Caesar  had  projected 
an  expedition  against  them,  among  those  vast  schemes  of  con- 
quest which  were  cut  short  by  his  assassination  ;  but  however 
this  be,  in  the  reign  of  Augustus  they  first  became  engaged  in 
actual  hostilities  with  Rome  ;  and  their  incursions  across  the 
Danube  into  the  Roman  territory,  under  the  conduct  of  their  king, 
Cotiso,  were  of  sufficient  importance  to  attract  the  notice  of  the 
court  poets  of  the  day,'^  and  to  confer  that  renown  which  flattery 
is  so  ready  to  ofl'er  upon  the  efforts  by  which  they  were  repulsed. 
At  a  later  period,  when  the  troops  which  defended  the  frontiers 
were  drawn  off"  to  other  quarters  in  the  civil  war  between  Vitel- 
lius  and  Vespasianus,  the  Dacians'^  again  crossed  the  Danube, 
and  committed  hostilities  on  the  Roman  territory.  More  recently 
still,  Domitianus'^  had  claimed  a  triumph  for  his  victories  over 
them  ;  but  his  pretended  successes  were  an  inadequate  compen- 
sation for  the  defeats  which  they  were  intended  to  revenge  ;  those 
of  Appius,  Sabinus,  and  of  Cornelius  Fuscus,  the  last  of  whom, 
after  having  materially  contributed  to  the  elevation  of  the  Flavian 
family  to  the  throne,  perished  in  Dacia  with  the  greater  part  of 
his  army  in  the  reign  of  Domitianus.  Thus,  when  Trajanus 
succeeded  to  the  empire,  he  judged,  in  the  usual  spirit  of  ambi- 
tion and  national  pride,  that  the  dignity  of  Rome  required  the 
chastisement  of  the  Dacians.  Grounds  of  hostility  can  never,  in 
fact,  be  wanting  between  an  ambitious,  civilized  nation,  and  the 
barbarian  tribes  who  border  on  its  frontiers,  and  whose  rude  habits 
of  plunder  continually  lead  them  to  oflfer  some  real  provocation  ; 

•3  In  Julio  Caesare,  44  ;  and  in  Angus-         '5  Tacitus,  Hist.  III.  46. 
to,  8.  '6  Suetonius,   in    Domitiano,    6.     Dion 

14  Horace,  Carm.   II.   20 ;  III.   6.  8.  Cassius,  LXVII.  763,  edit.  Leunclav. 
Florus,  IV.  12.     Suetonius,  Augusto,  21. 


522  BRIDGE  OVER  THE  DANUBE. 

while,  on  the  other  side,  self-defence  is  pleaded  as  an  excuse  for 
conquest ;  and  injury  is  seldom  repelled  without  being  also  re- 
taliated. The  Dacians  were  commanded  by  a  chief  whom  the 
Romans  called  Decebalus,  and  who  is  represented  as  a  man  of 
ability  and  courage  ;  but  no  personal  qualities,  however  brilliant, 
could  enable  a  barbarian  leader  to  resist  the  power  of  the  Roman 
empire  when  steadily  and  skilfully  directed  against  him.  Ac- 
cordingly, he  was  soon  driven  to  sue  for  peace, '^  wbich  he  ob- 
tained on  such  conditions  as  w^ere  likely  soon  to  lead  to  another 
war  ;  for  his  people  were  obliged  to  surrender  up  their  arms,  to 
give  up  all  deserters  or  fugitives  who  had  fled  to  them  from  the 
Romans,  to  pull  down  their  fortresses,  to  cede  a  portion  of  terri- 
tory, and  to  become  the  dependent  allies  of  Rome.  These  terms 
were  observed  as  long  as  the  impression  of  their  defeats  retained 
its  original  force  ;  but  in  a  very  short  time  the  Romans  began  to 
complain  that  they  were  collecting  arms,  and  rebuilding  their  fort- 
resses, and  harbouring  fugitives  from  the  Roman  territory;  and 
Trajanus  prepared  to  attack  them  again,  glad,  perhaps,  that  he 
was  now  furnished  with  a  pretext,  according  to  the  usual  policy 
of  Rome,  for  completing  the  conquest  of  their  country. 

At  the  outset  of  his  expedition,  he  indicated  by  his  conduct 
Bridge  over  the  that  lic  meditated  more  than  a  temporary  inroad 
^^"be.  jjjto  the  enemy's  territory.     Hitherto  the  Danube 

•had  been  regarded  as  the  limit  of  the  empire;  but  Trajanus  pro- 
posed to  create  a  Roman  province  to  the  north  of  that  river,  and 
a  permanent  bridge  over  it  became  a  necessary  work  to  facilitate 
the  communication  with  this  remote  portion  of  his  dominions. 
Accordingly  he  completed  one  on  a  scale  of  magnificence,  if  we 
may  believe  Dion  Cassius,  superior  to  that  of  all  his  other  works. 
He  tells  us,^^  that  there  were  twenty  piers  of  stone,  at  intervals 
of  170  feet  from  each  other,  and  that  each  of  these  was  in  height 
150  feet  above  the  foundations,  and  sixty  feet  wide.  The  arches 
which  connected  them  were  probably  made  of  wood,  and  could 
thus  be  taken  down  with  the  greater  facility,  which  we  are  told 
was  done  by  the  emperor  Hadrianus,  who  took  away  all  the 
upper  part  of  the  bridge,  and  left  merely  the  piers  standing.  We 
believe  that  the  exact  site  of  this  famous  work  has  not  been  as- 
certained, nor  are  we  aware  that  any  researches  have  been  made 
to  determine  it,  or  to  learn  what  is  the  extent  of  the  actual  re- 
mains ;  but  according  to  D'Anville,  it  was  built  at  a  spot  called 
Ram,  about  four  leagues  above  Orsova,  and  about  a  hundred 
miles  below  Belgrade. 

As  soon  as  the  bridge  was  finished,  the  conquest  of  Dacia 
was  speedily  effected.     Decebalus,"  seeing  all  his  efforts  useless, 

"  Dion  Cassius,  LXVIII.  773.  '»  Dion  Cassius,  LXVIII.  777. 

»8  LXVIII.  776 


FINAL  CONQUEST  OF  DACIA.  533 

and  his  palace  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  killed  pinai  conquest  of 
himself;  and  his  treasures,  which  he  is  said  to  ^'"^"^■ 
have  concealed  under  the  bed  of  the  river  Sargetias,  were  be- 
trayed to  the  Romans  by  one  of  his  officers,  and  by  turning  the 
course  of  the  stream,  were  discovered  and  carried  off.  Dacia  was 
reduced  to  the  form  of  a  province,  and  some  Roman  colonies  were 
settled  in  it,  the  principal  of  which  was  called  Ulpia  Trajana, 
and  was  established  at  Zamisegethusa,  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
country,  on  one  of  the  streams  which  flow  from  the  east  into  the 
Theyss. 

After  the  conclusion  of  this  war,  Trajanus  returned  to  Rome, 
and  gratified  the  people  by  rejoicings  celebrated  on  r,,„„  „f  trajanus 
the  most  magnificent  scale  ;  for,  according  to  Dion  ^  '^°™''- 
Cassius/"  the  different  shows  that  were  exhibited  lasted  for  four 
months,  in  the  course  of  which  no  fewer  than  ten  thousand  gla- 
diators are  said  to  have  fought  for  the  amusement  of  the  multitude. 
It  was  in  commemoration  also  of  the  conquest  of 
Dacia,  that  the  famous  pillar  in  the  forum  of  Tra-  "'"  °''"™°"  ^'  "''• 
janus  was  erected  ;  although  it  was  not  completed  till  the  seven- 
teenth year  of  his  reign.  The  height  of  this  pillar  is  128  Roman 
feet,-'  and  the  whole  shaft  is  covered  with  bas-reliefs,  represent- 
ing the  exploits  of  the  emperor  in  both  his  Dacian  expeditions. 
But  the  most  remarkable  circumstance  connected  with  it,  is  the 
excavation  of  the  ground,  which  was  effected  preparatory  to  its 
erection  ;  for  the  inscription  upon  its  base  declares,  that  the  hill 
had  been  cut  away  from  the  height  of  the  pillar,  to  form  the  level 
space  on  which  the  forum  of  Trajanus  was  built.  These  great 
changes  in  the  appearance  of  the  ground  on  which  Rome  is  built, 
should  always  be  borne  in  mind  when  we  attempt  to  reconcile 
its  present  condition  with  the  descriptions  of  ancient  writers. 

Whilst  Trajanus  remained  at  Rome,  he  is  said^-  to  have  com- 
menced the  work  of  making  roads  or  causeways  piapme  with  parthia 
through  the  Pomptine  marshes,  to  have  issued  a  ?iT»rrofThe*'kin'grof 
new  coinage,  and  to  have  founded  several  public  Armenia. 
libraries.  But  his  military  ardour  had  been  influenced  by  his 
late  conquests,  and  he  was  ambitious  of  winning  triumphs  over 
the  Parthians,  and  other  Eastern  nations,  as  he  had  already  been 
victorious  over  the  enemies  of  Rome  in  Europe.  The  pretext  for 
this  new  war  was  an  alleged  affront  offered  to  the  dignity  of  the 
empire  by  Chosroes,  the  king  of  Parthia,  who  had  conferred  the 
crown  of  Armenia,  by  his  own  authority,  on  a  prince  named 
Exedares,  instead  of  allowing  him  to  receive  the  diadem  from 
the  sovereign  of  Rome.  Ever  since  the  victories  of  Lucullus  and 
Cn.  Pompeius,  the  Romans  pretended  to  regard  Armenia  as  one 

20  p.  777.  22  DionCassius,  LXVIII.  777. 

21  Burton,  Antiquities  of  Rome,  171,  et 
seq. 


524  STORY  OF  PARTHAMASIRIS. 

of  their  dependent  kingdoms  ;  and  this  claim  had  given  rise  to 
various  contests  between  them  and  the  Parthians,  who  viewed  it, 
on  the  other  hand,  as  a  kind  of  appanage  of  the  crown  of  Parthia. 
The  neighbourhood  of  the  Parthians,  and  the  unwarlike  charac- 
ter of  several  of  the  Roman  emperors,  had  made  the  Parthian  in- 
fluence in  Armenia  really  predominant ;  but  the  right  of  the  Ro- 
mans had  never  been  relinquished,  and  was  likely  to  be  enforced 
by  any  ambitious  prince  who  thirsted  for  the  glory  of  eastern 
conquests.  Accordingly,  it  was  now  insisted  on  by  Trajanus, 
and  preparations  were  made  on  a  great  scale  to  maintain  it  by 
force  of  arms.  The  Parthian  king,  unwilling  to  involve  himself 
in  a  war,  deposed  Exedares,  and  nominated  Parthamasiris,  his 
own  brother,  as  his  successor ;  at  the  same  time  sending  an  em- 
bassy with  presents  to  Trajanus  announcing  this  act,  and  request- 
ing him  to  bestow  the  diadem,  according  to  the  right  of  investi- 
ture which  he  claimed  as  emperor  of  Rome,  on  the  prince  whom 
he  had  just  placed  on  the  throne.  For  it  seems,  that  the  right  of 
the  Romans  was  little  more  than  a  form,  and  that  they  only  in- 
stalled the  sovereign  whom  the  Parthians  had  previously  nomi- 
nated ;  as  in  the  reign  of  Nero,  when  Vologeses,  king  of  Parthia, 
had  seated  his  brother  Tiridates  on  the  throne  of  Armenia,  it  was 
agreed  that  Tiridates  should  go  to  Rome  to  receive  his  investiture 
at  the  hands  of  the  emperor.  But  now  Trajanus,  bent  upon  con- 
quest, rejected  the  presents  brought  him  by  the  ambassadors,  and 
replied  to  their  communication  with  the,characteristic  haughtiness 
of  a  Roman  general,  saying,  that  the  king  of  Parthia  should  man- 
ifest his  friendly  disposition  rather  by  deeds  than  by  words,  and 
that  when  he  should  have  arrived  in  Syria,  the  Romans  would 
then  do  that  which  was  fitting  to  be  done. 

The  narrative  of  Dion  Cassius  becomes  here  only  a  collection 
story  of  parthama-  of  disjointed  fragments,  preserved  by  his  abbrevia- 
^'^'^-  tors,  so  that  it  does  not  appear  whether  the  nego- 

tiation was  renewed  on  the  arrival  of  Trajanus  in  Syria.  It  was 
at  all  events  ineffectual ;  and  the  Roman  army  advanced  into  Ar- 
menia, where  they  were  met  by  the  satraps  and  petty  princes  of  the 
neighbouring  districts,  who  came  to  make  their  submissions  and 
to  offer  presents.  Meantime,  Parthamasiris  had  laid  aside  the 
style  and  title  of  king,  and  had  written  to  request  that  M.  Junius, 
the  governor  of  Cappadocia,  might  be  sent  to  him,  as  if  he  wished, 
through  his  intercession  with  the  emperor,  to  obtain  some  favour- 
able terms.  His  request  was  refused  ;  but  the  son  of  Junius  was 
sent  to  him,  and  he  was  probably  given  to  understand,  that  he 
must  present  himself  in  person  before  Trajanus.  The  emperor 
was  now  at  Elegia,  a  town  of  Armenia,  having  as  yet  not  ex- 
perienced any  opposition ;  and  hither  Parthamasiris  repairedj*^* 

33  Dion  Cassius,  LXVIIT.  779. 


STORY  OF  PARTHAMASIRIS.  535 

in  order,  as  he  supposed,  to  go  through  the  ceremony  of  investi- 
ture, which  he  the  less  doubted  that  he  should  obtain,  as  the  pub- 
lic humiliation  thus  imposed  upon  him  seemed  at  least  a  sufficient 
atonement  for  any  offeuce  which  the  Romans  might  protend  to 
have  received.  Accordingly,  when  Trajanus  was  seated  on  his 
tribunal  in  the  midst  of  his  camp.  Parthamasiris  appeared  before 
him,  and  having  saluted  him,  took  otf  the  diadem  from  his  own 
head,  and  laid  it  at  the  emperor's  feet.  When  he  had  done  this, 
he  stood  silent  for  a  few  moments,  expecting  that  Trajanus,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  would  desire  him  to  resume  it ;  but  when  he 
said  nothing,  and  the  soldiers  with  loud  shouts  addressed  their 
sovereign  as  "  imperator,"  considering  that  the  act  which  they 
had  just  witnessed  was  equivalent  to  the  absolute  surrender  of 
Armenia  to  the  Reman  dominions,  Parthamasiris  started,  and 
apprehending  some  attempt  upon  his  person  or  liberty,  turned 
in  order  to  leave  the  camp.  But  when  the  soldiers  opposed 
his  passage,  he  requested  a  private  interview  with  Trajanus, 
and  went  with  the  emperor  into  his  tent.  Their  conference 
was  unsatisfactory,  and  Parthamasiris  left  the  tent  in  great 
indignation  ;  but  he  was  again  detained  by  the  emperor's  order, 
and  was  desired,  with  the  usual  indelicacy  of  the  Romans, 
to  state  his  cause  publicly  in  the  hearing  of  the  whole  army. 
Coarse  and  insolent  as  was  this  proposal,  Parthamasiris  did  not 
decline  it ;  but  standing  before  the  emperor's  tribunal,  he  indig- 
nantly asserted,  that  he  was  betrayed,  and  not  conquered ;  that 
he  had  come  freely  into  the  Roman  camp,  in  the  confidence  that 
when  he  had  gone  through  the  ceremony  of  homage,  his  right 
to  the  crown  of  Armenia  would  be  instantly  allowed.  Trajanus, 
who  perceived  himself  now  strong  enough  to  avow  his  injustice 
without  scruple,  replied,  that  Armenia  belonged  to  the  Romans, 
and  should  obey  none  but  a  Roman  sovereign  ;  that  the  Armenian 
followers  of  Parthamasiris  must,  therefore,  remain  with  the  Ro- 
man army,  but  that  he  himself  and  his  Parthians  were  at  liberty 
to  depart  whithersoever  they  thought  proper.  The  disgraceful 
conclusion  of  this  scene  we  learn  from  one  of  the  newly  discov- 
ered fragments  of  the  works  of  M.  Cornelius  Fronto,  the  orator.** 
Parthamasiris  refused  to  submit  to  this  treacherous  outrage,  and. 
with  a  courage  that  heeded  not  his  unequal  condition,  attempted 
to  force  his  way  out  of  the  camp.  In  this  attempt  he  was  natu- 
rally unsuccessful,  and  being  taken  prisoner,  to  crown  the  atrocity 
of  the  conduct  of  Trajanus,  he  was  put  to  death. 

Armenia  having  been  thus  surprised  rather  than  conquered, 
Trajanus  left  garrisons  in  its  principal  fortresses,  and  marching 

24  Principia   Historiae,   Fragment.  IV.  est,  meliore,  tamen  Romanorum  fama  im- 

"  Trajano,  caedes  Parthamasiris  regis  hand  pune  supplex  abisset,  quam  jure  supplicium 

satis  excusata.      Tametsi    ultro  ille  vim,  luisset." 
cceptans,  tumuUu  orto,  merito  interfectus 


526  CHRONOLOGY  OP  THE  REIGN  OF  TRAJANUS. 

southwards  from  Elegia,  arrived  at  Edessa.  Here  he  was  hospi- 
tably received  by  Abgarus,  prince  of  that  district,  who  now 
thought  it  his  besf  pohcy  to  propitiate  the  Romans  to  the  utmost. 
Some  others  also  of  the  petty  sovereigns  who  lived  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  Parthian  empire,  expressed  their  readiness  to  receive 
his  commands  ;  and  he  thus  made  himself  master  of  the  town  of 
Singara,  and  some  other  places  in  Upper  Mesopotamia,  without 
any  opposition.  At  this  point,  the  narrative  of  Dion  Cassius 
breaks  off  abruptly,  and  the  next  remaining  fragment  of  his 
work  belongs  to  a  period  nearly  ten  years  later.  But  it  is  certain, 
from  the  evidence  of  inscriptions,  that  Trajanus  did  not  gain 
further  conquests  at  this  time  ;  and  we  may  suppose,  that  after 
his  occupation  of  Armenia  he  had  no  longer  any  pretence  of  hos- 
tility against  the  king  of  Parthia,  and  that,  as  that  monarch  was 
content  to  abandon  Armenia  to  him,  he  led  back  his  army,  and  re- 
turned to  Rome. 

The  events  which  we  have  just  recorded  seem  to  have  taken 
Chronology  of  the  P^^cc  about  the  tenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Trajanus ; 
reign  of  Trajanus.  g^j^jj  jf  ^yas  probably  for  hls  triumph  over  Partha- 
masiris  that  he  assumed  the  title  of  "  imperator"  for  the  sixth 
time.  In  the  inscription  on  the  famous  bridge  over  the  Tagus 
at  Alcantara,'^^  which  bears  date  the  ninth  year  of  his  reign,  he  is 
styled  "  imperator"  for  the  fifth  time  ;  and  Dion  Cassius  tells  us, 
that  he  received  that  title  again  from  the  acclamations  of  his  sol- 
diers, when  they  beheld  the  unfortunate  Parthamasiris  surrender- 
ing to  him  his  crown.  But  in  the  inscription  on  the  pillar  erected 
in  the  middle  of  his  forum  at  Rome,  and  which  is  dated  in  the 
seventeenth  3^ear  of  his  reign,  he  is  described  as  imperator  only 
for  the  sixth  time  f^  so  that  a  decisive  proof  is  thus  obtained,  that 
during  seven  years  he  gained  no  signal  victories  ;  and  as  his 
wars  were  nothing  but  a  succession  of  victories,  we  may  fairly 
conclude,  that  from  the  tenth  to  the  seventeenth  year  of  his  reign 
he  remained  at  peace,  and  employed  himself  in  the  civil  admin- 
istration of  his  empire.  Between  the  completion  of  his  pillar  and 
his  death,  the  rapidity  of  his  conquests  is  marked  by  the  accumu- 
lation of  his  titles  of  imperator ;  for  on  the  column,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  is  described  only  as  imperator  for  the  sixth  time,  but  in- 
scriptions of  a  date  two  years  later,^^  in  the  nineteenth  year  of 
his  reign,  call  him  imperator  for  the  eleventh  time.  We  shall 
avail  ourselves  then  of  this  peaceful  period  of  nearly  seven  years, 
the  events  of  which  we  are  unable  to  relate  chronologically,  from 
the  total  want  of  all  regular  annals  of  this  reign,  to  offer  a  gen- 


25  Gruter,  Corpus.  Inscription.  I.  162.  a  bridge  over  the  river  Metaurus,  on    the 

26  Gruter,  Corpus.  Inscription.  I    247.  old    Fiaminian   road    between    Furlo  and 
Burton's  Antiquities  of  Rome,  172.  Fossombrone,  which  we  copied  on  the  spot 

27  Gruter,  I.  248,  and  an  inscription  on  in  1825. 


OF  THE  EXTERNAL  RELATIONS  OF  ROME.        537 

eral  view  of  the  state  of  the  empire,  and  of  the  character  of  the 
emperor's  government. 

Adopting  the  same  arrangement  which  we  formerly  pursued  in 
our  hfe  of  Augustus,  the  foreign  relations  of  Rome  or  the  external  rda- 
will  first  claim  our  notice.  And  here  the  picture  tions  of  Rome, 
which  we  gave  of  the  state  of  affairs  under  Augustus  will  require  little 
alteration.  Some  acquisitions  of  territory  had  indeed  been  made 
previous  to  the  recent  conquest  of  Trajanus  in  Dacia.  Our  own 
island,  after  having  been  first  conquered  in  the  reign  of  Claudius, 
and  subsequently  held  with  a  doubtful  grasp  during  the  last  years 
of  Nero,  and  the  civil  wars  which  followed  his  death,  had  been 
finally  subdued  and  settled  by  Cn.  Agricola,  whose  merits  have 
been  transmitted  to  posterity,  perhaps  with  some  exaggeration, 
by  the  affection  and  eloquence  of  his  son-in-law,  Tacitus.  In  the 
other  extremity  of  the  empire,  Jerusalem  had  been  destroyed,  after 
a  resistance  such  as  the  Romans  had  seldom  experienced  from  an 
enemy  so  unequal.  Some  changes  had  taken  place  also,  rather  in 
the  nominal  than  in  the  real  condition  of  countries^*  already  in 
fact  subject  to  the  authority  of  Rome,  but  retaining  the  form  of 
an  independent  government ;  and  some  barbarous  tribes  had  in 
the  lapse  of  years  been  more  effectually  subdued,  or  had  gradually 
become  more  familiarized  to  the  Roman  dominion.  But  still,  as 
in  the  reign  of  Augustus,  the  Parlhians  and  Germans  were  the 
only  nations  whom  the  Romans  found  capable  of  maintaining  a 
contest  with  them  almost  on  equal  terms.  The  Parthian  power 
was  indeed  somewhat  on  the  decline,  and  it  was  destined  to  re-  • 
ceive  from  Trajanus  severer  blows  than  it  had  ever  yet  sustained. 
But  the  Germans  were  as  unbroken  as  ever  ;  nor  had  the  Romans 
again  ventured  since  the  defeat  of  Varus  to  extend  their  frontier 
beyond  the  Rhine.  The  title  of  Gcrrnanicus,  fondly  assumed  by 
so  many  emperors,  was  the  best  proof  that  none  had  fnlly  deserved 
it,  and  that  the  conqueror  of  Germany  was  as  yet  unborn. 

Nothing  then  remains  to  divert  our  attention  from  the  internal 
state  of  the  empire.  In  our  life  of  Augustus  we  „g  jntemai  state,  i. 
attempted  to  mark  the  easy  steps  by  which  the  old  or  the  government. 
constitution  had  been  converted  into  a  monarchy,  by  showing 
that  it  contained  within  it  all  the  elements  of  despotic  power, 
while  there  was  enough  of  servility  and  helplessness  in  the  people 
at  large  to  make  them  almost  welcome  as  a  relief  their  exclusion 
from  all  share  in  the  government.  Our  business  will  now  be  to 
deUneate  the  imperial  constitution  in  its  matined  state,  and  to 

28  Cappadocia,  from  a  dependent  king-  Tacitus,  Hist.  Ul.  47  ;  Eutropius,  in  Ne- 

dom,  had  been   reduced  to  a  province  as  rone.      Rhodes,  Lycia,   and   some    other 

early  as  the  reign  of  Tiberius.     Tacitus,  places,  were  in  like  manner  made  provinces 

Annal.  H.  42.     A  part  of  Pontus  which  Ijy  Vespasianus.     Suetonius,  in  Vespasian, 

still  was   governed  by  a  king  of  its  own,  8  ;  Eutropius,  in  Vespasian. 
shared  the  same  fate  in  the  reign  of  Nero. 


528  THE  GOVERNMENT  IS  MORE  MONARCHICAL 

notice  some  of  those  points  in  which  the  forms  of  freedom  which 
still  subsisted  in  the  days  of  Augustus  had  been  since  overthrown. 
The  government  was  now  become  an  acknowledged  monarchy. 
In  the  time  of  Augustus  it  was  but  a  sort  of  perpetual  dictatorship, 
bestowed  by  the  senate  and  people  on  the  most  distinguished 
citizen  of  the  commonwealth,  as  a  remedy  for  the  disorders  occa- 
sioned by  so  many  years  of  civil  war.  But  the  adoption  first  of 
the  sons  of  Agrippa,  and  afterwards  of  Tib.  Claudius  Nero,  into 
the  Julian  family,  made  it  evident  that  the  new  state  of  things 
was  designed  to  be  perpetual ;  and  so  natural  is  the  notion  of 
hereditary  right,  that  even  while  the  monarchy  was  thus  recent, 
the  succession  was  thought  to  belong  to  the  family  of  the  actual 
sovereign ;  and  in  the  failure  of  his  immediate  descendants,  he 
was  allowed  to  adopt  whomsoever  he  thought  proper,  as  the  pre- 
sumptive heir  to  the  imperial  power.  On  the  death  of  Augustus, 
the  senate,  by  conferring  all  his  extraordinary  prerogatives  on 
Tiberius,  decreed  in  fact  the  final  extinction  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  temporary  reason  before  assigned  for  vesting  the  government 
in  the  hands  of  a  single  person,  was  now  exchanged  for  one  of 
general  and  lasting  application ;  the  disorders  of  the  civil  wars 
had  been  long  since  repaired  by  the  peaceful  administration  of 
Augustus  ;  but  it  was  now  discovered  that  the  empire  was  too 
vast  to  be  governed  by  the  senate  and  people,  and  required  the 
vigour  and  unity  of  a  monarchy ;  and  thus,  until  the  provin- 
ces should  be  dismembered,  the  Roman  people  seemed  to  resign 
for  ever  its  old  authority.  The  feeble  attempt  made  by  the  senate 
to  resume  the  government,  after  the  murder  of  Caligula,  did  not 
last  longer  than  two  days ;  and  from  that  time,  even  when  the 
succession  to  the  imperial  power  was  most  disputed,  yet  none  ever 
proposed  the  restoration  of  the  commonwealth. 

We  have  said,  that  even  Augustus,  when  he  adopted  Tiberius 
It  was  far  more  mo-     as  liis  SOU,  dcsigucd  to  uiakc  hlui  hls  succcssor  in 

narchical  than  in  the       ^i  .  y-,         ,1,1  •  t  i 

time  of  Augustus.  the  empire.  Jiut  the  throne  was  never  considered 
as  actually  hereditary,  so  that  the  natural  or  adopted  son  ascended 
it  by  the  right  of  his  birth,  whenever  the  death  of  his  father  had 
left  it  vacant.  By  the  theory  of  the  constitution,  if  we  may  apply 
so  noble  a  term  to  the  imperial  government  of  Rome,  the  emperor 
was  still  intrusted  by  the  senate  with  the  management  of  the 
republic,  and  each  succeeding  sovereign  derived  his  power  accord- 
ing to  law  solely  from  their  authority.  It  is  difficult  to  say 
whether  the  consent  of  the  army  was  legally  necessary  to  the 
validity  of  an  election,  although  in  reality  it  determined  the  whole 
transaction.  The  new  emperor  was  saluted  as  such  by  the 
soldiers,  and  he  promised  them  a  donative  in  return  ;  and  the  op- 
position of  the  senate  to  their  choice  must  have  been  necessarily 
fruitless.  It  is  possible,  too,  that  the  army  may  have  been  re- 
garded in  some  measure  as  the  representative  of  the  people,  and 


THAN  IN  THE  TIME  OF  AUGUSTUS,  539 

their  voices  may  have  been  esteemed  the  sole  remnant  of  the 
popular  part  of  the  old  constitution.  The  comitia  no  longer  as- 
sembled for  the  election  of  magistrates  after  the  accession  of  Ti- 
berius f^  and  although  statutes  (leges)  and  decrees  of  the  commons 
(plebiscita)  are  acknowledged  among  the  sources  of  the  Roman 
law,  even  in  the  time  of  T.  Antonius  and  M.  Aurelius,  yet  the 
votes  of  the  tribes  in  enacting  laws  as  well  as  in  appointing 
magistrates  had  become  no  more  than  an  empty  form.^'>  In  their 
place  the  constitutions  of  the  emperor  were  allowed  to  have  the 
force  of  laws,^^  and  these  gradually  became  more  frequent,  as  the 
remembrance  of  free  institutions  became  in  every  successive  gen- 
eration fainter  and  fainter.  It  may  be  noticed  also,  as  a  mark  of  the 
more  avowed  monarchical  character  which  the  government  assum- 
ed within  a  century  after  the  death  of  the  first  emperor,  that  the 
title  of  dominus,  or  master,  as  opposed  to  slave,  which  Augustus 
disclaimed  with  indignation,^^  is  familiarly  bestowed  on  Trajanus 
by  his  friend  Pliny,  even  in  his  private  correspondence  with  him. 
But  the  instrument  by  which  the  emperors  had  perpetrated 
the  worst  acts  of  their  tyranny  was  provided  by  orthe imperial law  of 
the  new  imperial  law  of  treasons.  Under  the  com-  'reasons. 
monwealth,  the  crime  of  "  majestas  laesa  vel  imminuta  "  was  held 
to  extend  not  only  to  those  actions  which  our  law  regards  as 
treasonable,  such  as  conspiring  to  levy  war  against  the  state,  or 
joining  the  enemy  in  war,  but  to  a  great  variety  of  other  offences 
of  less  magnitude,  such  as  rioting,  or  gross  misconduct  in  the 
management  of  a  war,  or  the  usurpation  of  the  state  and  authority 
of  a  magistrate  by  any  private  person.  Nor  were  even  words  al- 
ways exempted  from  its  operation,  if  the  story  told  of  Claudia  be 
deserving  of  credit,  who  was  tried,  during  the  first  Punic  war,  for 
a  passionate  expression  uttered  against  the  people,  when  her  car- 
riage was  stopped  in  the  streets  by  the  pressure  of  the  crowd. 
Whilst  the  commonwealth  lasted,  however,  the  severity  of  the 
laws  was  not  amongst  the  prevailing  evils  ;  and  although  many  in- 
dividuals who  ought  to  have  been  punished  were  never  brought  to 
justice,  no  innocent  man,  probably,  was  ever  a  sufferer  from  the 
law  of  treason  as  it  was  then  established.  "With  the  imperial 
government  new  maxims  and  a  new  spirit  of  criminal  jurispru- 
dence were  introduced  :  the  emperor  was  invested  with  all  the 
majesty  of  the  commonwealth,  and  to  attempt  his  life,"  or  to  levy 

29  We   have    said,  '■  for  the   election  of  so  gp^  Hugo,  Lehrbuck  der  Gescbichte 

magistrates,"  because   the  comiiia  even  in  des    Romischen   Rechts,   611,   612,  edit, 

the   reign   of  Trajanus  assembled  in   the  1824. 

Campus  Martius,  to  go  through  the  form  3'     Gaius,  Institution,  I.  ^  5.     Nee  un- 
of  nominating  those  persons  consuls,  prae-  quam  dubitatum  est,  quin  id  (sc.  Constitu- 
tors, &c.,  who  had  been  previously  chosen  tio  Principis)  legis  vicem  obtineat. 
by  the   senate.     See  Heinneccius,  I.  Ap-  32  Suetonius,  in  Augusto,  53. 
pend.  §  65  ;  and  Creuzer,  Romisch.  Anti-  33  Digest.  XLVIII.     Tit.   4.     Paulus, 
quitat.  121.  Sentent.  Recipt.  Tit.  29. 


530  Of'  THE  IMPERIAL  LAW  OF  TREASON. 

war  against  his  authority,  were  naturally,  as  in  every  monarchy, 
regarded  as  acts  of  treason.  But  the  jealousy  of  Augustus,  and  still 
more  of  Tiberius,  extended  the  same  appellation  to  every  ihing 
that  could  be  construed  into  disrespect  to  the  person  or  dignity  of 
the  emperor.  Not  only  were  libels  punishable  with  death, ^^  and 
expressions  adjudged  to  be  libellous,  which  the  worst  despotism 
of  modern  times  would  never  have  attempted  to  question ;  but 
even  words  spoken  in  private  society  were  liable  to  the  same  pen- 
alty ;  and  it  was  treasonable  to  consult  astrologers  as  to  the  fate 
of  the  emperor, •''5  to  melt  down  or  sell  a  statue  of  an  emperor 
who  had  been  deified, ^^  to  take  the  head  off  from  it,"  to  scourge 
a  slave,  or  to  undress,  close  to  it,  with  some  other  things  so  mon- 
strous, that  if  they  did  not  rest  on  good  contemporary  testimony 
we  should  reject  them  as  utterly  incredible.  The  offence  was 
proceeded  against  in  the  same  spirit  of  tyranny  by  which  it  was 
defined  :  for  persons  held  to  be  infamous, ^^  and  whose  evidence 
was  not  admissible  in  other  cases,  were  in  these  received  as  ac- 
cusers; freedmen  might  impeach  their  patrons,  and  slaves  their 
own  masters ;  both  of  which  acts  the  Romans  regarded  in  general 
with  the  utmost  horror  ;  and  persons  of  the  highest  rank,  at  least 
in  the  reign  of  Severus,  might  be  examined  by  torture.^^  If  con- 
demned, criminals  of  all  ranks  were  punished  with  death,  and 
those  of  humble  condition,  by  one  of  those  atrocious  distinctions 
characteristic  of  the  vilest  tyranny,  were  either  thrown  to  wild 
beasts  or  burned  alive.  The  property  of  the  victim  was  forfeited  ; 
and  if  the  charge  extended  to  the  act  of  levying  war  against  the 
emperor,^"  the  forfeiture  took  place  even  when  the  accused  died 
before  his  trial,  unless  his  heirs  could  prove  his  innocence. 

A  law  so  odious  bred  a  race  of  informers  well  fitted  to  pander 
to  its  cruelty.  Under  the  worst  emperors  they  swelled  accordingly 
into  a  numerous  and  formidable  body,  composed  of  the  vilest  in- 
dividuals of  every  rank,  who  abused  the  confidence  of  private 
society  to  report  some  word  or  action  which  the  imperial  law  of 
treason  rendered  criminal.  Such  a  system  rendered  the  very  name 
of  justice  unpopular ;  and  real  crimes  sometimes  escaped  with 
impunity,  or  were  undeservedly  pardoned  at  the  accession  of  a 
better  emperor,  from  the  universal  hatred  felt  towards  all  prosecu- 
tions,^' and  the  indiscriminate  compassion  entertained  for  all  who 

3*  Tacitus,  Annal.  IV.  34  ;  XIV.  48.  crimen     Majestatis     commisit."     Digest. 

35  Tacitus,  Annal.  III.  22.  XLVIII.  Tit.  4. 

3S  Digest.  XLVIII.  Tit.  4.     The  atro-  37  Suetonius,  in  Tiberio,  58. 

city  of  the  law  of  treason  may  be  estima-  38  Digest,  ubi  supra. 

ted  by  the  nature  of  those  acts  which  the  39  Paulus,  ubi  supra, 

lawyers  thought  proper  to  specify  as  ex-  *"  Digest,  ubi  supra, 

empted  from  its  penalties.     "  Non  contra-  4i  Tacitus,  Hist.  I.  77.     Placuit  igno- 

hit  crimen   Majestatis  qui  statuas  Caes.iris  scentibus  verso  nomine,  quod  avaritia  fu- 

vetustate  corruptas  reficit.     Nee  qui  lapide  erat    videri   Majestatem  ;  cujus    turn   odio 

jactato  incerto,  fortuito  statuara  attigerit,  etiam  bonae  leges  peribant. 


THE  ROMAN  LAW  OTHERWISE  EXCELLENT.  531 

had  incurred  the  penalties  of  the  laws.  Nor  is  it  amongst  the 
least  evils  of  a  tyrannical  code,  that  even  after  it  has  been  mitiga- 
ted by  a  virtuous  sovereign,  there  is  perpetually  danger  of  its  being 
again  revived  in  all  its  horrors  in  some  succeeding  reign.  The 
precedent  of  a  bad  example  is  far  more  effectual  in  countenancing 
wickedness,  than  that  of  a  good  one  in  restraining  it;  and  thus, 
although  Trajanus  banished  the  informers,  and  suspended  the 
operation  of  the  law  of  treason,  yet  the  race  of  the  one  soon 
sprang  up  again,  and  the  enactments  of  the  other  remained  in 
existence  to  be  again  called  into  action  by  a  Commodus  or  a  Cara- 
calla. 

It  were  unjust,  however,  to  estimate  the  general  character  of 
the  Roman  law  from  the  provisions  of  the  lex  ma-  The  excellence  of  ths 

..•  .  ■  .  .  r     1  I-.-      Roman  law  in  other 

jestatis  ;  or  to  receive  our  mipression  of  the  politi-  respects. 
cal  condition  of  the  Roman  people  from  those  tragical  details  with 
which  the  histories  of  these  times  are  chiefly  filled.  The  imperial 
system  had  been  engrafted  upon  a  free  constitution,  and  upon  the 
laws  of  a  free  people ;  both  of  which  it  entirely  overturned, 
wherever  they  interfered  with  its  own  immediate  interests  :  but  as 
the  principles  of  a  corrupt  system  will  survive  many  partial  re- 
forms of  particular  institutions,  so  although  the  principles  of  liber- 
ty and  wisdom  at  Rome  had  been  crippled  in  many  most  import- 
ant points  in  their  practical  application,  still  their  existence  was 
not  extinguished,  and  their  influence  was  even  yet  plainly  per- 
ceptible. The  great  lawyers  of  the  age  of  the  Antonines  passed 
hastily  over  the  odious  page  which  contained  the  law  of  treason, 
and  dehghted  to  fix  their  attention  on  those  wise  and  liberal  pro- 
visions which  concerned  the  persons  and  properties  of  citizens  in 
their  dealings  with  one  another,  wherever  the  government  did  not 
interfere.  From  the  excellence  of  the  Roman  law  in  these  points 
arose  the  eminent  fame,  so  justly  earned  by  its  professors  amidst 
the  general  decline  of  all  other  studies.  It  was  here  only  that  the 
wisdom  of  better  times  was  still  practically  useful,  and  might  be 
profitably  emulated  ;  so  that  talents  and  integrity  naturally  turned 
themselves  to  that  field  which  alone  was  open  to  their  exertions ; 
and  when  the  higher  duties  of  a  statesman  were  inaccessible  or 
neglected,  those  of  a  lawyer  were  fulfilled  in  an  enlightened  spirit 
which  later  times  have  been  far  from  imitating. 

Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  the  imperial  tyranny,  which 
deluged  Rome  with  blood,  affected  but  little  the  The  impomt  tyranny 
condition  of  the  provinces ;  and  that  even  at  Rome  S'"by"u'e'"hlgh'er 
itself,  its  victims  were  principally  chosen  from  the  °'*^''™- 
highest  classes,  while  the  mass  of  the  community  suffered  from  it 
comparatively  nothing.  It  was,  indeed,  a  bitter  change  for  the 
patricians  and  the  equestrian  order,  to  have  their  proud  and  luxu- 
rious security  invaded  by  executioners,  and  to  be  exposed  every 
hour,  at  the  caprice  of  their  tyrant,  to  banishment  or  death.   But  to 


532       THE  EVILS  OF  THE  OLD  CONSTITUTION  NOT  REMOVED. 

the  plebeians,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  provinces,  and  to  the  slaves, 
the  spirit  of  the  monarchy  was  certainly  not  more  insolent  and 
oppiessive  than  that  of  the  old  aristocracy  ;  nor  did  the  worst  ex- 
cesses of  the  Gffisars  ever  produce  such  wide-spreading  misery  as 
the  triumpli  of  the  aristocratical  party  nnder  Sylla.  Even  Cicero 
had  regarded  the  grant  of  the  "jus  Latii,"  conferred  by  Csesar  on 
the  inhabitants  of  Sicily,^ '^  as  an  intolerable  affront  to  the  dignity 
of  Rome.  But  now  the  rights  of  Latin  citizenship  were  enjoyed 
by  all  the  inhabitants  of  Spain  ;^^  while  the  Gauls  had  received 
the  higher  privilege  of  becoming  citizens  of  Rome/*  and  were 
thus  admissible  to  the  highest  offices  in  the  empire.  These  two 
great  countries  were  fast  acquiring  those  marks  of  intimate  union 
with  Italy,  which  all  the  revolutions  of  after  ages  were  unable  to 
efface.  Gaul,  in  particular,  began  to  take  a  principal  part  in  the 
civil  wars,  and  entered  into  them  more  with  the  zeal  of  an  integral 
portion  of  the  state,  than  like  a  province  contending  merely  for 
the  choice  of  masters.  When  Julius  Vindex  revolted  against  Nero, 
his  main  support  was  in  the  devotion  of  the  people  of  Gaul  to  his 
cause  ;  and  their  efforts  were  rewarded  by  Galba  with  the  gift  of 
Roman  citizenship,  and  the  reduction  of  a  fourth  part  of  their 
taxation  for  ever. 

But  ahhough  the  monarchy  did  not  increase  the  evils  to 
But  it  rfid  not  remove  whlch  tlic  grcatcst  part  of  the  subjects  of  the  em- 
consututwn.  ^  "  piro  wcrc  liable,  yet  we  must  confess  that  it  did  little 
to  remove  them.  That  hateful  pride,  which  made  the  Romans 
so  careless  of  the  sufferings  of  those  whom  they  considered  their 
inferiors,  was  an  effectual  bar  to  any  attempts  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  slaves,  or  to  check  the  abuses  of  power  when  ex- 
ercised only  against  the  poor  and  ignoble.  When  in  the  reign  of 
Nero,^^  Pedanius  Secimdus  was  murdered  by  one  of  his  slaves, 
his  whole  household,  consisting  of  four  hundred  slaves  of  both 
sexes  and  of  all  ages,  were  ordered,  according  to  ancient  practice, 
to  be  put  to  death.  The  populace  of  Rome,  whose  natural  hu- 
manity had  not  been  quite  extinguished  by  the  callousness  of 
rank  and  wealth,  rose  in  tumult  to  resist  the  execution.  Upon 
this,  the  case  was  debated  in  the  senate,  and  C.  Cassius,  the 
most  celebrated  lawyer  of  his  day,  strongly  urged  the  expediency 
of  enforcing  the  sentence.  His  opinion  was  approved  by  a  large 
majority  ;  and  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  a  rescue,  Nero  lined 
the  streets  with  tixwps,  whilst  these  four  hundred  human  beings, 
most  of  whom  were  undoubtedly  iimocent,  and  amongst  whose 
number  were  old  men,  women,  and  children,  were  led  to  an  indis- 
criminate butchery.    So  also  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  four  thou- 

«2  Epist.  ad  Atticum,  XIV.  12.    Multa  «  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  IIL  3. 

illis   (Siculis)   CsEsar,   neque  me   invito:  "  Tacitus,  Hist.  I.  8  ;  IV.  74. 

etsi  Latinitas  erat  non  ferenda  ;  verumta-  <5  Tacitus,  Annal.  XIV.  42,  et  seq. 
men. 


APATHY  OP  THE  PEOPLE  ENCOURAGED  BY  GOVERNMENT.       533 

sand  freedmen/'  mostly  Jews  and  Egyptians,  and  guilty  of  no 
other  crime  than  that  of  practising  the  rehgious  rites  of  their  re- 
spective countries,  were  expelled  from  Rome,  and  sent  into  Sar- 
dinia to  repress  the  banditti  of  that  island,  a  service  which,  from 
the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate,  was  almost  equivalent  to  a  sen- 
tence of  death  ;  "but  if  they  perished,"  says  Tacitus,  "  their  loss 
was  of  no  consequence."  The  same  pride  showed  itself  in  more 
trifling  matters,  in  the  behaviour  of  the  great  to  the  humbler 
classes  of  society.  The  door  of  a  wealthy  and  noble  Roman  was 
crowded  before  day-break  by  visitors  who  came  to  pay  their  court 
to  him,^^  and  who,  after  undergoing  the  most  insolent  treatment 
from  his  porter,  were  seldom  admitted  to  an  interview  with  liim- 
self,  but  were  answered  by  one  of  his  servants  ;  or  if  he  did  con- 
descend to  see  them,  they  bent  down  to  the  ground  before  him, 
and  kissed  his  hand  with  oriental  servility.  Hence,  a  number  of 
subordinate  oppressions  were  practised  in  the  provinces,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  more  inconsiderable  towns  ;  so  that  we  read  of  a  re- 
quest preferred  by  the  people  of  Juliopolis  in  Bithynia,^^  in  the 
reign  of  Trajanus,  to  have  a  centurion  resident  among  them  to 
protect  them  from  injury.  The  same  feeling  also  tended  to  en- 
courage the  insolence  of  the  army  towards  the  people,  wherever 
they  were  quartered.  Since  Maiius  first  changed  the  character 
of  the  legions  by  filling  them  with  citizens  of  the  poorest  classes, 
and  still  more  since  the  civil  wars  of  the  two  first  Caesars,  the  sol- 
diers had  learnt  to  regard  themselves  as  a  distinct  body  in  the 
nation,  to  whose  superior  merit  and  importance  all  other  citizens 
should  pay  deference.  Then  all  who  did  not  belong  to  the  army 
were  designated  by  the  term  "  pagini,"  which  soon  became  used 
contemptuously,  and  thus  in  itself  afforded  a  proof  of  the  undue 
supremacy  of  those  who  could  venture  to  stigmatize  all  other 
members  of  the  community.  But  their  offensive  behaviour 
was  not  confined  to  words ;  and  we  learn  from  history, 
no  less  than  from  the  lively  picture  of  the  satirist,^'  that 
the  soldiers  were  in  the  habit  of  using  personal  violence  to  the 
provincials  and  to  the  Roman  citizens  of  humble  condition  ;  nor 
did  the  injured  party  dare  to  seek  for  redress,  lest  he  should  pro- 
voke the  resentment  of  the  offender's  comrades. 

The  worst  effect,  however,  of  the  imperial  dominion  as  of  that 
Helplessness  of  the  of  thc  commonwcalth,  was  thc  helplessness  of  mind 

people  encouraged  by         ,   .    ,  1 1  i  •  i  • 

government.  which   a  cowardly  policy  taught  it  to  encourage 

amongst  the  people  of  the  provinces.  It  was  maintained  by  Aris- 
totle,*' that  a  state  could  not  consist  of  so  great  a  number  as  a 
Irundred  thousand  citizens ;  and  although  we  may  smile  at  the 

«  Tacitus,  Annal.  II.  85.  "  St.  Luke,   111.   14.      Juvenal,   Sat. 

"  Lucian.de  Moribua  Philosophorum,  XVL 

p.  20,  edit.  1615.  60  Ethic  Nicomach.  IX.  10. 
«8  Pliny,  Epist.  X.  81. 


534      APATHY  OP  THE  PEOPLE  ENCOURAGED  BY  GOVERNMENT. 

exaggeration  of  this  doctrine,  yet  it  was  founded  on  the  justest 
notions  of  the  duties  of  a  political  society,  where  all  should  have 
a  common  interest,  and  should  be  keenly  alive  to  the  welfare  of 
each  other,  and  of  the  whole  body.     The  Greeks,  therefore,  dis- 
tinguished between  a  state  and  a  dominion  ;  and  it  was  by  the 
latter  name  that  they  characterized  that  vast  mass  of  countries 
yoked  togedier  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  treating  under  the 
sovereignty  of  Rome.     The  inhabitants  then  of  the  greatest  part 
of  the  empire  were  subjects,  and  not  citizens  ;  and  that  activity 
and  attention  to  public  aflairs  which  is  the  great  virtue  of  a  citi- 
zen, is  most  unwelcome  to  a  sovereign  when  he  sees  it  in  his  sub- 
jects.    An  enlightened  despot,  like  Trajanus,  is  frequently  desirous 
of  promoting  the  good  of  his  people,  but  he  dreads  to  see  them 
able  and  zealous  to  promote  their  own  ;    not  consideriiig  that 
wealth  and  security  lose  half  their  value  when  they  are  passively 
received  from  another ;  and  that  men  will  dwindle  into  children 
in  understanding  and  energy,  when  they  are  obliged  to  depend  in 
childlike  helplessness  on  the    protection   of  their  rulers.     It  is 
remarkable,  with  what  exceeding  suspicion  Trajanus  regarded 
every  thing  like  a  principle  of  internal  organization  and  self- 
dependence  in  the  people  of  his  empire.     A  destructive  fire  had 
broken  out  at  Nicomedia  in  Bithynia,^'  and  had  been  greatly  ag- 
gravated by  the  apathy  of  the  people,  who  looked  on  without 
attempting  to  extinguish  it.     To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such 
accidents,  Pliny,  who  was  then  proconsul  of  the  province,  recom- 
mended the  institution  of  a  company  of  engineers,  to  consist  of  a 
hundred  and  fifty  persons,  who  were  to  have,  we  may  suppose,  a 
monopoly  of  the  business  of  firemen,  and  would  know  how  to 
act  with  effect  whenever  their  services  were  wanted.     But  Tra- 
janus objected  to  the  proposal,  on  the  express  ground,  that  he  did 
not  like  the  principle  of  association,  as  it  might  lead  to  factions. 
On  another  occasion,  the  people  of  Amisus  begged  to  be  allowed, 
according  to  their  own  laws,^'-^  to  give  their  igavoi,  or  public  enter- 
tainments to  the  poorer  classes,  furnished  by  the  subscriptions  of 
the  rich.     Trajanus  consented,  as  Amisus  was  a  free  and  con- 
federate city,  and  was  governed  by  its  own  laws  ;   but  he  ex- 
pressed his  hope,  that  the  entertainments  might  not  be  abused  for 
purposes  of  tumult  or  unlawful  assemblies ;  and  he  strictly  for- 
bade them  in  all  the  cities  of  the  province  which  were  more  im- 
mediately subject  to  the  Roman  jurisdiction.     In  the  same  spirit, 
Pliny,  in  a  letter  to  the  emperor,  expresses  his  fears  lest  a  practice 
prevalent  in  his  province,  of  the  richer  inhabitants  assembling  on 
certain  joyful  occasions  a  great  number  of  the  common  people, 
and  giving  them  a  largess  of  one  or  two  denarii  a  man,  should 
grow  into  a  means  of  political  influence.     Nor  should  we  omit  to 

*'  Pliny,  Epist.  X.  42,  43.  "  Pliny,  Epist.  X.  93,  94. 


OF  THE  STATE  OF  AGRICULTURE.  535 

mention,  the  constant  reference  made  by  the  people  of  the  pro- 
vinces to  the  government,  when  they  wished  to  execnte  any  pub- 
lic works  of  ornament  or  utihty.  Sometimes  pecuniary  assistance 
is  requested,  at  other  times  permission  is  asked  to  devote  a  part  of 
the  revenue  of  a  corporation  to  such  purposes,  or  the  emperor  is 
apphed  to,  to  send  surveyors  and  engineers  to  direct  the  opera- 
tions. It  seems  as  if  the  people  had  in  themselves  no  principle  of 
activity,  but  were  taught  on  every  occasion  to  look  for  aid  or  for 
permission  to  the  government.  In  the  reign  of  Trajanus  certainly, 
the  government  was  sufliciently  ready  to  promote  any  scheme  of 
improvement  that  promised  to  be  beneficial ;  but  when  other  em- 
perors succeeded,  who  had  neither  the  ability  nor  the  disposition 
to  forward  such  plans,  the  evil  of  encouraging  helplessness  in  the 
people  became  apparent,  and  when  the  provinces  were  neglected 
by  their  rulers,  they  had  lost  tlie  energy  to  act  for  themselves. 

We  have  been  led  insensibly  to  encroach  upon  a  topic  which 
belongs  more  properly  to  a  subseipient  part  of  this  sketch.  But  the 
transition,  from  considering  the  nature  of  the  imperial  government 
to  an  inquiry  into  the  state  of  the  people,  is  so  faintly  marked 
that  it  is  difficult  when  speaking  of  the  one  to  forbear  all  mention 
of  the  other.  We  now,  however,  propose  to  proceed  expressly  to 
this  second  division  of  our  subject ;  and  to  illustrate  the  physical 
and  moral  condition  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Roman  empire,  by 
some  notices  on  each  of  these  following  points : — 1st,  the  amount 
of  the  national  wealth,  its  distribution,  security,  and  the  degree 
and  manner  in  which  it  was  alfected  by  tlie  government ;  2nd,  the 
state  of  literature  and  general  knowledge ;  and  3rd,  that  of  mo- 
rality, in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term,  including  our  duties  to 
God  as  well  as  to  man. 

1.  It  is  probable  that  agriculture,  at  least  in  the  western  pro- 
vinces, had  made  considerable  progress  since  the  ^^.u    . 

/  i         o  (jf  trig  stfitG  of 

reign  of  Augustus.     We  do  not  mean  that  it  was  agriculture. 

better  understood  than  formerly  in  those  countries  where  it  had 
been  long  since  practised  ;  but  that  the  gradual  establishment  of 
the  Roman  power  had  diffused  a  knowledge  of  it  amongst  people 
to  whom  it  had  been  hitherto  very  imperfectly  known,  and  from 
the  union  of  so  many  parts  of  the  world  under  one  government, 
the  natural  productions  of  one  country  were  introduced  into  an- 
other,^^  and  a  benefit  was  thus  conferred  on  mankind  which  sur- 
vived the  devastations  of  after  ages.  The  wealth  and  fertility  of 
Gaul  arc  spoken  of  in  high  terms  f*  its  corn  and  flax  were  par- 
ticularly noted  ;"  and  different  methods  of  manuririg  the  land 
were  practised,^^  which  argue  a  state  of  considerable  civilization. 
Even  Britain,  which  had  been  so  much  more  recently  conquered, 

53  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  XXVir.  1.  ss  piiny.   Hist.     Nat.     XVHL    8     9 

54  Tacitus,  Hist.  IV.  73,  74.  XIX.  1. 

5«  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  XVH.  6—8 

35 


536  O^  COMMERCE. 

tore  marks  of  the  benefits  which  it  derived  from  its  connexion 
with  the  Roman  empire.  There,  too,  the  use  of  marl  for  manure 
was  familiarly  known,  and  the  cherry  had  been  already  intro- 
duced," a  fact  deserving  of  notice,  as  it  shows  that  not  only  the 
most  necessary  articles  of  food,  but  fruits  and  vegetables,  for  com- 
fort and  luxury,  found  their  way  into  the  provinces  very  soon 
after  their  conquest.  The  whole  coast  of  Spain  is  pronounced  by 
Pliny^^  to  be  the  finest  country,  except  Italy,  with  which  he  was 
acquainted  ;  and  the  list  of  towns  which  he  has  given  us  in  Lusi- 
tania,  and  the  northern  part  of  Spain,  marks  the  advances  made 
by  those  jirovinces  since  the  time  of  Strabo.  We  hear  much,  it  is 
true,  of  the  decay  of  agriculture  in  Italy  itself,  and  the  greater 
part  of  that  country  seems  to  have  been  no  more  than  a  pleasure- 
ground  for  the  wealthy  Romans,  while  their  farms  for  profit  were 
in  the  provinces  ;  but  the  north  of  Italy  must  probably  be  except- 
ed from  this  description,  as  its  towns  were  more  numerous  and 
flourishing  than  those  of  the  south  and  centre,  and  its  inhabitants 
were  said  to  retain  a  simpler  and  purer  character.^*  It  was 
probably  owing  to  the  increased  resources  of  the  Avestern  provinces 
that  Rome  was  enabled,  on  one  memorable  occasion  in  the  reign 
of  Trajanus,^''  to  send  large  supplies  of  corn  to  Egypt,  when, 
owing  to  an  extraordinary  drought,  the  Nile  had  not  afforded  its 
usual  salutary  inundation.  This  peaceful  triumph  of  Italy  is 
celebrated  by  Pliny  as  one  of  the  greatest  glories  of  the  age  of 
Trajanus  ;  and  he  extols  the  happy  eflects  of  civilization,  which 
had  now  connected  the  most  remote  countries  together,  and  had 
obviated  the  evils  of  an  accidental  scarcity  in  one  province,  by 
enabling  it  instantly  to  be  relieved  by  the  superfluous  plenty  of 
another. 

To  what  extent  internal  commerce  was  carried  between  the 
different  parts  of  the  empire,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to 
o  commerce.  fQj.fn  au  accurato  judgment.  The  more  general  ex- 
pressions of  historians  are  of  little  value,  because  they  speak 
comparatively  rather  than  absolutely  ;  and  no  one  can  doubt  that 
the  activity  of  trade  under  the  emperors  must  have  appeared  ex- 
ceedingly great  when  compared  with  any  former  period  of  history. 
As  to  the  foreign  commerce,  which  was  mostly  carried  on  with 
India,  the  principal  articles  thus  imported  were  silks  and  other 
luxuries,  for  which  there  was  a  great  demand  among  persons  of 
the  highest  fortune,  but  they  were  not  used  by  the  mass  of  the 
people. 

It  is  sufficiently  clear,  that  a  wealthy  Roman  could  command 
Condition  of  the  ^lany  comforts  and  luxuries  ;  but  how  far  comforts  or 
ueopie  at  large,     evcn  uecessarles  were  within  the  reach  of  the  majority 

57  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  XV.  25.1  59  puny,  Epist.  I.  14. 

M  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  XXXVH.  13.  «>  Pliny,  Panegyric.  30,  et  seq. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE  AT  LARGE.  537 

of  the  inhabitants  of  the  empire  is  a  much  more  difficult  and  a 
more  important  question.  The  place  of  our  labourers  and  operative 
manufacturers  being  almost  entirely  supplied  by  slaves,  we  have 
no  opportunity  of  comparing  the  price  of  labour  with  that  of  pro- 
vision, the  surest  criterion  of  public  prosperity,  if  the  welfare  of 
the  majority  be  justly  regarded  as  the  Avelfare  of  the  nation.  But 
it  seems  probable,  that  the  free  population  of  the  Roman  empire 
was  small  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  its  territory ;  and  thus, 
that  there  was  little  of  that  severe  distress  which  visits  more 
thickly-peopled  countries,  even  where  their  moral  and  political 
institutions  are  far  superior  to  those  of  Rome.  In  Italy  itself, 
several  laws  were  enacted  to  discourage  celibacy,  and  peculiar 
privileges  were  conferred  on  the  father  of  a  numerous  family. 
That  these  provisions  were  not  dictated  by  a  mere  undistinguish- 
ing  desire  of  multiplying  the  number  of  citizens,  is  proved  not 
only  by  the  general  complaints  which  we  meet  with  of  the  decay 
of  the  free  population,  but  by  the  remark  of  Pliny  that  most^' 
persons  thought  even  one  child  an  inconvenience  ;  and  by  the 
number  of  instances  in  which  a  successor  to  the  imperial  dignity 
was  obtained  by  adoption,  because  (he  emperor  had  no  natural 
heir.  We  may  suppose  that  the  eastern  provinces  wore  in  this 
respect  similarly  circumstanced,  for  their  morals  in  general  were 
sufficiently  licentious,  and  the  unnatural  indifference  of  parents 
to  the  fate  of  their  children  appears  from  one®-  of  Pliny's  letters, 
in  which  he  describes  the  foundlings  in  his  province  of  Bithynia, 
as  forming  a  numerous  body,  and  states  that  many  of  them  when 
exposed  were  picked  up  by  persons  who  made  a  profit  of  selling 
them  for  slaves.  In  the  western  provinces,  where  the  physical 
and  moral  character  of  the  people  was  more  favourable  to  popu- 
lation, their  situation  was  that  of  new  countries,  where  the  in- 
habitants have  not  yet  had  time  to  multiply  in  proportion  to  the 
means  of  subsistence.  We  must  consider,  too,  when  calculating 
the  comforts  of  the  Roman  people,  that  the  climate  under  which 
they  lived  enabled  them  to  dispense  with  many  things,  the  want 
of  which  in  the  north  of  Europe  is  a  sensible  privation.  Well- 
built  houses,  a  plentiful  supply  of  fuel,  and  a  large  quantity  of 
substantial  food,  were  not  to  them  objects  of  the  first  necessity. 
As  amongst  their  descendants  at  this  day,  their  principal  enjoy- 
ments were  not  to  be  found  at  home  ;  and  if  public  l)uildiiigs  and 
places  of  public  amusement  were  more  numerous  and  more  mag- 
nificent than  with  us,  it  was  only  because  the  fewer  wants  of  the 
people  obliged  them  to  a  less  unremitting  industry,  and  while  the 
stimulus  of  diversion  was  more  easily  procured  in  the  ampliithea- 
tre  or  the  colonnade,  the  neglected  state  of  their  individual  dwell- 
ings could  be  endured  without  any  sensation  of  wretchedness. 

"  Epist.  IV.  15.  «2  EpiBt.  X.  71, 72. 


538  OF  THE  REVENUE 

Of  the  security  of  property  in  the  Roman  empire  we  should 
Of  the  security  of  j"tlge  uufavourably,  if  we  compared  it  with  the  unri- 
property.  valled  protcctiou  which  it  actually  enjoys  in  most 

countries  of  modern  Europe.  Yet  our  ancestors,  less  than  a  cen- 
tury ago,  would  have  had  little  reason  to  exult  over  the  Romans  ; 
when  Johnson  might  apply  with  justice  to  London  the  picture 
drawn  by  Juvenal  of  the  outrages  nightly  committed  in  the  streets 
of  Rome,  when  highway  robbery  was  constantly  expected  and 
often  experienced  by  every  traveller,  and  a  still  more  audacious 
system  of  rapine  was  yet  unscrupulously  practised  in  the  high- 
lands of  Scotland.  Even  at  that  period,  however,  we  should  have 
been  surprised  to  hear  of  such  acts  as  those  noticed  in  one  of 
Pliny's  letters  f^  where  he  mentions  the  total  disappearance  of  a 
distinguished  individual  of  the  equestrian  order  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Ocriculum,  that  is  in  the  very  heart  of  Italy,  about 
seventy  miles  from  Rome.  No  traces  of  his  fate  were  to  be  dis- 
covered, and  the  same  thing  had  happened  a  short  time  before  to 
a  citizen  of  Comum,  when  travelling  homewards  with  a  large  sum 
of  money  from  Rome.  To  these  dangers  of  travelling  must  be 
added,  at  least  in  the  provinces,  the  oppressions  and  vexations 
which  poor  and  humble  men  often  suffered  from  their  more  pow- 
erful neighbours  ;  and  for  which,  under  most  of  the  provincial 
governors,  they  could  find  no  redress.  Hence  Columella®*  advises 
those  who  were  purchasing  estates,  to  make  themselves  first  ac- 
quainted with  the  characters  of  their  neighbours ;  and  he  con- 
firms his  precept  by  his  own  experience,  as  one  of  his  neighbours 
was  continually  felling  his  trees,  robbing  his  plantations,  and  car- 
rying off  his  cattle. 

We  have  spoken  at  some  length  of  the  Roman  revenue  in  our 
survey  of  the  empire  during  the  reign  of  Augustus. 
Of  the  revenue.  rp^  ^j^g  accouut  of  it  there  givcu  WO  havc  little  to 
add,  except  to  observe,  that  its  amount  varied  largely  under  dif- 
ferent emperors ;  that  Galba  for  example  lightened  considerably 
the  public  burdens,®^  while  Vespasianus^®  again  imposed  the  taxes 
which  had  been  taken  off,  and  carried  the  exactions  of  the  trea- 
sury to  the  highest  pitch.  The  most  fruitful  sources  of  revenue, 
as  far  as  Roman  citizens  were  concerned,  were  to  be  found  in  the 
Julian  and  Papian  laws,  and  in  the  legacy  duty  of  five  per  cent., 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  Trajanus  considerably  moderated.  By 
the  former,  unmarried  men  between  twenty  and  sixty,"  and  even 
married  men  between  twenty-five  and  sixty  if  they  had  never 
had  any  children,  were  incapable  of  inheriting  from  any  but  their 
nearest  relations,  and  the  property  bequeathed  to  them  devolved 
upon  the  treasury.     The  provincials  were  subject  to  a  land  tax 

63  Epist.  VI.  25.  "  Suetonius,  in  Vespasiano,  Ifi. 

"  De  Re  Rustic^,  I.  3.  "  Hugo,  Geschichte     dea    Romischen 

*s  Suetonius,  in  Galba,  15.  Recht8,623,  et  seq. 


STATE  OF  LITERATURE. 


539 


and  poll-tax,  and  to  those  other  impositions  which  we  have 
formerly  noticed  when  speaking  of  this  subject.  They  were 
besides  burdened  with  the  maintenance  of  the  Roman  magistrates 
by  whom  they  were  governed ;  and  if  the  ordinary  expenses  of 
the  proconsul  or  procurator  were  provided  for  by  a  fixed  sum 
raised  for  the  purpose,  yet  when  they  travelled  through  the  pro- 
vince they  demanded  what  they  thought  proper  for  the  support 
of  themselves^^  and  their  domestic  establishment,  from  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  district  wherein  they  happened  to  stop.  Sometimes, 
too,  the  provincial  cities  were  expected  to  send  a  deputation  to 
Rome*^  every  year  with  a  loyal  address  to  the  emperor,  or  to  wel- 
come their  proconsul  on  his  first  arrival  amongst  them.  To  this 
must  be  added  the  various  exactions  which  they  often  suffered 
from  the  oppression  of  their  governors  ;  although  in  the  reign  of 
Trajanus  offenders  of  this  kind  were  frequently  brought  to  trial, 
and  sometimes  to  punishment. 

2.  We  have  already  expressed  our  opinion,  that  the  merits  of 
Roman  literature,  even  in  its  most  flourishing  period, 
have  been  greatly  overrated  ;  and  we  believe  that  a  *""=  °  '  e'"  "^e- 
review  of  its  condition  at  the  end  of  the  first  century  of  the 
Christian  era,  might  tend  to  lessen  our  wonder  at  the  ignorance 
which  afterwards  prevailed  throughout  Europe.  Our  first  im- 
pression would  probably  be  highly  favourable  :  we  meet  with  the 
names  of  a  great  many  writers,  whose  reputation  is  even  now 
eminent ;  we  know  that  learning  was  not  only  held  in  honour  in 
the  eastern  provinces,  where  it  had  been  long  since  cultivated,  but 
that  Gaul,  and  Spain,  and  Africa  abounded  with  sciiools  and 
orators,  and  that  a  taste  for  literary  studies  had  been  introduced 
even  into  Britain.  The  names  of  the  most  distinguished  orators 
at  Rome  were  familiarly  known  in  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
empire,  and  any  splendid  passages  in  their  speeches  were  copied 
out  by  the  provincial  students,  and  sent  down  to  their  friends  at 
home  to  excite  their  admiration,  and  serve  as  models  for  their 
imitation.  Even  the  Roman  laws,  once  so  cold  and  so  disdainful 
of  literature  and  the  fine  arts,  had  in  some  points  adopted  a  more 
conciliating  language  ;  and  the  profession  of  a  Sophist^"  was  a 
legal  exemption  from  the  duties  of  a  juryman  in  the  conventus 
or  circuits  of  the  provincial  judges.  The  age  of  Trajanus  then 
had  greatly  the  advantage  over  that  of  Augustus  in  the  more 
general  diffusion  of  knowledge,  while  in  the  comparison  of 
individual  writers  the  eminence  which  Virgil  and  Horace  attained 
in  poetry  was  at  least  equalled  by  the  historical  fame  of  Taci- 
tus. But  although  knowledge  was  more  common  than  it  had 
been  a  century  before,  still  its  range  was  necessarily  confined ; 

«9  Pliny,  Epist.  IX.  33.  "">  Pliny,  Epist   X.  66. 

69  Pliny,  Epist.  X.  52. 


540 


STATE  OF  LITERATURE. 


nor  before  the  invention  of  printing  could  it  possibly  be  other- 
wise. Pliny  expresses^'  his  surprise  at  hearing  that  there  was  a 
bookseller's  shop  to  be  found  at  Lugdunum  or  Lyons ;  yet  this 
very  city  had  been  for  a  long  time  the  scene  of  public  recitations 
in  Greek  and  Latin,  in  which  the  orators  of  Gaul  contended  for 
the  prize  of  eloquence.  Thus,  instead  of  the  various  clubs,  read- 
ing-rooms, circulating  libraries,  and  book-societies,  which  make 
so  many  thousands  in  our  day  acquainted  with  every  new  pubh- 
cation  worthy  of  notice,  it  was  the  practice  of  authors  at  Rome 
to  read  aloud  their  compositions  to  a  large  audience  of  their 
friends  and  acquaintance  ;  and  not  only  poetry  and  orations  were 
thus  recited,  but  also  works  of  history."  To  attend  these  read- 
ings was  often  naturally  enough  considered  rather  an  irksome 
civility  ;  they  who  went  at  first  reluctantly  were  apt  to  be  but 
languid  auditors ;  and  we  all  know  that  even  to  those  most  fond 
of  literature,  it  is  no  agreeable  task  to  sit  hour  after  hour  the 
unemployed  and  constrained  listeners  alike  to  the  eloquence  or 
dulness,  to  the  sense  or  folly  of  another.  The  weariness  then 
of  the  audience  was  to  be  relieved  by  the  selection  of  brilliant 
and  forcible  passages ;  their  feelings  were  to  be  gratified  rather 
than  their  understandings  ;  and  amidst  the  excitement  of  a  crowd- 
ed hall  and  an  impassioned  recitation,  there  was  no  room  for  that 
silent  exercise  of  judgment  and  reflection  which  alone  leads  to 
wisdom.  From  this  habit  then  of  hearing  books  rather  than 
reading  them,  it  was  natural  that  poetry  and  oratory  should  be 
the  most  popular  kinds  of  literature  ;  and  that  history,  as  we 
have  observed  in  our  notice  of  the  Roman  historians,  should  be 
tempted  to  assume  the  charms  of  oratory,  in  order  to  procure  for 
itself  an  audience.  A  detail  of  facts  cannot  be  remembered  by 
being  once  heard  ;  and  many  of  the  most  useful  inquiries  or  dis- 
cussions in  history,  however  valuable  to  the  thoughtful  student, 
are  not  the  best  calculated  to  win  the  attention  of  a  mixed  audi- 
ence, when  orally  delivered.  The  scarcity  of  books  therefore, 
inducing  the  practice  of  reading  them  aloud  to  many  hearers,  in- 
stead of  reserving  them  for  hours  of  solitude  and  undisturbed 
thought,  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  false 
luxuriance  of  literature  at  Rome  in  the  reigns  of  the  first  empe- 
rors, and  of  its  early  and  complete  decay.  We  have  already 
noticed  the  unworthy  ideas  which  the  Romans  entertained  of  its 
nature,  and  how  completely  they  degraded  it  into  a  mere  play- 
thing of  men's  prosperous  hours,  an  elegant  amusement,  and  an 
embellishment  of  life,  not  a  matter  of  serious  use  to  individuals 
and  to  the  state.  Works  of  physical  science,  and  much  more 
such  as  tend  to  illustrate   the  useful  arts,  were  therefore  almost 

"  Pliny,  Epist.  IX.  11.  "  Pliny.  Epist.  VII.  17  ;  IX.  27.  Com- 

pare also  I.  13  ;  VI.  15 ;  VIII.  12. 


STATE  OP  LITERATURE.  54  £ 

unknown  ;  so  also  were  books  of  travels,  details  of  statistics,  and 
every  thing  relating  to  political  economy.  Had  books  of  this  de- 
scription been  numerous,  it  would  indeed  have  been  strange  if 
the  Roman  empire  had  afterwards  relapsed  into  ignorance.  The 
nations  by  whom  it  was  overrun  would  readily  have  appreciated 
the  benefits  of  a  knowledge  which  daily  made  life  more  comfort- 
able, and  nations  more  enlightened  and  more  prosperous ;  and 
the  advantages  of  cultivating  the  understanding  would  have 
been  as  obvious  to  men  of  every  condition  in  Rome,  as  they 
are  actually  at  the  present  time  in  England,  Germany,  and 
America.  As  a  proof  of  this,  we  may  observe,  that  the  only 
two  kinds  of  really  valuable  knowledge  which  the  Romans 
had  to  communicate  to  their  northern  conquerors  were  both 
adopted  by  them  with  eagerness  ;  we  mean  their  law  and  their 
religion.  The  Roman  code  found  its  way,  or  rather  retained 
much  of  its  authority  in  the  kingdoms  founded  upon  the  ruins  of 
the  Roman  empire,  and  its  wisdom  imperceptibly  influenced  the 
law  of  those  countries  which  affected  most  to  regard  it  with  jeal- 
ousy and  aversion.  And  the  Christian  religion,  in  like  manner, 
survived  the  confusion  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  and  con- 
tinually exercised  its  beneficent  power  in  insuring  individual 
happiness,  and  lessening  the  amount  of  public  misery.  If,  togeth- 
er with  these,  Rome  could  have  offered  to  her  conquerors  an 
enlarged  knowledge  of  nature  and  of  the  useful  arts,  and  clear 
views  of  the  principles  of  political  economy,  and  the  higher  sci- 
ence of  legislation  in  general,  we  need  not  doubt  that  they  would 
have  accepted  these  gifts  also,  and  that  thus  the  corruption  to 
which  her  law  and  religion  were  exposed,  would  have  been  in  a 
great  measure  obviated.  For  it  is  a  most  important  truth,  and 
one  which  requires  at  this  day  to  be  most  earnestly  enforced,  that 
it  is  by  the  study  of  facts,  whether  relating  to  nature  or  to  man, 
and  not  by  any  pretended  cultivation  of  the  mind  by  poetry,  ora- 
tory, and  moral  or  critical  dissertations,  that  the  understandings  of 
mankind  in  general  will  be  most  improved,  and  their  views  of 
things  rendered  faost  accurate.  And  the  reason  of  this  is,  that 
every  man  has  a  fondness  for  knowledge  of  some  kind  ;  and  by 
acquainting  himself  with  those  facts  or  truths  which  are  most 
suited  to  his  taste,  he  finds  himself  gaining  something,  the  value 
of  which  he  can  appreciate,  and  in  the  pursuit  of  which,  there- 
fore, all  his  natural  faculties  will  be  best  developed.  From  the 
mass  of  varied  knowledge  thus  possessed  by  the  several  members 
of  the  community,  arises  the  great  characteristic  of  a  really  en- 
Ughtened  age,  a  sound  and  sensible  judgment ;  a  quality  which 
can  only  be  formed  by  the  habit  of  regarding  things  in  different 
lights,  as  they  appear  to  intelligent  men  of  different  pursuits  and 
in  different  classes  of  society,  and  by  thus  correcting  the  limited 
notions  to  which  the  greatest  minds  are  liable,  when  left  to  in- 


542  STATE  OF  LITERATURE. 

dulge  without  a  corrective  in  tlieir  own  peculiar  train  of  opinions. 
Want  of  judgment,  therefore,  is  the  prevailing  defect  in  all  periods 
of  imperfect  civihzation,  and  in  those  wherein  the  showy- 
branches  of  literature  have  been  forced  by  patronage,  while  the 
more  beneficial  parts  of  knowledge  have  been  neglected.  Nor  is 
it  to  the  purpose  to  say,  tliat  the  study  of  facts  is  of  no  benefit, 
unless  we  form  fiom  them  some  general  conclusions.  The  dis- 
ease of  the  human  mind  is  impatiently  to  anticipate  conclusions, 
so  little  danger  is  there  that  it  will  be  slow  in  deducing  them 
when  it  is  once  in  possession  of  premises  from  which  they  may 
justly  be  derived.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  wherever  words  and 
striking  images  are  mainly  studied,  as  was  the  case  in  ancient 
Rome,  man's  natural  indolence  is  encouraged,  and  he  proceeds  at 
once  to  reason  without  taking  the  trouble  of  providing  himself 
with  the  necessary  materials.  Eloquence,  indeed,  and  great  nat- 
ural ability  may,  in  the  most  favourable  instances,  disguise  to  the 
vulgar  the  shallowness  which  lurks  beneath  them ;  but  with  the 
mass  of  mankind  this  system  is  altogether  fatal.  Learning,  in 
the  only  shape  in  which  it  presents  itself  to  their  eyes,  is  to  them 
utterly  useless;  they  have  no  desire  to  pm-sue  it,  and  if  they  had 
such,  their  pursuit  would  be  fruitless.  They  remain  therefore  in 
their  natural  ignorance :  not  partaking  in  the  pretended  cultiva- 
tion of  their  age,  and  feeling  no  deprivation  when  the  ill-rooted 
literature  which  was  the  mere  amusement  of  the  great  and 
wealthy,  is  swept  away  by  the  first  considerable  revolution  in  the 
state  of  society. 

The  decay  of  learning,  then,  which  we  are  called  to  account 
for,  is  of  all  tilings  the  most  readily  explained.  Unsubstantial  as 
it  was,  it  would  have  worn  out  of  itself,  as  it  did  at  Constantino- 
ple, even  if  no  external  violence  had  overwhelmed  it.  Facts,  in- 
deed, whether  physical  or  moral,  are  a  food  which  will  not  only 
preserve  the  mind  in  vigour,  but  increasing  in  number  with  every 
successive  century,  furnish  it  with  the  means  of  an  almost  infinite 
progress.  But  the  changes  on  words  and  sentiments  are  soon  ca- 
pable of  being  exhausted ;  the  earliest  writers  seize  the  best  and 
happiest  combinations,  and  nothing  is  left  for  their  successors  but 
imitation  or  necessary  inferiority.  Poetry  had  fallen  sufficiently 
low  in  the  hands  of  Silius  Italicus,  and  history  in  those  of  Appian 
and  Dion  Cassius  ;  the  Romans  themselves  in  the  reign  of  Tra- 
janus  acknowledged  their  inferiority  to  their  ancestors  in  oratory, 
and  in  a  few  centuries  more  the  vessel  was  drained  out  to  the 
dregs.  The  great  excellence  of  Tacitus  is  a  mere  individual  in- 
stance, and  we  might  as  well  ask,  why  Rome  had  produced  no 
historian  of  equal  merit  before  him,  as  why  she  produced  none 
such  after  him.  One  other  great  man  had  died  only  a  few  years 
before  the  accession  of  Trajanus,  whose  example,  had  it  been 
imitated,  might  have  produced  a  great  revolution  in  the  intellec- 


STATE  OF  LITERATURE.  543 

tual  state  of  the  Roman  empire.  We  speak  of  the  elder  Pliny, 
the  natural  historian.  The  particulars  of  his  life  and  death,  re- 
corded by  his  nephew,  no  less  than  the  contents  of  his  own  work, 
display  a  thirst  after  real  knowledge,  and  an  active  spirit  in 
searching  for  it  by  a  personal  study  of  the  great  book  of  nature, 
which  rose  far  above  the  false  views  and  the  literary  indolence  of 
his  contemporaries.  But  he  was  a  splendid  exception  to  the 
spirit  of  his  age,  and  there  arose  none  to  tread  in  his  steps.  Pos- 
terity were  contented  to  read  his  writings,  rather  than  improve 
upon  them  by  imitating  his  example  ;  and  his  authority  contin- 
ued to  be  quoted  with  reverence  on  all  points  of  natural  history, 
even  down  to  a  period  when  errors,  which  in  him  were  una- 
voidable, could  no  longer  be  repeated  without  disgrace. 

It  may  be  asked,  however,  why  the  example  of  Pliny  was  not 
followed,  and  why  the  most  valuable  parts  of  human  knowledge 
were  so  unliappily  neglected.  In  addition  to  the  cause  which  we 
have  already  mentioned,  namely,  the  scarcity  of  books,  the  prac- 
tice of  recitations,  and  the  consequent  discouragement  of  any 
compositions  that  were  not  lively  and  eloquent,  there  are  several 
other  circumstances  which  tended  to  produce  the  same  effect. 
The  natural  indolence  of  mankind  and  their  attachment  to  the 
old  beaten  track  were  powerful  obstacles  to  the  improvements 
that  were  most  required  ;  and  if  so  many  centuries  elapsed  in  later 
times  before  the  birth  of  Bacon,  we  need  not  wonder  that  no  man 
of  equal  powers  with  Pliny  arose  at  Rome  between  the  age  of 
Trajanus  and  the  fall  of  the  western  empire.  We  must  consider 
also  the  general  helplessness  of  mind  produced  by  such  a  govern- 
ment as  that  of  Rome  ;  which,  while  it  deprived  men  of  the  no- 
blest field  for  their  exertions,  a  participation  direct  or  indirect  in 
the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  did  not,  like  some 
modern  despotisms,  encourage  activity  of  another  kind,  by  its 
patronage  of  manufactures  and  connnerce.  If  Ave  ask,  further, 
why  commerce  did  not  thrive  of  itself  without  the  aid  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  why  the  internal  trade  kept  up  between  the  different 
parts  of  an  empire  so  admirably  supplied  with  the  means  of  mu- 
tual intercourse  was  not  on  a  scale  of  the  greatest  magnitude,  the 
answer  is  to  be  found  partly  in  the  liabits  of  the  nations  of  the 
south  of  Europe,  which,  with  some  exceptions,  have  never  been 
addicted  to  nuich  commercial  enterprise,  and  much  more  to  the 
want  of  capital  amongst  private  individuals,  and  the  absence  of 
a  demand  for  distant  commodities  amongst  the  people  at  large, 
owing  to  their  general  poverty.  The  enormous  sums  lavished  by 
the  emperors  and  possessed  by  some  of  the  nobility,  or  by  fortu- 
nate individuals  of  the  inferior  classes,  have  provoked  the  skepti- 
cism of  many  modern  readers,  as  implying  a  mass  of  wealth  in 
the  Roman  empire  utterly  incredible.  They  rather  show  how  un- 
equally property  was  distributed ;  an  evil  of  very  long  standing 


544  O^  THE  STOIC  PHILOSOPHY. 

at  Rome,  and  aggravated  probably  by  the  merciless  exactions  of 
many  of  the  emperors,  who  seemed  literally  unsatisfied  so  long  as 
their  subjects  possessed  any  thing.  The  Indian  trade,  which  fur- 
nished articles  of  luxury  for  the  consumption  of  the  great,  was 
therefore  in  a  flourishing  condition  ;  but  not  so  that  internal  com- 
merce in  articles  of  ordinary  comfort,  which  in  most  countries  of 
modern  Europe  is  carried  on  with  such  incessant  activity.  Where 
trade  is  at  a  low  ebb,  the  means  of  communication  between  differ- 
ent countries  are  always  defective  ;  and  hence  there  exists  undis- 
turbed a  large  amount  of  inactivity  and  ignorance,  and  a  neces- 
sarily low  state  of  physical  science  and  the  study  of  nature.  So 
that  from  all  these  causes  together,  there  would  result  that  efiect 
on  the  intellectual  condition  of  the  Roman  empire,  which  we 
have  described  as  so  unfavourable. 

From  this  unsatisfactory  picture  w^e  turn  with  delight  to  the 
Of  the  moral  state  coutcmplation  of  a  promise  and  of  a  partial  begin- 
of  the  empire.  nlug  of  Hioral  improvement,   such  as  Rome  had 

never  seen  before.  We  need  not  dwell  upon  the  need  that  there 
was  for  such  a  reform,  except  to  observe,  that  there  can  be  no  bet- 
ter proof  of  a  degraded  state  of  morals,  than  the  want  of  natural 
affection  in  parents  towards  their  offspring ;  and  that  the  practice 
of  infanticide,'^^  or  that  of  exposing  children  soon  after  their  birth, 
together  with  the  fact  that  Trajanus  found  it  necessary  to  provide 
for  five  thousand  children  at  the  public  expense,  and  that  Pliny 
imitated  his  example  on  a  smaller  scale  in  his  own  town  of  Co- 
mum,  sufficiently  show  how  greatly  parents  neglected  their  most 
natural  duty.  It  is  remarkable,  also,  that  the  younger  Pliny,  a 
man  by  no  means  destitute  of  virtue,  could  not  only  write  and 
circulate  indecent  verses,  but  deliberately  justify  himself  for  hav- 
ofthestoic  ing  done  so.'^     Yet,  witli  all   this,  the  writings  of 

philosophy.  Epictetus  and  M.  Aurelius  Antonius,  if  we  may 

include  the  latter  in  a  review  of  the  reign  of  Trajanus,  present  a 
far  purer  and  truer  morality  than  the  Romans  had  yet  been  ac- 
quainted with  from  any  heathen  pen.  The  providence  of  God, 
the  gratitude  which  we  owe  Him  for  all  his  gifts,  and  the  duty  of 
submission  to  his  will,  are  prominently^  brought  forward  ;  while 
the  duties  of  man  to  man,  the  claims  which  our  neighbours  have 
upon  our  constant  exertions  to  do  them  service,  and  the  excellence 
of  abstaining  from  revenge  or  uncharitable  feelings,  are  enforced 
with  far  greater  earnestness  than  in  the  writings  of  the  older  phi- 
losophers. We  cannot,  indeed,  refuse  to  admire 
esce  enciea.         ^^^  noblc  cffort  of  the  stoic  philosophy  to  release 

■'^  Is  not  the   prevalence  of  infanticide  says  the  same  thing  of  the  Germans.  Ger- 

among  the  Romans  indicated  by  the  ob-  man.    19, — "  Numeruin    liberorum  finire, 

servation  which  Tacitus  makes  concerning  aut  quemquam  ex  agnatis  necare,  flagitium 

the  Jews?     Hist.  V.  5, — "  Augendae  mul-  habetur. 

litudini   consuhtur.      Nam    necare    quan-  Ti  Epist.  IV.  14 ;  V.  3. 
quam  ex  agnatis,  nefas."     And,  again,  he 


ITS  EXCELLENCIES.  545 

mankind  from  tho  pressure  of  physical  evil,  and  to  direct  their 
minds  with  undivided  affection  to  the  pursuit  of  moral  good. 
When  the  prospect  beyond  the  grave  was  all  darkness,  the  appa- 
rently confused  scene  of  human  life  could  not  but  perplex  the  best 
and  wisest ;  sickness,  loss  of  friends,  poverty,  slavery,  or  an  un- 
timely death,  might  visit  him  who  had  laboured  most  steadily  in 
the  practice  of  virtue  ;  and  even  Aristotle  himself^  is  forced  with 
his  own  hands  to  destroy  the  theory  of  happiness  which  he  had 
so  elaborately  formed,  by  the  confession  that  tho  purest  virtue 
might  be  so  assailed  with  external  evils  that  it  could  only  preserve 
its  possessor  from  absolute  misery.  The  stoics  assumed  a  bolder 
language,  and  strove  with  admirable  firmness  to  convince  reluc- 
tant nature  of  its  truth.  Happiness,  as  they  taught,  was  neither 
unattainable  by  man,  nor  dependent  on  external  circumstances  ; 
the  providence  of  God  had  not,'^  according  to  the  vulgar  com- 
plaint, scattered  good  and  evil  indiscriminately  upon  the  virtuous 
and  the  wicked  ;  the  gifts  and  deprivations  of  fortune  were  neither 
good  nor  evil ;  and  all  that  was  really  good  was  virtue,  all  that 
was  really  bad  was  vice,  which  were  respectively  chosen  by  men 
at  their  own  will,  and  so  chosen  that  the  distribution  of  happiness 
and  misery  to  each  was  in  exact  proportion  to  his  own  deserv- 
ings.  But  as  it  was  not  possible  to  attain  to  this  estimate  of  exter- 
nal things  without  the  most  severe  discipline,  the  stoics  taught 
their  disciples  to  desire  nothing  at  all,^'  till  they  had  so  changed 
their  nature  as  to  desire  nothing  but  what  was  really  good.  In 
the  same  way  they  inculcated  an  absence  of  all  feelings,  in  order 
to  avoid  subjecting  ourselves  to  any  other  power  than  that  of  rea- 
son. When  our  friends  were  in  distress,^^  we  might  appear  out- 
wardly to  sympathize  with  their  sorrow,  but  we  were  by  no  means 
to  grieve  with  them  in  heart ;  a  parent  should  not  be  roused  to 
punish  his  son,^'  for  it  was  better  that  the  son  should  turn  out  illj 
than  that  the  father  should  be  diverted  from  the  care  of  his  own 
mind  by  his  interest  for  another.  Death  was  to  be  regarded  as 
the  common  lot  of  all,s°  and  the  frailty  of  our  nature  should  ac- 
custom us  to  view  it  without  surprise  and  alarm.  In  itself  it  must 
be  an  extinction  of  being,^'  or  a  translation  to  another  state,  still 
equally  under  the  government  of  a  wise  and  good  Providence;  it 
could  not  then  be  justly  an  object  of  fear,  and  our  only  care  should 
be  to  wait  for  its  coming  without  anxiety,  and  to  improve  the  time 
allotted  to  us  before  its  arrival,  whether  it  were  but  a  day  or  half 
a  century. 

Such  were  the  doctrines  of  the  stoic  philosophers  of  the  age  of 

75  Ethic.  Nicomach.  I.  10,  '  AOXio;  fiiv  '''  Epictetus,  Enchiridion,  22. 
oiSUoTC  yifotT'  ov  b  evUifjLiov.vi  jj'^i'  /laKapids  ''9  F^pictclus,  Enchiridion,  16. 
yr.uv  ITpia/.iKars  ti1;^<ii{  irfpiT.^rrv.  ^''  M.  Antoninus,  in.  IV. 

76  Epictetus,  Enchiridion,  38.  ^^  M.  Antoninus,  Vll. 

77  Epictetus,  Enchiridion,  7. 


546  IMPERFECTIONS  OF  THE  STOIC  PHILOSOPHY. 

Trajanus  ;  and  assuredly  it  must  be  a  strange  blind- 
jts  imperfections.  ^^^^  ^^  uncharitablencss  that  can  refuse  to  admire 
them.  He  can  entertain  but  unworthy  notions  of  the  wisdom  of 
God,  who  is  afraid  lest  the  wisdom  of  man  should  rival  it.  The 
stoic  philosophy  was  unfitted  for  the  weakness  of  human  nature  ; 
its  contempt  of  physical  evil  was  revolting  to  the  common  sense 
of  mankind,  and  was  absolutely  unattainable  by  persons  of  deli- 
cate bodily  constitutions;  and  thus,  generally  speaking,  by  one 
half  of  the  human  race,  and  particularly  by  that  sex  which  un- 
der a  wiser  discipline  has  been  found  capable  of  attaining  to  such 
high  excellence.  Above  all,  it  could  not  represent  God  to  man 
under  those  peculiar  characters,  in  which  every  affection  and 
faculty  of  our  nature  finds  its  proper  object  and  guide.  There 
are  many  passages  in  the  works  of  Epictetus  and  M.  Antonius, 
in  which  his  general  providence  and  our  duties  towards  Him  are 
forcibly  declared ;  still  He  seems  to  be  at  the  most  no  more  than 
a  part  of  their  system,  and  that  neither  the  most  striking,  nor  the 
most  fully  developed.  But  in  order  to  make  us  like  Him,  it  was 
necessary  that  in  all  our  views  of  life,  in  our  motives,  in  our 
hopes,  and  in  our  affections,  God  should  be  all  in  all  ;  that  He 
should  be  represented  to  us,  not  as  He  is  in  Himself,  but  as  He 
stands  related  to  us, — as  our  Father,  and  our  Saviour,  and  the 
Author  of  all  our  goodness  ;  in  those  characters,  in  short,  under 
which  the  otherwise  incomprehensible  Deity  had  so  revealed 
himself  as  to  be  known  and  loved,  not  only  by  the  strongest  and 
wisest  of  his  creatures,  but  also  by  the  weak  and  the  ignorant. 

One  great  defect  in  the  ancient  systems  of  philosophy  was 
their  want  of  authority.  It  was  opinion  opposed  to  opinion,  and 
thus  the  disputes  of  the  several  sects  seemed  incapable  of  ever 
arriving  at  a  decision.  Plain  men,  therefore,  were  bewildered  by 
the  conflicting  pretensions  of  their  teachers,  when  they  turned  to 
seek  some  relief  from  the  utter  folly  and  worthlessness  of  the  popu- 
lar religion.  So  that  a  large  portion  of  mankind  were  likely  to 
adopt  the  advice  of  Lucian,^^  to  regard  with  contempt  all  the  high 
discussions  of  the  philosophers  relating  to  the  end  and  principle 
of  our  being,  and  to  think  only  of  the  present,  bestowing  serious 
thoughts  upon  nothing,  and  endeavouring  to  pass  through  life 
laughingly.  Something,  too,  must  be  ascribed  not  only  to  the 
discordant  opinions  of  the  philosophers,  but  to  their  reputed  dishon- 
esty, and  the  suspicion  which  attached  to  them  of  turning  mo- 
rality into  a  trade.  Their  temptations  were  strong,  and  such  as 
we  have  seen  even  the  teachers  of  Christianity  unable  often  to 
resist.  In  an  age  of  ignorance,  just  made  conscious  of  its  own  de- 
ficiencies, any  moral  and  intellectual  superiority  is  regarded  with 
veneration ;  and  when  the  sophists  professed  to  teach  men  the 

82  Necyotnanteia,  166. 


THE  SOPHISTS.  547 

true  business  of  life,  they  found  many  who  were  eager  to  listen 
to  them.     Then  followed  an  aggravation  of  the 

■  I  r  I  i_  •  -I  .  u  The  sophists 

evils  of  popular  preachnig  under  another  name : 
the  sophists  aspired  to  be  orators  as  well  as  moralists  ;  and  their 
success  would  depend  as  much  on  their  eloquence  and  impressive 
delivery,  as  on  the  soundness  of  their  doctrines.  In  the  eastern 
part  of  the  empire  their  ascendency  was  great ;  and  if  the  story 
of  Philostratus  be  true,"^  the  philosophers  in  Egypt  formed  as 
considerable  a  body,  and,  during  the  stay  of  Vespasianusat  Alex- 
andria, claimed  the  right  of  advising  princes  as  boldly  as  the 
Romish  clergy  of  a  later  period  have  done.  With  these  means  of 
influence,  and  the  consequent  temptation  to  abuse  it,  the  sophists 
were  without  that  organization  and  discipline,  which  in  the  Chris- 
tian chnich  preserved  the  puiity,  or  checked  the  excesses  of  in- 
dividual teachers  ;  and  not  being  responsible  to  any  one  for  their 
conduct,  they  were  less  scrupulous  in  avoiding  censure.  The 
same  want  of  organization  prevented  them  from  acting  in  con- 
cert in  the  several  parts  of  the  empire,  and  from  directing  their 
attention  on  a  regular  system  to  all  classes  of  the  community 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  The  sophists  were  no  missiona- 
ries, and  poor  or  remote  districts,  which  could  tempt  neither  their 
cupidity  nor  their  ambition,  derived  little  advantage  from  their 
knowledge. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  Christian  religion  had  grown 
with  surprising  rapidity,  and  must  have  produced  effects  on  the 
character  and  happiness  of  individuals,  far  greater  than  the  com- 
mon details  of  history  will  allow  us  to  estimate.  If  our  sole 
information  were  derived  from  Pliny's  famous  "  Letter,"  we  must 
yet  be  struck  with  the  first  instance  in  Roman  history  of  a  society 
for  the  encouragement  of  the  highest  virtues,  those  of  piety,  in- 
tegrity, and  purity,  and  embracing  persons  of  both  sexes  and  of 
all  conditions.  Such  a  project  was,  indeed,  a  complete  remedy 
for  the  prevailing  faults  of  the  times ;  it  promised  not  only  to 
teach  goodness,  but  actively  to  disseminate  it ;  and  to  do  away 
those  degrading  distinctions  between  slaves  and  freemen,  and 
even  between  men  and  women,  which  had  so  limited  the  views 
of  the  philosophers  in  their  plans  for  the  improvement  of  man- 
kind. Of  all  subjects  for  history  none  would  be  so  profitable  as 
the  fortunes  of  the  Chiistian  society  ;  to  trace  the  various  causes 
which  impeded  or  corrupted  its  operations,  and  to  bring  at  the 
same  time  fully  into  view,  that  vast  amount  of  good  which  its 
inherent  excellence  enabled  it  still  to  effect,  amidst  all  external 
obstacles  and  internal  corruptions.  We  think  that  its  friends 
have  not  rightly  understood  the  several  elements  which  have  led 
tf>  its  partial  failure,  while  we  are  certain  that  its  enemies  can 

83  In   vita  Apollonii  Tyanei,  V.  27,  et  seq. 


548 


OP  THE  GOVERNMENT  OP  TRAJANUS. 


never  appreciate  its  benefits.  But  we  must  not  enter  upon  this 
most  inviting  field  at  present ;  and  from  the  long,  but  very  im- 
perfect survey  which  we  have  attempted  to  give  of  the  state  of 
the  empire,  we  must  at  last  return  to  the  history  of  Trajanus,  and 
hasten  to  conclude  this  memoir,  after  we  have  briefly  noticed  the 
character  of  his  individual  government,  and  his  expedition  into 
she  East, 

The  highest  spirit  of  a  sovereign  is  to  labour  to  bring  his 
,     sovernment,  in  every  point  of  view,  as  nearly  as 

Of  the  government       &  '  X       i        i  r        •  i    • 

«f  Trajanus.  posslblc  to  a  statc  ot  absolutc  perfection  ;  his  next 

highest  praise  is  to  administer  the  system  which  he  finds  estab- 
hshed,  with  the  greatest  purity  and  liberality.  This  glory  was 
certainly  deserved  by  Trajanus ;  and  although  he  never  thought 
of  amending  some  of  the  greatest  evils  of  the  times,  yet,  as  far  as 
his  people  had  suffered  from  the  direct  tyranny  and  wastefulness 
of  former  governments,  his  reign  was  a  complete  relief;  and  we 
can  easily  account  for  the  warm  affection  with  which  his  memory 
was  so  long  regarded  in  after-ages.  He  pleased  the  Romans  by 
observing  many  of  the  forms  of  a  free  constitution  ;  nor  ought  we 
to  suspect  that  in  so  doing  he  was  actuated  by  policy  only,  for  he 
was  quite  capable  of  feeling  the  superior  dignity  of  the  magis- 
trate of  a  free  people  to  that  of  a  tyrant;  and  he  most  probably 
spoke  from  his  heart,  when  on  presenting  the  sword  to  the  pra3- 
fect  of  the  prastorian  guards,  he  desired  him  to  use  that  weapon 
in  his  service  so  long  as  he  governed  well,  but  to  turn  it  against 
him  if  ever  he  should  abuse  his  power.®*  There  is  the  same 
spirit  observable  in  his  conduct  during  his  third  consulship :  as 
soon  as  he  had  been  elected,  he  walked  up  to  the  chair  of  the 
consul  who  presided  at  the  comitia,  and  whilst  he  stood  before  it, 
the  consul,  without  rising  from  his  seat,®*  administered  to  him 
the  usual  consular  oath,  that  he  would  discharge  his  office  faith- 
fully. And  when  his  consulship  had  expired,  he  again  took  an 
oath,®®  that  he  had  done  nothing,  during  the  time  that  he  had 
held  it,  which  was  contrary  to  law.  These  professions  of  regard 
to  the  welfare  of  his  people  were  well  verified  by  his  actions. 
His  suppression  of  the  informers  ;  his  discouraging  prosecutions 
under  the  '•  leges  majestatis  ;"  his  relaxation  of  the  tax  on  inherit- 
ances ;  and  the  impartiality  with  which  he  suffered  the  law  to 
take  its  course  against  his  own  procurators,  when  they  were  guil- 
ty of  any  abuse  of  power,  were  all  real  proofs  of  his  sincerity ; 
and  they  were  not  belied  by  any  subsequent  measures  at  a  later 
period  of  his  reign.  The  causes  which  were  brought  before  him- 
self immediately,  he  tried  with  fairness  and  attention ;"  and  it 
was  on  an  occasion  of  this  kind,  when  Eurythmus,  one  of  his 

8<  Dion   Cassius,  LXVIII.  778.     Sex.         86  Pliny,  Panegyric.  65. 
Aur.  Victor,  in  Trajano.  «'  Pliny,  Epist.  VI.  31. 

85  Pliny,  Panegyric.  64. 


PLINY  THE  YOUNGER.  549 

freedmen  and  procurators,  was  implicated  in  a  charge  of  tamper- 
ing witli  a  will,  and  the  prosecutors  seemed  reluctant  to  press 
their  accusation  against  a  person  so  connected  with  the  emperor, 
that  he  observed  to  them,  "  Eurythmus  is  not  a  Polycletus,"  (one 
of  the  most  powerful  of  Nero's  fieedmen  and  favourites,)  "  nor  am 
I  a  Nero."  In  his  care  of  the  provinces,  and  in  his  answers  to 
the  questions  to  him  by  the  younger  Pliny,  when  proconsul  of 
Bithynia,  he  manifested  a  love  of  justice,  an  attention  to  the  com- 
forts of  the  people,  and  a  minute  knowledge  of  the  details  of  the 
administration,  which  are  most  highly  creditable  to  him.  It  is 
mentioned,  too,  that  he  was  very  careful  in  noticing  the  good 
conduct  of  the  officers  employed  in  the  provinces  f^  and  consid- 
ered the  testimonials  of  regard  given  by  a  province  to  its  governor, 
as  affording  him  a  just  title  to  higher  distinctions  at  Rome.  The 
materials  for  the  history  of  this  reign  are,  indeed,  so  scanty,  that 
we  know  scarcely  any  thing  of  the  lives  and  characters  of  the 
men  who  v/ere  most  distinguished  under  it,  nor  can  we  enliven 
our  narrative  with  many  of  those  biographical  sketches,  which,  by 
bringing  out  individuals  in  a  clear  and  strong  light,  illustrate  most 
happily  the  general  picture  of  the  age.  But  C.  Plinius  Secundus, 
whom  Trajanus  made  proconsul  of  Bithynia,  affi^rds  one  memo- 
rable exception  ;  and  we  gladly  seize  this  opportunity  lo  bestow 
some  particular  notice  on  one  of  the  most  distinguished  persons 
who  lived  in  these  times. 

C.  Plinius  Csecilius  Secundus  was  born  at  or  near  Comum, 
about  the  sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  Nero,  or  a.  d. 
61.  His  mother  was  a  sister  of  C.  Plinius,  the  nat-  ^  '"^  ""*  younger. 
ural  historian  ;  and  as  he  lost  his  father  at  an  early  period,  he 
removed  with  her  to  the  house  of  his  uncle,  with  whom  he  re- 
sided for  some  years,  and  was  adopted  by  him,  and,  consequently, 
assumed  his  name  in  addition  to  his  parental  one,  Csecilius.  He 
appears  to  have  been  of  a  delicate  constitution,  and  even  in  his 
youth  to  have  possessed  little  personal  activity  and  enterprise ; 
for  at  the  time  of  the  famous  eruption  of  Vesuvius,  when  he  was 
between  seventeen  and  eighteen,  he  continued  his  studies  at  home, 
and  allowed  his  uncle  to  set  out  to  the  mountain  without  him. 
In  literature,  however,  he  made  considerable  progress,  according 
to  the  estimate  of  those  times ;  he  composed  a  Greek  tragedy 
when  he  was  only  fourteen, ^^  and  wrote  Latin  verses  on  several 
occasions  throughout  his  life  ;  he  attended  the  lectures  of  Quinc- 
tilianus,^"  and  some  other  eminent  rhetoricians,  and  assiduously 
cultivated  his  style  as  an  elegant  writer  and  an  orator.  In  this 
latter  capacity  he  acquired  great  credit,  and  to  this  cause  he  was 
probably  indebted  for  his  political  advancement.  He  went  through 
the  whole  succession  of  public  offices  from  that  of  quaestor  to  the 

88  Pliny,  Panegyric.  70.  w  Pliny,  Panegyric.  II.  14. 

8»  Pliny,  Panegyric.  VII.  4. 


550 


THE  EASTERN  EXPEDITION  OF  TRAJANUS. 


high  dignities  of  consul  and  augur,  and  was  so  esteemed  by 
Trajanus  as  to  be  selected  by  him  for  the  government  of  Bithynia, 
because  there  were  many  abuses  in  that  province,  which  re- 
quired a  man  of  ability  and  integrity  to  remove  them.^'  The 
trust  so  honourably  committed  to  him  he  seems  to  have  discharged 
with  great  fidelity  ;  and  the  attention  to  every  branch  of  his  du- 
ties, which  his  letters  to  Trajanus  display,  is  peculiarly  praise- 
worthy in  a  man  of  sedentary  habits,  and  accustomed  to  the 
enjoyments  of  his  villas,  and  the  stimulants  of  literary  glory  at 
Rome,  His  character  as  a  husband,  a  master,  and  a  friend,  was 
affectionate,  kind,  and  generous  ;  he  displayed  also  a  noble  libe- 
rality towards  his  native  town,  Comum,  by  forming  a  public  li- 
brary there,  and  devoting  a  yearly  sum  of  300,000  sesterces  for 
ever  to  the  maintenance  of  children  born  of  free  parents  who 
were  citizens  of  Comum.  A  man  like  Plinius,  of  considerable 
talents  and  learning,  possessed  of  great  wealth,  and  of  an  amiable 
and  generous  disposition,  was  sure  to  meet  with  many  friends, 
and  with  still  more  who  would  gratify  his  vanity  by  their  praises 
and  apparent  admiration  of  his  abilities.  But  as  a  writer  he  has 
done  nothing  to  entitle  him  to  a  very  high  place  in  the  judgment 
of  posterity.  His  panegyric  of  Trajanus  belongs  to  a  class  of 
compositions  the  whole  object  of  which  was  to  produce  a  striking 
effect,  and  it  must  not  aspire  to  any  greater  reward.  It  is  in- 
genious and  eloquent,  but  by  its  very  nature  it  gives  no  room  for 
the  exercise  of  the  highest  faculties  of  the  mind,  nor  will  its  read- 
ers derive  from  it  any  more  substantial  benefit  than  the  pleasure 
which  a  mere  elegant  composition  can  afford.  His  letters  are 
valuable  to  us,  as  all  original  letters  of  other  times  must  be,  be- 
cause they  necessarily  throw  much  light  on  the  period  at  which 
they  were  written.  But  many  of  them  are  ridiculously  studied, 
and  leave  the  impression  so  fatal  to  our  interest  in  the  perusal  of 
such  compositions,  that  they  were  written  for  the  express  purpose 
of  publication.  In  short,  the  works  of  Plinius,  compared  with 
the  reputation  he  enjoyed  among  his  contemporaries,  seem  to  us 
greatly  to  confirm  llie  view  which  we  have  taken  of  the  inferi- 
ority of  the  literature  of  this  period,  and  of  the  unworthy  notions 
which  were  entertained  of  its  proper  excellence. 

It  was  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Trajanus,  after 
The  eastern  oxpedi-  ^  pcaccful  porlod  of  scvcu  or  eight  years,  that  war 
tion of  Trajanus.  agalu  brokc  out  \\\  thc  East,  and  the  Roman  and 
the  Parthian  empires  became  involved  in  direct  hostilities  with 
each  other.  We  are  neither  acquainted  with  the  causes  of  the 
quarrel,  nor  with  the  precise  period  of  its  commencement ;  but  we 
are  merely  told,  that  the  chief  operations  of  the  first  campaign 
consisted  in  the  capture  of  Nisibis  and  BatnEe,'"'^  towns  of  Meso- 

91  riJny,  Panegyric.  X.  41.  ^  Dion  Cassius,  LXVIII.  781. 


THE  EASTERN  EXPEDITION  OF  TRAJANUS.  55 1 

potamia,  and  that  for  these  successes,  the  senate  bestowed  on  the 
emperor  the  title  of  Parthicus.     Nisibis  is  a  name  which  often 
occurs  in  the  history  of  the  subsequent  wars  between  Rome  and 
Persia  ]  and  Batnse  was  a  Macedonian  colony,*^  and  the  seat  of  a 
celebrated  fair,  held  annually  in  the  month  of  September,  to  which 
there  was  a  general  resort  of  merchants  for  the  purchase  of  com- 
modities of  India,  China,  and  other  parts  of  the  East,     On  the 
approach  of  winter,  Trajanus  returned  to  Antioch,  and  during  his 
stay  in  that  city  it  was  visited  by  a  most  fatal  earthquake,  which 
lasted  for  several  days,  and  destroyed  a  vast  multitude  of  persons 
of  every  condition  ;  Trajanus  himself,  it  is  said,  escaping  with 
difficulty  fix)in  the  ruin  of  the  house  in  which  he  was  residing.'* 
The  next  campaign  presents  us  with  a  series  of  rapid  and  short- 
lived conquests,  such  as  the  East  has  often  witnessed.     It  ap- 
pears  that  the   moment  was   happily  chosen,  for   the  Parthian 
monarchy  was  torn  by  intestine  contests,  and  was  unable  to  offer 
any  resistance,  so  that  the  advance  of  the  Roman  troops  was  a 
triumphant  progress,  and  they  crossed  the  Tigris,  overran  Adia- 
bene,  were  gratified  by  visiting  Babylon  as  conquerors,  and  finally 
took  Ctesiphon,  the  capital  of  the  Parthian  empire.     Trajanus, 
elated  with  the  successes,  and  emulating  the  glory  of  Alexander 
while  he  traversed  the  countries  which  had  been  the  scene  of  his 
exploits,  descended  the  Tigris  to  its  mouth,  to  behold  the  Persian 
Gulf;  and  it  is  said,  that  seeing  there  a  vessel  ready  to  sail  for 
India,  he  exclaimed  that  if  he  were  a  younger  man  he  would 
carry  his  arms  against  the  Indians,     But  on  his  return  from  the 
sea  coast  of  Babylon,  he  learned  how  sudden  are  the  vicissitudes 
of  Asiatic  warfare.     While  he  had  been  dreaming  of  the  invasion 
of  India,  his  conquests  of  the  preceding  year  were  vanishing  froni 
his  grasp.     As  soon  as  the  immediate  terror  of  his  army  was  with- 
drawn, the  countries  which  he  had  overrun  shook  off  the  yoke, 
and  Nisibis,  amongst  other  places,  either  drove  out  or  reduced  the 
Roman  garrison,  and  recovered  its  independence.     Nor  were  the 
efforts  of  Trajanus  as  successful  as  they  had  been  in  the  preced- 
ing summer.     Nisibis,  indeed,  was  retaken,  and  the  emperor  en- 
joyed the  empty  glory  of  giving  away  the  crown  of  Parthia  to  a 
prince  whom  Dion   Cassius  calls  Parthamaspates,  and  whose 
reign  was  likely  to  last  no  longer  than  whi!  Jt  the  Romans  were 
at  hand  to  protect  him.     But  Maximus,  a  man  of  consular  rank, 
on  whom  Trajanus  had  bestowed  the   command  of  a  separate 
army,  was  defeated  and   slain  in  Mesopotamia ;  and  Trajanus 
himself  closed  the  campaign  with  disgrace,  after  having  lost  a 
great  number  of  men  in  a  fruitless  siege  of  Hatra,"  a  small  town 
of  Mesopotamia,  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  desert,  and  protected 

«  Ammian.  Marcel.  XIV.  7,  edit.  Vales.         <»  See  Ammian.  Marcel.  XXV.  301. 
^  Dion  Cassius,  ubi  supra. 

36 


552  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH  OF  TRAJANUS. 

by  the  utter  barrenness  of  the  country  around  it,  and  the  scarcity 
of  fresh  water.  At  the  end  of  the  season,  the  Romans  fell  back 
His  sickness  and  ^"^0  Syria,  witli  the  hope  of  renewing  their  invasion 
'''^''"^-  of  Mesopotamia  in  the  following  spring  ;  but  Tra- 

janus  was  seized  Avith  a  lingering  illness,  which  obliged  him  to 
resign  all  thoughts  of  taking  the  command  in  person ;  and  he 
wished,  therefore,  to  return  himself  to  Rome,  leaving  the  army 
to  the  care  of  iElius  Hadrianus,  a  native  of  the  Spanish  town  of 
Italica,  in  which  he  had  himself  been  born,  and  who  had  married 
his  niece.  As  he  had  no  children,  the  state  of  his  health  excited 
great  anxiety  as  to  the  person  whom  he  would  adopt  as  his  suc- 
cessor, and  his  wife  Plotina  is  said  to  have  used  all  her  influence 
in  favour  of  Hadrianus  ;  but  it  was  generall}^  believed  that  she 
could  never  persuade  her  husband  to  adopt  him,  and  that  the  in- 
strument which  she  produced,  and  sent  to  Hadrianus  at  Antioch 
immediately  before  the  death  of  Trajanus,  was  in  reality  a  forgery 
of  her  own.  It  was  known,  at  least,  that  she  was  present  with 
the  emperor  when  he  died,  and  that  she  took  care  that  no  particu- 
lars of  his  illness  should  transpire,  but  such  as  she  chose  herself 
to  circulate.  Trajanus  died  at  Selinus  in  Cilicia,^^  in  the  month 
of  August,  A.D.  117,  after  a  reign  of  nineteen  years,  and  a  little 
more  than  six  months. 

In  addition  to  what  we  have  said  of  his  public  character,  we 
may  add,  that  he  was  an  affectionate  hitsband  and  brother ;  and 
that  the  cordiality  which  subsisted  between  his  wife  Plotina  and 
his  sister  Mariana  "  was  thought  to  reflect  honour  not  only  on 
themselves  but  on  him.  It  is  said  by  Sex.  Victor,  that  he  was  ad- 
dicted to  intemperance  in  drinking  :  and  the  circumstance  of  his 
being  dropsical  in  his  last  illness  agrees  with  this  imputation. 
But  as  a  sovereign,  his  popularity  during  his  lifetime  was 
equalled  by  the  regard  entertained  for  his  memory  by  posterity  ; 
and  his  claim  to  the  title  of  Optimus,  which  the  senate  solemnly 
bestowed  on  him,  was  confirmed  by  the  voice  of  succeeding 
times  ;  inasmuch  as  for  two  hundred  years  after  his  death  the 
senate,*^  in  pouring  forth  their  prayers  for  the  happiness  of  a 
new  emperor,  were  accustomed  to  wish  that  he  might  surpass  the 
prosperity  of  Augustus  and  the  goodness  of  Trajanus. 

ss  Dion  Cassius,  LXVIII.  786.  ^'  Eutropius,  in  Trajnno,  VIII. 

97  Pliny,  Panegyric.  83,  84. 


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THE     HISTORY     OF     ROME, 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD. 
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»reat  master  of  historical  philosophy,  he  was  not  a  copyist,  nor  a  mere  compiler,  for  his  own  work  is  replete  with  spirit 
iriginality." — Cincinnati  Alias. 

ISTORY  OF  THE  LATER  ROMAN  COMMONWEALTH, 

BY  THOMAS  ARNOLD,  D.  D. 

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LECTURES    ON    MODERN    HISTORY, 

BY  THOMAS  AENOLD,  D.  D. 

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'  Wecommend  it  with  great  pleasure  to  all  students  of  history,  and  to  the  lovers  of  education  generally." — Savannah 
blican. 

HISTORY    OF    NEW    NETHERLAND, 

OR,  NEW-YORK  UNDER  THE   DUTCH, 

BY  E.   B.  O'CALLAGHAN,  M.  D. 

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».  Times. 

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A  MANUAL  OF  ANCIENT  AND  MODERN    HISTORY, 

BY  W.   COOKE  TJIYLOR,  L.  L.  D.,  of  Trinity  College,  Dtiblin. 
REVISED,  WITH  ADDITIONS  ON  AMERICAN  HISTORY, 
BY  C.  S.  HENRY,  D.  £>.,  Professor  of  History  in  the   University  of  New-York. 
One  handsome  volume,  8vo.,  of  8(i0  pages.     $2  25. 
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'  To  the  million  who  have  neither  the  leisure  nor  the  means  of  an  extensive  reading  of  history,  this  must  prove  a  wc! 
I  book.     It  bears  on  every  page  the  impress  of  close  thought  and  extensive  research." — Tribune. 

'  For  a  Text  Book  for  Colleges  and  Academies,  and  for  domestic  use,  it  is  the  best  work  yet  issued." — Eve.  Mirror. 
'  It  is  admirably  calculated  for  universal  circulation." — Courier  and  Enquirer. 

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;ic  annals  ofthe  world  ;  a  book  suited  notonly  for  the  purposes  of  direct  tuition, but  as  a  manual  for  domestic  reading.'' 
irnal  of  Commerce. 

IfCf  The  work  is  already  introduced  as  a  Text  Book  in  Harvard,  Columbia,  Brown,  Pennsylvania,  and  New-York  Uni- 
ties, and  several  loading  Academies. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  REVOLUTION  OF  1640, 

FROM  THE  ACCESSION   OF  CHARLES  FIRST,  TO  HIS  DEATH. 
BY  F.  GUIZOT, 

The  Prime  Minister  of  France  ;  Author  of  "  History  of  Civilization  in  Europe,"  etc.  etc. 
TRANSLATED   BY  WILLIAM  HAZLITT. 

In  two  volumes  12mo.     Paper  Cover  S I,  or  two  volumes  bound  in  one,  cloth.  $1  25. 
'It  is  a  work  of  great  eloquence  and  interest,  and  abounding  with  thrilling  dramatic  sketches."— JVewar/c  Advertiser. 
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rable  place  in  a  well  selected  library." — JVcm  Haven  Courier. 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 

GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  CIVILIZATION  IN  EUROPE, 

FROM  THE  FALL  OF  THE  ROMAN  EMPEROR  TO  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

One  volume  12mo.     Cloth  $1,  or  2  vols,  paper  cover,  75  cents. 
Now  Ready,  (Vol.  \,)  Neatly  Bound  in  Muslin.     Price  $2  00. 

HISTORY      OF      FRANCE, 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 
BY  M.  MICHELET, 

Professor  of  History  in  the  College  of  France.    Translated  by  G.  H.  Smith,  F.  G.  S. 
'So  graphic,  so  life-like,  so  dramatic  a  historian  as  Miciielet,  we  know  not  where  else  to  look  for.     \nh  conntries,  the 
i  of  men,  the  times,  pass  vividly  before  you,  as  you  peruse  his  animated  pages,  where  we  find  nothing  of  diffuseness  or 
jvancy.     It  is  a  masterly  work,  and  the  publishers  are  doing  the  reading  public  a  service  by  producing  it  in  so  unexcep- 
ible  and  cheap  an  edition." — Tribune. 

HISTORY     OF     GERMANY, 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  PERIOD  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 

BY  FREDERICK  KOHLRAUSCH, 

hief  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the  Kinsdom  of  Hanover,  and  late  Professor  of  History  in  the  Polytechnic  School. 

Translated  from  the  last  German  edition,  BY  JAMES  D.  HAAS. 

Complete  in  one  elegant  8vo.  volume,  of  500  pages,  with  complete  Index,  bound  in  cloth,  $1  50. 

'  Its  merits  are  conciseness,  clearness,  and  accuracy. — JVew  Orleans  Bee. 

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ent  addition  to  the  historical  department  of  our  libraries." — Southern  Churchman. 


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